The Epic of Gilgamesh was an ancient myth that described the stories and struggles of a Mesopotamian hero (i.e. Gilgamesh). The Old Testament, on the other hand, particularly the book of Genesis tells numerous tales of God’s followers, how they were challenged, and how they triumphed. One common feature between the two is the fact that they both contained flood stories. The way how the flood stories were portrayed in each book, however, was different. Firstly, the duration of the flooding was different. In Epic of Gilgamesh, the flood only lasted for seven days as evidenced by the quote “six days and seven nights came the wind and flood, the storm flattening the land” . In the book of Genesis, however, particularly the part where the story of Noah and the great flooding, the event lasted for around forty days as evidenced by the quote “for after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made” . The more important difference, however, was the rationale for the flooding. Both floods in the two flood stories were initiated by the gods. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods decided to flood the earth because they could not sleep and rest because of the noise that various human activities have produced; and they have chosen Utnapishtim to create the giant ship referred to in the book as the Preserver of Life to save some people, plants, and animals. In Genesis, however, the reason was to cleanse the earth for men have become wicked; and God chose Noah to lead his family and some plant and animal species to safety by also building a giant ark (i.e. Noah’s Ark).
Aristotle, one of the most popular ancient Greek philosophers, was right about his philosophy, particularly the one that likened a person incapable of working with others as someone who is going to be a liability for the community. This may have been the earliest origins of the thought that suggest that no man is and should be an island; and also one of the earliest concepts about citizenship. Achilles was arguably the strongest person who fought during the Trojan War. He knew this too well that he became arrogant. He did not ask for help from the soldiers around him who were basically fighting the same war. He was not a loner; he just wanted to highlight his strength too much that he disregarded the idea of seeking help even at times when he knew he needed it. What he did not know though is that he was not invincible. When his heel was hit by an arrow shot by a Trojan soldier during the war, it was already too late; he knew that he was going to have a deadly fate but despite knowing this he “drives all the Trojans before him in his fury”, a scenario which shows her unwillingness to submit and his excessive conceitedness. This was the first time that he knew that he, just like everybody else, is a mere mortal, vulnerable to damage and death without the help of other people. This only proves how accurate Aristotle’s teaching about cooperation and how the incapability to practice it could lead to disaster or death.
Although both Hebrews and Greeks have their own God, the two religions differ in terms of loyalty. In Hebrew, there is only one God; for Greeks, on the other hand, there are numerous gods. When it comes to loyalty and faith, Job can arguably be the best representative from the Hebrew Bible. He only worshipped one God; he obeyed his God’s entire commandment, even if it meant harming himself. And what is surprising is the fact that he still worshipped his God despite the challenges to his faith as evidenced by what Job said “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” . Also unlike the Greek gods, the Hebrew God Yahweh is a much higher being than people; He does not have human passions or needs; He can control his desires. Greek gods are comparable to humans; they have passion, emotion, interests, and even specialties and they can be controlled by these very things—which is basically what makes them human. They are also social, they can develop social relationships. The only difference between them and typical humans is that they are being worshipped. Athena, as an example, was able to seduce Odysseus, which makes Odysseus very similar to a typical male non-god figure. This is so far the aspect where the starkest difference between Hebrew God and Greek gods can be seen.
Socrates was a Greek philosopher, one of the greatest in his time. As a philosopher, he had the moral and occupational obligation to seek questions in an endless attempt to find an answer and explanation to everything that he could imagine—e.g. heaven, hell, earth, and even religion. In one of his most popular and controversial work The Apology of Socrates; he portrayed the story of an Athenian who was facing trial and persecutions because of not recognizing the gods that are recognized by the state (i.e. Greek gods). The Athenian man in the narrative was basically him; which means that this work was his defense against the accusations thrown at him. Before, especially in ancient times, religion played a major role in the government of states; this practice persisted up to the middle Ages. Heresy was a crime back then; a Greek citizen (i.e. Socrates) questioning the existence of gods and challenge their beliefs and desires would be considered as a crime to. Basically his defense was filled with honesty and directness about the limitations of his understanding about certain things as evidenced by the quote “I thought to myself: I am wiser than this man; neither of us probably knows anything that is really good, but he thinks he has knowledge when he has not, while I, having no knowledge, do not think I have” —which rationalizes his skeptical behavior towards things and his habit of looking for an explanation for everything, something which the state and its people apparently misinterpreted. Homer, on the other hand, was more of a poet; he did not violate any religious principle that was prevalent during his time and so he did not have the need to issue a defense either verbally or in writing.
Both Aeneas and Gilgamesh managed to travel to the underworld. The reasons why they went to the underworld, however, were significantly different. Gilgamesh’s reasons were driven by greed, desire for power, and tyranny. He wanted to seek the help of Utnapishtim, the immortalized man who survived the flood; he wanted to know the secrets of the universe; he wanted a shortcut to power . He also desired immortality; he threw the question “who is the mortal who can live forever? The life of man is short, only the gods can live forever” in reference to Utnapishtim . Aeneas’ reason, on the other hand, was different. He wanted to know the future of Rome. He wanted to visit his father in the underworld so that they could talk about Rome’s future. The two were able to see each other there and that was when his father told him about the rise of Rome as a formidable force under the rule of a great emperor named Augustus (in the future); this was when his father said “and this in truth is he whom you so often hear promised you, Augustus Caesar, son of a god, who will again establish a golden age in Latium amid fields once ruled by Saturn; he will advance his empire beyond the Garamants and Indians to a land which lies beyond our stars” . In both cases or stories, the reason for going to the underworld was also the same in that they were both driven by the desire to have an unfair advantage over others through magical or supernatural means; they wanted to have a shortcut to the long and hard journey towards personal discovery which unfortunately is the only option available to a common man.
Works Cited
Damaluji, S., T. Bakir and L. Al-Gelani. "The Epic of Gilgamesh." Baghdad: Dar Al Ma'mun (1989): 81. Print.
Ferry, D. "Gilgamesh: A New Rendering in English Verse." Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Reprint edition (1993): 57. Print.
Mastin, L. "The Iliad by Homer (Analysis)." Ancient Literature (2015): http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_homer_iliad.html. 01. Web.
Plato. "Apology of Socrates." (n.d.): http://www.friesian.com/apology.htm. 01. Web.
The Holy Bible. "The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/Deuteronomical Books: New Revised Standard Version." Oxford UP (1989): Print.
Virgil. "The Aeneid Book VI: The Cumaean Sibyl Journey to the Underworld." Theoi (2016): http://www.theoi.com/Text/VirgilAeneid6.html. 788. Web.
