Myths and Reality, Essay Example

In outlining the similarities between past stories, and what is happening in reality can be found in the stories of “The Tale of Sinuhe”, and the stories of immigrant children today. The story of Sinuhe describes the lifetime of tribulations and trials that are comparable to the modern-day experiences of immigrants. Sinuhe flees Egypt once the king has died, however once he is exiled by the new ruler he encounters several hardships. Some of which he encounters are physical and mental. When he leaves Egypt to feel, he is searching “to seek a hiding place” in which he didn’t expect to survive. (Norton Anthology 61) He thought of himself as a fugitive in a foreign land, although he loved Egypt as many of modern immigrants, there are certain elements in which they have to leave.

Sinuhe like many immigrants presented in “Children of Immigrants,” left or fled in order to get away from war or wanting a better live for themselves. Sinuhe left Egypt out of fear, “I heard his voice a she spoke…my heart fluttered….a trembling befell all my limbs.” (Norton Anthology 62) On his journey to Syria he faced many hardships, as do many immigrants, which traveled to other countries. When left in order to carve out a new life, he saw himself as one without an identity. “That’s when I started to feel neither South American nor North American. I was stuck in an uncomfortable in-between, a place from which I am still trying to free myself.”(Dangerfield, Louttit, and Scales) Sinuhe on his journey faced starvation, no shelter, and the possibility of death in reaching Asia. Sinuhe shares many similarities with immigrants in questioning his indemnity, enduring hardships, and his reasons for leaving his homeland.

This story can be seen as a tale of propaganda in which the story outlines the importance of loyalty. Since Sinuhe served as a palace official in which the palace was notorious castration for all men in the royal palace. For Sinuhe this was not the case, it could signal that he was highly trusted or that the queen and he did have a relation. We can see in the story, “the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor” in the Egyptian times in which people pledge their allegiance to the Pharaoh, importance was placed on returning from any journey back to Egypt. “We have returned in peace, and our land—behold, we have come back to it.” (Norton Anthology World Literature 911) Thus nationalism plays a large in both stories. When he is in Syria he is wealthy and has created a successful family, however he longs to return to Egypt. He wanted to see where he grew up, and kiss the palace doors. His patriotism and loyalty are highly valued in the Egyptian culture. One of the special qualities in which each Egyptian valued was being born and dying in the country. For Sinuhe it was a requirement, even though he fled out of fear, he wanted to return so he could be buried in his homeland.

Death is an important aspect, which is both illustrated in these stories. For the sailor, he wanted to bring the wealth back to his home and family, and to have it rest in his tomb. “Behold you shall come to your country in two months, you shall press to your bosom your children, and you shall rest in your tomb.” (Norton Anthology World Literature 916) For the tale of Sinuhe he made preparations for his return to Egypt, and when he returned was treated like royalty. He was bathed, fed, clothed, and given his on home. A pyramid was built for him by the mater draughtsman, and Mortuary priest were given to him. (Norton Anthology World Literature 76) He was in the favor of the king, and treated as a person that belonged in the royal court.

One of the most notable stories of the Bible, is the story of Noah and the Ark. Founded in the book of Genesis, it mirrors the story of The Gilgamesh Epic of the Mesopotamian people. Although the Mesopotamian version was written beforehand between 2700 B.C and 600 B.C, many scholars have drawn similarities between the two stories. The Epic of Gilgamesh focuses on the King of Uruk Gilgamesh quest for immortality. On the other hand Noah built his ark because of impending flood, in which God told him to prepare and round up all the animals. In both stories, the main protagonist is warned of the impending flood and build a boat in order to survive. For both stories each family survived along with the instructed animals chose to survive the flood. In Noah’s account the location of the flood is to believe to be in the Mesopotamian bath in which they both were located. The boats were sealed with tar, and in seeing if the flood was over, they were instructed to send a raven and dove to test conditions. (Norton Anthology World Literature 100; 162) In the finality of the story both the Ark and the Mesopotamian boat rested on a mountain top, and made an offering of sacrifice.

The differences in the two stories are also significant. In the case of Noah, he was instructed by God. This is due to God’s review that the people were not in the way that he wanted mankind to be, they were corrupt, and he felt deep sorrow and regret. (Norton Anthology World Literature 159) In the Epic of Gilgamesh, a divine frustration with the overpopulation of humans, and their noise was the reason for the flood. The gods, Ea, Enlis, Ennugi, Nihurta, and Anu were not able to sleep and thus caused a flood. Noah was deemed a righteous man so he was warned, there was no reason Utnaphishtim was chosen, but he was warned by one of the gods in betrayal of the rest of the Sun gods. Utnaphishtim and the city craftsmen built his boat, while Noah asked for others to help, but he and family end up building his ark. His ark took several years, while Utnapishtim was built in seven days.

The tale of the Epic of Gilgamesh and Noah’s Ark have many similarities, as well as they differences. Some of the significant differences can be seen in the divine intervention in which warned them of the impending flood. In both stories they are instructed to build a boat of grand proportion in order to carry their families and animals of every kind in order to repopulate the earth. For the story of Noah, since it is a part of the bible, the implications are dealing with the presence of one God in which he warned Noah, because he was a noble and a righteous man. God’s was filled with pain, regret, and sorrow in the way that he saw the behaviors of humankinds. They were corrupt, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.” (Norton Anthology of World Literature 181) He wanted to wipe the earth and began anew, along with the humans were the creatures and all the animals he created. Noah was chosen because, “found favor in the eyes of the Lord.” (Norton Anthology of World Literature 181)

In the story of Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh searches for Utnapishtum, in which Enil on of the Sun gods, decides that the human were overpopulating the land, were annoying, and were noisy. The behavior of mankind was, “intolerable and sleep is no longer possible.” The wickedness in man was saw by the gods in this tale also, and they believed that they were taking over the land. (Norton Anthology of World Literature 98) The god of Waters betrays the other gods and decide to warn Utnapishtum, because he was seen as a true worshipper of the god ea. He instructs him to build a boat and load the animals. At first he warns him not to tell anyone, however, instructs him to take his wife, family, craftsmen in his village, and the animals. For his reward for obeying Ea’s orders, the go grants him and his wife eternal life, in the story of Noah, he was blessed as was his family for the rest of their lives.

References

Dangerfield, Whitney, Loutit, Meghan, Scales, Jeffery Henson. “Children of Immigrants.” NY Times. 21 September 2014. Web. 23 October 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/21/opinion/sunday/exposures-children-immigrant.html?_r=2

Lorey, Frank. “The Flood of Noah and the Flood of Gilgamesh.” Institute For Creation Research. 1997. Web. 24 October 2014. http://www.icr.org/article/noah-flood-gilgamesh/

Mark, Joshua. “The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Epic.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. 18 January 2012. Web. 23 October 2014. http://www.ancient.eu/article/180/

Puchner, Martin, Akbari, Suzanne Conklin, Denecke, Wiebke, Dharwadker, Vinay, Fuchs, Barbara, Levine, Caroline, Lewis, Pericles, and Wilson, Emily. The Norton Anthology of World Literature (Third Edition) (Vol. A). W.W. Norton & Company. 2012. Book.