World Literature: Summaries

Paper Summary:

This paper consists of four summaries and analyses of several examples of world literature from the ancient era. The stories examined include the Biblical story of the flood mentioned in Genesis, "The Epic of Gilgamesh", Homer's "Odyssey", Euripides' "Medea", and Ovid's "Metamorphoses". Each story is briefly summarized and examined as to the relevance of characters and certain similarities between the stories.

From the Paper:

"The number of textual similarities between the flood described in Genesis and the one described in Gilgamesh suggests that the stories have a common origin. Perhaps that common origin is an original myth. Perhaps it was actually a great flood that swept through the Mesopotamian region. Whatever the case, it is doubtful that these two stories were independently created. In the Genesis flood, God brought the flood down on man because of their extreme wickedness (60). He actually regretted creating man in the first place. Nonetheless, God was willing to spare one man and his family, Noah, and advised Noah to build an ark of very particular proportions. After the flood passed away, God made a new covenant with man and promised never to destroy the world with water again (63). Many similar events occur in Gilgamesh."

More papers on World Literature: Summaries:

• Essay # 90193 : "Literature Summaries"
• Analytical Essay # 17094 : "Southwest Literature -- America Picante"
• Analytical Essay # 128207 : "Suburbia" in Literature"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: