The Story of the Flood in Three Gilgamesh, the Metamorphosis and Genesis
Andrew Amechand
11/5/12
Professor Parascandola
HEG 21-005
The Story of the Flood in three Gilgamesh, The Metamorphosis and Genesis
It is apparent in our class readings, that when the gods are angry at the humans they created, these gods unleash unforgiving rains to flood the earth, and kill the human race. Over the years, there have been various texts about these floods. While the occurrences of the floods themselves are continuous throughout these texts, they have varying reasons for the cause of the floods and different aftermaths or consequences. Three of these texts in particular which tell the story of these floods, are Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell, Metamorphoses by Ovid and Genesis. The main factor in these floods was of course the god or gods who created it. Therefore, the floods in each of these three texts were different, because the gods who created the floods were different. Even though a flood occurs in all of the three texts, the cause, the flood itself and the aftermaths of the floods are different.
The reasons for the flood depended on the gods who created the flood. In Gilgamesh, the gods were arbitrary because they had no proper reasoning or explanation as to why they sent a flood to kill the human race. Because of this, it can be concluded that these gods did not have the wisdom of other gods, like in the other two works. These gods made rash decisions without thinking about the consequences. Gilgamesh’s Utnapishtim explains his story, “I was king once, a long time ago, / when the great gods decided to send the flood.”(pg181) These gods just decided to send a flood. They don’t give any reasoning. This shows that they don’t have the people in their interest. In Metamorphoses, the god says that people are becoming wicked, “The Iron Age succeeded…and righteousness fled earth.”(pg7) Similar to Genesis, this god is aware of what he is doing because he even came down to earth to survey the situation. This god
11/5/12
Professor Parascandola
HEG 21-005
The Story of the Flood in three Gilgamesh, The Metamorphosis and Genesis
It is apparent in our class readings, that when the gods are angry at the humans they created, these gods unleash unforgiving rains to flood the earth, and kill the human race. Over the years, there have been various texts about these floods. While the occurrences of the floods themselves are continuous throughout these texts, they have varying reasons for the cause of the floods and different aftermaths or consequences. Three of these texts in particular which tell the story of these floods, are Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell, Metamorphoses by Ovid and Genesis. The main factor in these floods was of course the god or gods who created it. Therefore, the floods in each of these three texts were different, because the gods who created the floods were different. Even though a flood occurs in all of the three texts, the cause, the flood itself and the aftermaths of the floods are different.
The reasons for the flood depended on the gods who created the flood. In Gilgamesh, the gods were arbitrary because they had no proper reasoning or explanation as to why they sent a flood to kill the human race. Because of this, it can be concluded that these gods did not have the wisdom of other gods, like in the other two works. These gods made rash decisions without thinking about the consequences. Gilgamesh’s Utnapishtim explains his story, “I was king once, a long time ago, / when the great gods decided to send the flood.”(pg181) These gods just decided to send a flood. They don’t give any reasoning. This shows that they don’t have the people in their interest. In Metamorphoses, the god says that people are becoming wicked, “The Iron Age succeeded…and righteousness fled earth.”(pg7) Similar to Genesis, this god is aware of what he is doing because he even came down to earth to survey the situation. This god