Flood Stories

       
              In many different cultures/religions, a story about a Great Flood exists. The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Roman’s version of a Flood story are both very similar, yet very different. For example, both stories believe in polytheism. In both stories, the gods get angry with the humans on the earth. However, in The Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods lived on earth and were angered by how loud the humans were, therefore they thought of bringing a Flood upon Earth. In the Roman version, the gods were angry because of humanity's evil ways, because of this Jupiter wanted to set the earth on fire, but instead brought upon a Flood because he thought might set heaven itself on fire too. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the gods warned one person about the flood so that they could prepare and built a boat to survive. In the Roman version, no warning was given, instead, Jupiter, with Neptune’s help had the flood go everywhere except the summit of Parnassus, where Deucalion and his wife went to seek refuge. In both storylines, the last male and female were responsible for repopulating the earth. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the man and woman who repopulated the earth were rewarded/punished with eternal life. In the Roman version, while Jupiter and Mercury were traveling incognito in search of food and shelter, everyone else but a hospitable couple gave them food and shelter. As a reward, Jupiter and Mercury turned their house into a marble temple.They also made them the priest and priestess of the temple. When the couple grew very old, they were turned into an oak and lime tree. Many different cultures/religions have similar stories, but they will always have their differences.

Source: talkorigins.org