Comparing Gilgamesh And Plato

The Gilgamesh and the Plato stories are two very common stories in the world. It is, however, amusing how many people do not know that these two stories share a lot in common and have very many differences. For example, one of the main differences between the two stories is the number of days that the events occurred and the particular places of the events. Same basic facts are cited in the stories, but there is a total mismatch in the number of days and the places of the events.

The similarities in the stories

One of the main similarities is the fact that there are floods in both of the stories. The floods occur because the gods are angry with the people and think of the only way to punish them was via floods. The main mistake that humankind does is the great uproar that the gods get angry. The other similarity that is very vivid is the number of people that the gods decided and chose to save in both cases. Only one man, Noah who finds favor with the Lord that is saved. He is given orders to build the arch. He is saved so that he can be the salvation of man for the future. Ea, on the other hand, tells Utnapishtim through a dream that he must arise and help save the human race. In both stories, God and Ea want to punish the human race but at the same time spare a figure that will continue the race after the punishment. In both stories, birds are used to find out if the water level has gone down. Utnapishtim sends three types of birds each at its own time while Noah uses two ravens. When the birds don’t return, they know that they have found a dry land. All the birds used in the stories have a special meaning and Ravens are used because they were believed and used as messengers of God.

Differences in the stories

The main difference is that in the Gilgamesh story, semi-gods are featured a lot. People who are half human are allowed to live on earth. The Plato story as in the Genesis has no semi-gods featured in it. There is only one prominent hero in the story. The other main difference between the two stories is that in the Genesis version, the flood is sent down through the power of God and it is divine. The rain lasts for a few more days than in the other version of the story.

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