Comparison

There are many differences and similarities between Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh. For instance, some differences include the detailing of Genesis, which was written for the bible ( a religious book followed by so many people that devote themselves to the teachings) while Gilgamesh was purely for storytelling, so Genesis had the noble and spiritually devoted Noah. However the epic contained imperfect people like Utanapishtim who was said to go against the god’s wishes to ignore wealth and seek living things while preparing for the flood. This is so because the bible is to instill certain morals into the readers and to do so it must present people who do the right thing getting rewarded while the wrongdoers get punished. Another difference I noticed was that in Genesis, which speaks of one God, God came around to the idea of forgiveness by himself; he was able to promise to take care of the inhabitants of the earth from the flood on. On the other hand, in Gilgamesh ( polytheistic), Enlil needed the other gods to tell him of his wrong doing and help him to come to terms with forgiving the inhabitants of the earth.

There are also similarities between the two stories. For example, both stories are very detailed when describing the building of the boat and the occurrence of the flood. Not only are the stories detailed, but they are also repetitive; this is done so the stories will stick as time goes on.