Flood Stories

Flood Stories

Deucalion isn't the only dude from mythology land who built a boat to escape a god-sent flood that destroyed all of humanity. He's part of a very exclusive club of human beings who survived this major disaster in order to get humanity going again after everything dried out.

Noah

Yup, you're not the only one who noticed that the story of Deucalion is a whole lot like the story of Noah, who appears in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition. Just like Deucalion, Noah was the only good dude left on Earth, so when God decided to cleanse the world with a giant flood, he ordered Noah to build a giant ark. Also like Deucalion, Noah brought his wife with him and ended up landing on the top of a mountain. In Noah's case, he landed on top of Mt. Arrarat. Unlike Deucalion, Noah was told to bring two of every animal earth.

Utnapishtim

This is yet another guy who built a boat to survive a big old flood. His story pops up in the ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, where he meets Gilgamesh while the warrior king is on his quest for immortality. Like Noah, Utnapishtim was also instructed to save the animals as well as certain humans. Like both Deucalion and Noah, Utnapishtim also ended up on top of a mountainMt. Nisir in his case. Unlike his other boat buddies, Utnapishtim got the added bonus of immortality for his efforts.

Manu

Manu is a major figure in Hindusim and is thought of as the father of all humanity. Just like the rest of the dudes in this group, Manu was a really good guy who survived the great flood by building a gigantic boat, taking his family and some animals along with him. The gods knew that Manu was worth saving because he made the very good decision of helping out Vishnu, when the god appeared to Manu in the form of a carp. (Moral of the story: always be nice to carp.)

Other Flood Myths

There's also a ton of other flood myths that don't necessarily have to do with a dude building a boat. Click here to get a nice rundown on the many many other types of flood myths from around the world.