Which Way the Antediluvian Patriarchs?

This is a good topic to research. What do the antediluvian patriarchs represent? I have previously cast them as a progression of psychological states antecedent to the rest that is Noah in the Bible. They exist as such in several of my posts. Last night, though, I saw that Lamech said, "This one will relieve our hearts from our toils and the work of our hands and from the soil that the Lord has cursed" (Genesis 5:29 Alexander). Are the antediluvian patriarchs our toils and works and all our effort to make ourselves acceptable to God and effective at prayer?