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Essay / The Theme of Knowledge in Gilgamesh and Genesis
Ancient world literature and stories of early civilizations primarily focus on man's relationship with higher beings. Ancient civilizations were extremely religious, believing that their lives were in the hands of their all-powerful god or goddess. This is true for people in biblical times as well as those in the epic era. However, their stories have some differences across cultural variations, but the main structure, ideas, and themes are generally correlative. It is hard to believe that one work has not affected others. The first great heroic epic poem of Gilgamesh and the Old Testament are part of two cultures separated by hundreds of years. While Gilgamesh is a myth and the book of Genesis is the basis of many religions, they both have notably similar accounts of symbols, motifs and significant events according to the relationship between the divine and humans in the literature. In addition to having different languages, customs and traditions, the ancient Greeks, Hebrews, Middle Easterners or Romans had very different beliefs about the divine. For example, the Old Testament is monotheistic, while Gilgamesh describes many deities. Both texts have fundamental connections in the relationships between deities and humanity, as well as in the idea of knowledge. The Bible and Gilgamesh are literary texts that parallel and contrast conjunctively on various aspects such as wisdom. Knowledge is an important characteristic that is central in Gilgamesh and Genesis, which establishes a link between the divine omniscient and mortals, but also a distinction of power. The ancient epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis both strongly emphasize that the divine is far more superior to humanity in terms of power, control, and more...... in the middle paper......its this imperative information of immortality. Enlil tells them: "You were only human; now you are admitted into the company of the gods. Your home will be the Far One" (Gilgamesh 75). "Enlil believes that Utnapishtim has acquired too much knowledge as a human. This acquisition of knowledge leads Enlil to make Utnapishtim immortal and a god. Given these events, this clearly indicates that knowledge is preserved only for the gods and that punishment is reserved for man Wisdom is the key that keeps the hierarchy out of balance, distinct from power and, moreover, favoring God or the gods over humanity. Gilgamesh and the Old Testament, it should be argued that the deities prefer to control the wisdom of humanity in order to maintain superior status, to perpetuate the ideas of worship, power, sacrifice and honor within the humanity. relationship between humanity and the divine.