Gilgamesh/Genesis

The two Great Flood stories, also known as origin/creation myths, are similar in so many ways, but the motivations behind the Great Floods were vastly different. In the story of Noah’s Ark in Genesis, God deemed in necessary to cleanse the Earth from the evil and corrupt human race. God chooses Noah to build the Ark and basically “restart” the human race with all of the character and morals he possesses. However, in the epic of Gilgamesh, Anu and other gods plan to destroy the human race simply because of overpopulation and for amusement. No one is chosen to be the hero for any reason; Utanapishtim overheard Ea talking to the reed house about the flood and how to prepare for survival. But I find the fact that Ea, in a sense, purposely allowed Utanapishtim to overhear him, quite interesting. I’m not sure if he does this because he has a good heart and wants to see someone survive, or if he is simply doing this because he can’t keep a secret.
In both of the stories the dimensions of the boats to be built are very specific; however the shapes of the boats are different. In Gilgamesh, the boat is square, whereas in Genesis it is more like a rectangle. The lengths of the floods are different as well. In Gilgamesh, the flood lasts 7 days, whereas in Genesis it lasts 150 days. I think this is important to the reasoning behind the floods. God in Genesis is aiming to destroy and punish all life except for everything on The Ark and a lengthy flood is necessary for this. Since in Gilgamesh the Gods just want to have fun and kill humans for no real reason a shorter flood will suffice.
Some interesting symbolism I saw in both stories was that of peace and hope. In the Christian religion a dove symbolizes peace and hope, and after the flood in Genesis, Noah releases a dove (and a raven) in hopes of finding out the flood is over and they can leave the Ark. In Gilgamesh a dove, raven, and swallow were released for similar reasons.