Analyzing the Flood Story, Immortality, and Fate in Gilgamesh

This essay delves into the flood story within the Epic of Gilgamesh, examining its origins in Sumerian legend and its parallels with other religious narratives. It focuses on Utnapishtim's tale of divine wrath and survival, highlighting themes of immortality, fate, and the relationship between gods and humans. The essay analyzes Gilgamesh's quest for immortality in light of Utnapishtim's experience, exploring the epic's broader commentary on human limitations and the acceptance of mortality. The narrative underscores the importance of wisdom, kindness, and righteous living, cautioning against angering the gods and emphasizing the transient nature of human existence. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Ancient History
Ancient History
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Ancient History
The flood story from The Epic of Gilgamesh
The existing Sumerian legend, Gilgamesh decided to visit various regions in the global
dimension to cheat death. In one of his traveling adventures, he came across an Old gentleman
called Utnapishtim who narrated the story of the flood. He told Gilgamesh that the gods were
angry with humankind hence causing a flood which destroyed and swallowed the entire earth. He
was the only survivor as the flood almost wiped the whole of humankind (Ford, 2016). The god,
Eva, however, warned Utnapishtim and told him to design a small boat so as to be saved from
the flood. The god Ishtar placed a rainbow in the horizon as a symbol of reminder and pledge
that he will never send a flood again.
The flood story was incorporated in light of the fact that in it the flood saint Utnapishtim is
allowed eternity by the gods and that fits the immortality subject of the epic. The primary
concern is that Utnapishtim was conceded interminable life. As though to exhibit this point,
Utnapishtim challenges Gilgamesh to remain alert for six days and seven nights (Hamori, 2011).
Conversely, when Utnapishtim completes the process of speaking, Gilgamesh nods off.
Utnapishtim tells his wife to prepare a portion of bread each time he is sleeping with the goal that
Gilgamesh can't deny his failure. However, his main goal is to have the ability of overcoming
death. The subject of this story indicates that not everyone deserved to die in the flood.
The fundamental theme in The Epic of Gilgamesh is that insight and kindness are better
fulfillment than immortality, as it may symbolize all egotistical accomplishments, for example,
quality and power.
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Ancient History
Two of the huge subjects exhibited all through the epic concern destiny versus human will and
the look for immortality wellbeing. The incredible demi-god Gilgamesh is given remarkable
strength and vitality, which enables him to achieve humanly outlandish accomplishments.
Gilgamesh is not able to prevent the death of his close ally Enkidu despite of his many
achievements.Utnapishtim says to Gilgamesh that the predetermination destiny of every human
is in the hands of the Anunnaki and that not one thing in existence is permanent (Melvin, 2011).
Gilgamesh discovers that he can't control his inescapable destiny and finds that permanence must
be increased through his continued legacy, which is composed of stone tablets. Gilgamesh has
acknowledged his inescapable death and changes into a decent ruler who is recollected all
through the ages. Through his experience, the audience learns that an individual should make the
most of one’s personal life and also highly accept destiny. In order to achieve this, a person
should be much humble and resolved to carry on with a successful life. People should likewise
have an inspirational point of view toward the world and be content with their life's direction
(Pritchard, & Fleming, 2011).
Another incredible theme Gilgamesh presented is the inevitable truth of human death. He detests
the divine beings' immortality, and when Enkidu dies painfully, Gilgamesh turns out to be
significantly progressively unnerved of the possibility of his own death. His second journey into
Utnapishtim, an endeavor to escape death, instructs him that despite the fact that people usually
die normally, humankind still lives on.
Both Gilgamesh and Enkidu discover that the gods are perilous to manage, as they can carry on
candidly and nonsensically. Through the incredible flood, they discover that the activities of the
divine beings can't be comprehended by people (Salvador & Norton, 2011). For instance, In
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Ancient History
Mesopotamia, devotion and admiration for the gods are not commitments but instead a down to
earth affirmation of the intensity of nature and responsibilities of human beings. The main
purpose of the story is to target human beings who live a bad life thinking that it is permanent.
The story depicts that gods have power over human beings as people are immortal.
Since the story's discovery, Christians have been continuously interested in it. The subject also
presents the issue or theme of religion in this case. The story has various similarities with the
Noah flood story in the Bible (Ziolkowski, 2011). In conclusion, the story has clearly depicted
the gods have the power to control human beings. The gods have the power of destruction of the
whole universe and death of humankind as seen from the floods. As evident, the floods causing
death indicates that people are quite immortal. Therefore people are encouraged to live a
righteous and quality life. They should also avoid making the gods angry. This will reduce
people's problems on earth and they will also not suffer from various natural calamities such as
floods. The author teaches the audience that it is significant to behave in an appropriate manner
so as to be successful in life.
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Ancient History
References
Ford, J. L. (2016). Buddhism, Christianity, and The Matrix: the dialectic of myth-making in
contemporary cinema. Journal of Religion & Film, 4(2), 1.
Hamori, E. J. (2011). Echoes of Gilgamesh in the Jacob story. Journal of Biblical Literature,
130(4), 625-642.
Melvin, D. (2011). The Gilgamesh Traditions and the Pre-history of Genesis 6: 1-4. Perspectives
in Religious Studies, 38(1), 23-32.
Pritchard, J. B., & Fleming, D. E. (Eds.). (2011). The ancient Near East: an anthology of texts
and pictures. Princeton University Press.
Salvador, M., & Norton, T. (2011). The flood myth in the age of global climate change.
Environmental Communication, 5(1), 45-61.
Ziolkowski, T. (2011). Gilgamesh among Us: Modern Encounters with the ancient epic. Cornell
University Press. 4(2), 1.
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