Comparative Analysis of the Motif of the Reed in the Mesopotamian Myth of the Flood and the Greek Myth of King Midas

Katarzyna Kleczkowska

The article presents a comparative analysis of the motif of reed in the Mesopotamian story of the flood and the Greek myth of king Midas. In both mythologems the reed has a very similar function: it transfers a message which cannot be uttered to any human being. In this way the reed uncovers the mystery that allows the hero to save a group of people or even mankind. The analysis is based on the variants of the myth of king Midas presented by William Crooke in his essay King Midas and His Ass’s Ears and two Mesopotamian epics about the flood, Atrahasis and The Epic of Gilgamesh, which include The Sumerian Flood Story.