Comparing The Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah and the Flood Essay -- Book o

Comparing The Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah and the FloodIt is said that life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it. It is not the circumstances of life that determine a persons character. Rather, it is the way a character responds to those circumstances that provides a display of who he is. From the Epic of Gilgamesh, as translated by N.K. Sandars, and Noah and the Flood from the Book of Genesis, both Gilgamesh and Noah face exchangeable circumstances, but dont always respond to them the same way. Accepting immortality and the ultimate powerlessness to be in control of lasts inevitability is something that both Gilgamesh and Noah encounter. Gilgamesh faces the death of his closest companion, Enkidu, with hopelessness, fear, and anger. In his bitterness he cried, How can I be at peace? Despair is in my heart. What my brother is now, that I shall be when I am dead. (p. 141) To Siduris questioning, Gilgamesh responds, Because of my brother I am afraid of death, because of my brother I stray through the wilderness and cannot rest. (p. 144) Noah, faced with the impending death of everyone except his proclaim family and the pairs of creatures joining him in the ark, is unquestioning and obedient in following matinee idols instructions. After the instructions about the animals that he is to take into the ark, Noah did so just as God commanded him, so he did. (p. 172) When God tells Noah that He will blot out all of creation in forty days and forty nights, Noa...