Critical Analysis
Epic of Gilgamesh and the Bible Stories Closely Related
The Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh have several similarities. I will discuss the similarities of the Flood story, the serpent and the idea of losing immorality.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh is searching for a man named Utnapishtim and his secrets of life and death. When Gilgamesh is brought to Utnapishtim, he tells a flood story to Gilgamesh, a story that has only happened once so far and that will never happen again. Utnapishtim explained to Gilgamesh that the gods were angry with mankind because of all the noise they were making. They decided to destroy all of mankind by creating a flood. But Utnapishtim and his wife were chosen by the gods to survive the flood. They were told to build an ark and load it with animals. They followed the god's instructions and because they did, they not only survived the flood but also were granted immortality. This story is very similar to that of the Noah's Ark story of the Bible. Noah and his family were chosen by God to build an Ark because God had decided to kill all of mankind. They did so, and they also included animals and survived the flood. However, Noah and his family did not receive immortality, but they did obtain a covenant that God would not send another flood to destroy mankind.
Gilgamesh also had the desire to live forever. Utnapishtim's wife takes pity on Gilgamesh and asks Utnapishtim to tell Gilgamesh about the plant that can make him young again, if not immortal. So, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh about a plant named "the old man becomes a young man" located at the bottom of the ocean and so Gilgamesh begins his journey ...