kal v'chomer

if Gilgamesh could have resisted Sleep
it seemed he had a chance to defeat Death
but as he dozed a serpent of the deep
devoured the herb and left him there bereft
"from light to heavy" as the Sages say
who couldn't conquer one can't conquer two
a mortal hero shines just for his day
then vanishes ephemeral as dew
the story of the Flood was long in tooth
ere Noah built an ark or learned to sail
but Rabbis didn't mine folklore for Truth
we retroject new meanings on old tales
a covenant's inscribed, now on the sky
and not a hero terrified to die