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In the Book of Job we are introduced to a prosperous character, Job, who is always careful to avoid any wrongdoing.  Job is blessed with what many people hope for such as a wife and many healthy children, herds of animals, and a profound appreciation for God. Satan believes and challenges God that if he were to punish Job, Job would curse God’s name. Although faced with many hurdles so abruptly, with the sudden death of all of his children and livestock, Job did not curse Gods name.  Unsatisfied with Job’s reaction Satan “…afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” (A127) Job proceeded to curse the day of his birth, “Let the day perish wherein I was born…” This story tells us of a man who is forced to experience terrible and embarrassing hardships and how he reacts to them. Job is a strong and upright man who loves God, but we see following these hardships that he is left contemplating his life.

In recent news, a student at Rutgers University was placed into a completely mortifying situation. Tyler Clementi was an accomplished 18 year old student who unfortunately was faced with must adversity due to his sexual orientation. He was secretly filmed during a sexual encounter with another male by his roommate, Dharun Ravi. His roommate proceeded to broadcast this footage online for the world to see. Dharun Ravi posted on twitter, “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude, Yay.” (NY Times) By broadcasting this private footage, Ravi was in a sense punishing Tyler for his actions simply because he was different. Just like Job, Tyler Clementi was left questioning what he could have done to deserve such terrible treatment. Unfortunately, unlike Job, Clementi was unable to come to grips with himself and ended up choosing suicide to heal his pain. This again relates to the Book of Job because it left the public curious and wondering, why do so many terrible things happen to so many accomplished people with promising futures?

The Book of Job Blog

The Book of Job teaches us that wisdom is meaningless and some things in life are just not for us to understand. Typically, some stories follow Aesop’s fables that are full of morals. This is not the case in The Book of Job, for it is actually an anti-wisdom story. This story is about a righteous, faithful, person who has been tested to see if appreciates his fortunes and if he truly deserves them. “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil?” (A158) The LORD allows Satan to test Job, knowing that Job has strong faith and truly does appreciate and deserve his fortune.

 In The Book of Job, although Job was tested by losing his herd, servants, camels, treasures and family he still showed appreciation for his blessings and remained faithful. Job was even tested a second time to see if he truly deserved his fortunes. “So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD, and afflicted Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” (A159).

China shows that they appreciate their fortunes however they are not doing a good job in showing that they deserve them.  “In barely a decade, the Chinese economy has created at least 117 billionaires…” (NY Times), but the article also states, “The China Reform Foundation, an economic research group based in Beijing, estimated last month that about $870 billion in corrupt gray money was being hidden by the wealthiest 10 percent of China’s population.” This is entirely opposite from Job and creates a huge difference between the two stories.

 Works Cited

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/24/world/asia/24china.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Wines, Michael. “In China, Attitudes on Generosity Are Tested”. New York Times.  24 September 2010, New York ed.: The New York Times International A4 Print.

There are many connections that can be made between the “Epic of Gilgamesh and “Genesis.” The most clear connection is the idea of a higher being.   In Genesis, the higher being is God, and in the Epic of Gilgamesh there are a lot of higher beings.  In both stories there is a flood sent by the higher being to destroy mankind.  However, in Genesis God wanted to destroy mankind for being evil while in Gilgamesh it was done on a whim. “The lord saw that the evil of human creature was great on the earth and that every scheme of his heart’s devising was only perpetually evil (A, 34).

Another similarity is in the instructions given to the creators of the ark.  In both stories the higher being gives clear instructions on what size the ship should be and who should be present on the ship.  In Gilgamesh, Utanapishtim brings his family as well as craftsmen, while in Genesis, Noah only brings his family and the animals.

Upon reading the Epic of Gilgamesh and the first eleven chapters of the Book of Genesis many comparisons arise. The strongest of these would have to be the globally destructive flood which is caused in both by Gods as a punishment for the behavior of the human race. In the epic Utanapishtim tells Gilgamesh the story of his survival during the great flood. “The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the flood.” (Epic of Gilgamesh, 91) The people of Uruk had basically gotten on the nerves of the great gods by making too much noise and this was motivation to destroy everyone. The only person to know of the flood was Utanapishtim and he built a large boat by the commands of Ea, “…Make all living beings go up into the boat. The boat which you are to build…” (Gilgamesh, 91) This situation is comparable to what happens in Chapter 6 of Genesis. In the book God exclaims, “I will wipe out the human race I created from the earth, from human to cattle to crawling thing to the fowl of the heavens, for I regret that I have made them.” (Genesis, 34) God is frustrated with the evil ways that his creations are acting and in order to wipe them out he creates a world-wide flood. Just like in Gilgamesh, God selects a one person, Noah, whom he will save by warning him to create a boat. God commands Noah, “…two of each thing you shall bring to the ark to keep alive with you…” (Genesis, 34)  If you notice, the God or Gods in both stories tells their one chosen hero almost the exact scenario and actions to take.

– Amanda Trexler

The readings of the “Epic of Gilgamesh” and “Genesis” both present a common theme of human lives under the control of a higher being. In the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, one of the gods, Enlil almost annihilated the entire human population. In the “Genesis”, God also almost annihilated the entire human population. Although both stories present the common theme of a higher being controlling the lives of human, there are differences. One difference between the “Epic of Gilgamesh” and the “Genesis” is the reason of the annihilation. Enlil decided to destroy humankind at his whim because “The gods may come to the incense offering, but Enlil may not come to the incense offering, because without considering he brought about the Flood and consigned my people to annihilation (A, 94). God in the “Genesis” desired to destroy humankind entirely because God wanted to punish humans for being evil and regretted creating humans. “And the LORD saw that the evil of human creature was great on the earth and that every scheme of his heart’s devising was only perpetually evil…. ‘I will wipe out the human race I created from the face of the earth, from human to cattle to crawling thing to the fowl of the heavens, for I regret that I have made them’” (A, 34). Another difference between the two stories is that in the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, there are several gods who conflict with each other and even among the gods; there are gods that are superior while in the “Genesis”, there is only one all-powerful God who is undisputed.

During class, I thought to myself, how the story of Gilgamesh can relate to anything in the sports section. When the first group presented their argument, it made so much sense to me.

Nadal is winner. He is well-driven and committed in being the best. Nadal wants to be known around the world. Everything that he accomplishes is added to his legacy. Only 24 years old, he has already reached the top. Recently, he won the US OPEN. It started off very easy for him. There was nobody that gave him a real challenge. It was not until he met Djokovic that he actually broke a “sweat.”

Like the story of Gilgamesh’s journey for Humbaba, everything was fairly easy until he met Humbaba. Gilgamesh had to overcome a new obstacle that he has never really seen before. In Nadal’s case, he never had to worry about losing a set.

One can say that both are winners, kings, and definitely the best. No matter what goes in their way, they are both committed in making sure that they finish at the top.

The Epic of Gilgamesh can in many ways be compared to a recent article from the New York Times entitled, Gates to Meet with Russian Defense Minister.  In the epic, Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship starts off rocky to say the least. Enkidu feels he must teach Gilgamesh a lesson for the way he treats his people. They proceed to battle, however in the end become the best of friends and wind up having a unique and brother-like relationship. This is a great comparison to the enemy-like relationship between the United States and Russia during the cold war. However as acknowledged in the article, Defense secretary Robert Gates of the U.S. and Anatoly E. Serdyukov of Russia are working together to combat a similar burden.  The article states, “…they are expected to find common ground on a topic that would have been unimaginable during the cold war.” (NY Times) Gilgamesh is a king with much experience on the battle field and who knows how to handle his armies of men as stated in the epic, “He walks out in front, the leader, and walks at the rear, trusted by his companions” (A60) Enkidu on the other hand was bred from the wild and therefore has never been able to gain experience of the sort. Robert Gates of the U.S. has had many years of familiarity with military business and knows has had experience of his own. The New York Times reveals that Mr. Serdyukov of Russia has no knowledge in the necessary field, in this case the military, and therefore he is left with little or no experience similar to Enkidu. These are just a few of the many comparisons that can be used in discussing both the Epic of Gilgamesh and this recent article of the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/world/europe/15military.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=gates%20and%20russian%20counterpart&st=cse

Laura Wronowski

 “In Military Cutbacks, Gates and His Russian Counterpart Share Common Ground”

This article resembles The Epic of Gilgamesh in many ways. The first is regarding the unfamiliarity Mr. Serdyukov had with their military and the unfamiliarity Enkidu had with being humanlike. The New York Times stated that “…Mr. Serdyukov… had more experience in the furniture industry than with the military…” The Epic of Gilgamesh said “Enkidu knew nothing about eating bread for food, and of drinking beer he had not been taught.” (A97)

Also, both Serdyukov and Enkidu face powerful opponents almost all alone. The article mentions how only Serdyukov is against the entire Russian Military for cutbacks in spending.  “That which Serdyukov is doing is a challenge to the Russian military culture as a whole, the culture that is based upon the idea of a mass-mobilization army starting with Peter the Great.”  (NY Times) In The Epic of Gilgamesh Enkidu killed the Bull of Heaven and stands up for Gilgamesh because Ishtar was upset that Gilgamesh slandered her. Enkidu is faced alone with the powerful Ishtar and said “If I could only get at you I would do the same to you! I would drape his innards over your arms!” (A110)

Works Cited

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/world/europe/15military.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Schwirtz, Michael; Shanker Thom. “In Military Cutbacks, Gates and His Russian Counterpart Share Common Ground”. New York Times 15 September 2010, New York ed.: The New York Times International A13. Print.