What is the story of Utnapishtim?

What is the story of Utnapishtim?

Utnapishtim, in the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic, survivor of a mythological flood whom Gilgamesh consults about the secret of immortality. Utnapishtim was the only man to escape death, since, having preserved human and animal life in the great boat he built, he and his wife were deified by the god Enlil.

What is the significance of the story of the flood which Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh?

The flood story was included because in it, the flood hero Utnapishtim is granted immortality by the gods and that fits the immortality theme of the epic. The main point seems to be that Utnapishtim was granted eternal life in unique, never-to-be-repeated circumstances.

How did Utnapishtim survive the Great flood?

When the waters went down, Utnapishtim sent birds — a dove, a swallow and a raven — from the boat and when they did not return, he knew it was safe to come out of the ship and life resumed. In gratitude, Utnapishtim offered blood sacrifice to the gods.

What is the story of the flood in Gilgamesh all about?

Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh the story of the flood—how the gods met in council and decided to destroy humankind. Ea, the god of wisdom, warned Utnapishtim about the gods’ plans and told him how to fashion a gigantic boat in which his family and the seed of every living creature might escape.

What secret does Utnapishtim tell Gilgamesh?

Utnapishtim says he will tell Gilgamesh one of the gods’ secrets. He tells Gilgamesh about the thorny plant that grows beneath the waves called How-the-Old-Man-Once-Again-Becomes-a-Young-Man. Gilgamesh ties stone weights to his feet and dives into the sea.

What is the purpose of the flood?

The flood wasn’t an act of wanton destruction by a capricious God. God was acting to restore the goodness of his creation. God preserves one family through the flood and elevates Noah as a new Adam, placed once again in a garden on a high mountain paradise with the commission to be fruitful and multiply. ).

Why was Utnapishtim spared?

Flood in Epic of Gilgamish and Book of Genesis of the Holy Bible. The only survivor is a man named Utnapishtim, spared because he is the god Ea’s favorite human. The Babylonian God Ea had decided to eliminate humans and other land animals with a great flood, which was to become “the end of all flesh”.

What did Utnapishtim do after the flood?

The oncoming flood would wipe out all animals and people not on the ship, a concept later seen in the biblical story of Noah’s Ark. After twelve days on the water, Utnapishtim opened the hatch of his ship to look around and saw the slopes of Mount Nisir, where he rested his ship for seven days.

What does Gilgamesh learn from Utnapishtim?

At the end of his story, Utnapishtim offers Gilgamesh a chance at immortality. If Gilgamesh can stay awake for six days and seven nights, he, too, will become immortal.

How is Utnapishtim warned of the upcoming flood?

However, Ea, the god of wisdom and water, warned Utnapishtim of the coming flood and told him to build a ship for himself and his family. The ship was to be loaded with various possessions as well as with plants and animals of every kind. After Utnapishtim completed the ship, it began to rain.

What advice does Utnapishtim give Gilgamesh?

Role in the epic Utnapishtim counsels Gilgamesh to abandon his search for immortality, but gives him a trial to defy sleep if he wishes to obtain immortality. Gilgamesh failing at his trial to defy sleep, Utnapishtim next tells him about a plant that can make him young again.

What happens after Utnapishtim tells his story?

When Utnapishtim finishes his story, he looks at Gilgamesh with scorn and asks if he really thinks he is worthy of becoming a god and living forever too. He tells Gilgamesh that, as a test, he should try to go a week without sleeping.

How long did Utnapishtim’s flood last?

The Flood lasts for seven days and seven nights, and finally light returns to the earth. Utnapishtim opens a window and the entire earth has been turned into a flat ocean; all humans have been turned to stone. Utnapishtim then falls to his knees and weeps.

What is the theme of the Great Flood?

The great flood theme, in which a flood almost wipes out the entire human race followed by the procreation of a brother and sister pair to repopulate the earth, is a popular mythological theme in China.

Who helped Utnapishtim prepare for the flood?

Terms in this set (8) Gilgamesh goes to talk to Utnapishtim because he wants immortality and so he tells him about the flood. Ea speaks to the brick wall to tell Utnapishtim to build a boat equal in lenght and prepare for the flood and to search out living things, takes 5 days to make boat.

What is so special about Utnapishtim?

What Utnapishtim gained by his trickery was a great boon for humankind, however. He received a promise from the gods that henceforth only individuals would be subject to death and that humankind as a whole would endure.

What sacrifice does Utnapishtim make to the gods?

What sacrifice does Utnapishtim make to the gods? He burns wood, cedar, cane, and myrtle in a cauldron.

What did Gilgamesh learn from Utnapishtim?

Despite his hopes, Utnapishtim tells Gilgamesh the story of the flood. He explains to Gilgamesh that the quest for immortality is a futile one, as creation itself also contains the seed of death, making it inescapable. The Gods, he explains, intentionally did this.