Throughout history in many cases a snake or a serpent takes the role of evil and steals eternal life from mankind. In the epic of Gilgamesh a serpent steals a plant, that makes old people young again, from Gilgamesh and took it back to heaven. In genesis the devil came in the form of a snake and tempted eve on eating a fruit that was not meant for man and god kicked them both out of the garden for disobedience. Either way the snake is represented as an evil symbol and steals eternal life or immortality from mankind.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was on a quest for immortality and he found it on the bottom of the ocean in the form of a flower. But on his return journey he stopped at a pool, or a well, and went to bathe. A serpent that "sensed the sweetness of the flower" came and stole the flower that Gilgamesh had and put it back at the bottom of the ocean. The serpent in this case, was not truly evil, because it was the snake's nature that it wanted to take the flower. But snakes just does not take flowers away from people to keep for its own, this one had some outside motivation to steal the flower that gave the old youth again. The Epic of Gilgamesh states that Gilgamesh cried and wept then gave up on his quest for eternal life.
In Genesis, the devil came down to earth in the form of a serpent. He came to earth to tempt mankind and to infect them with sin. God gave Adam and Eve one rule while they were in the Garden of Eden, that one rule was not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So Satan tempted Eve into eating of the fruit and then Eve gave the fruit to Adam. Then sin entered the world and Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. Since sin entered the world man would not be able to live forever anymore, because sin only has the power to kill and to destroy, and everyone was under its power. In this case the serpent is truly evil because its only intention was to inflict sin upon mankind, in the process of making mankind live mortal lives.
In these to encounters the snake had successfully taken away immortality from man, but not both times were ending in sorrow. Gilgamesh finally learned that he should live instead of search for eternal life. But in the bible all that came from the snake was the fall of man and sin entered the world. Gilgamesh found a sort of eternal life, because the only reason people today know about him is because he is in a book.
In the epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh was on a quest for immortality and he found it on the bottom of the ocean in the form of a flower. But on his return journey he stopped at a pool, or a well, and went to bathe. A serpent that "sensed the sweetness of the flower" came and stole the flower that Gilgamesh had and put it back at the bottom of the ocean. The serpent in this case, was not truly evil, because it was the snake's nature that it wanted to take the flower. But snakes just does not take flowers away from people to keep for its own, this one had some outside motivation to steal the flower that gave the old youth again. The Epic of Gilgamesh states that Gilgamesh cried and wept then gave up on his quest for eternal life.
In Genesis, the devil came down to earth in the form of a serpent. He came to earth to tempt mankind and to infect them with sin. God gave Adam and Eve one rule while they were in the Garden of Eden, that one rule was not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So Satan tempted Eve into eating of the fruit and then Eve gave the fruit to Adam. Then sin entered the world and Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. Since sin entered the world man would not be able to live forever anymore, because sin only has the power to kill and to destroy, and everyone was under its power. In this case the serpent is truly evil because its only intention was to inflict sin upon mankind, in the process of making mankind live mortal lives.
In these to encounters the snake had successfully taken away immortality from man, but not both times were ending in sorrow. Gilgamesh finally learned that he should live instead of search for eternal life. But in the bible all that came from the snake was the fall of man and sin entered the world. Gilgamesh found a sort of eternal life, because the only reason people today know about him is because he is in a book.