Genesis 5

"And he named him Noah, saying, 'This one will bring us relief from the agonizing labor of our hands, caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.'"

Genesis 5:29

Noah: the 9th generation after Adam (or 10th generation of mankind).  This chapter is simply a family account of the generations from Adam to Noah.  Here's the simplified version:

Adam > Seth > Enosh > Kenan > Mahalalel > Jared > Enoch > Methuselah > Lamech > Noah

I think it's important to note that Noah comes from the line of Seth (Adam's third son) and not from Cain (Adam's firstborn).  Normally, we think of Old Testament tradition giving inheritance to the firstborn son, but we actually see that God's inheritance quite often passes through later sons and daughters.

The last portion of Chapter 4 showed a sampling of the line of Cain, and now the entirety of Chapter 5 details the line of Seth.  Knowing the next part of the story (the Flood), I find it interesting that the line of Cain was ever mentioned.  They don't make it past the Flood, so what's the point in showing their accomplishments?

I think that both of these genealogies are written as precursors leading up to the Flood event, preparing us to see one of the many morals of the story.  Chapter 4 mentioned the various (seemingly great) roles that Cain's offspring played: herdsmen, musicians, metalworkers.  This family story shows us that, no matter what kind of worldly success we have, it will all get washed away in the end.

Meanwhile, the line of Seth doesn't list any special achievements except that Noah will be the one to bring relief from agonizing labor.  It's not specifically discussed, but I would bet my life that Adam and Eve did their best to raise Seth (and so on) in a Godly way.  As a father myself, I look at my own sinful past, and know that I want my son to avoid such devastation.  How much more would the first man know this desire!?

Adam's own sin literally cast him out of God's presence, and he lost his first two children to sin (one was murdered, and the other banished for the act).  Any father would do his best to ensure that these things don't happen again.  In this, Adam must have been successful because his great great great great great great great grandson is the one we'll be reading about for the next few days as he listens to the voice of God and survives the Flood.