History Characters / TheEpicOfGilgamesh

* MirrorCharacter: Beautiful and powerful, but arrogant, entitled, and deeply immature -- Ishtar is essentially Gilgamesh himself writ large.

* ExtraParentConception: Described as being "created" more than born and two-thirds divine but one-third man. His mother Ninsun is a goddess, and her usual consort Lugalbanda is a deified king, so most presume there was a second mortal father involved.
* GodEmperor: He's a SemiDivine being (two-thirds god and one-third human) and the king of Uruk.
* HalfHumanHybrid: One of the most earliest examples, except Gilgamesh is two-thirds god and one-third human.
* HandsomeLech: Invoked, since he originally was a {{Hunk}} who [[DroitDuSeigneur sexually abuses young women]] in his kingdom.

-->''When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body. Shamash the glorious sun endowed him with beauty, Adad the god of the storm endowed him with courage, the great gods made his beauty perfect, surpassing all others, terrifying like a great wild bull. Two-thirds they made him god and one-third man.''

* SemiDivine: He's two-thirds god, one-third human. And he's also the king, making him a sort of watered-down GodKing.

* UnevenHybrid: Justified. He is more godly than human, being only one-third of the latter, mainly due to the fact that he was described to be "created" more than "born".

* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Gilgamesh, with whom he travels the Near East and defeats monsters. However, given the homoerotic subtexts of the original language, the "heterosexual" part could be up for debate.

A sacred prostitute who plays a significant role in bringing Enkidu into contact with civilization.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: She is probably the UrExample, although this is a modern oversimplification of her job. She was a priestess of Ishtar, goddess of, among other things, sex, and having sex with any man who asks is a respected part of her ministry, rather than anything shameful.

* AmbiguouslyRelated: The Bull of Heaven may or may not be the same being as Ereshkigal's husband Gugalanna from Literature/InannasDescentToTheNetherworld, which would make him Ishtar's brother-in-law.

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: He [[DroitDuSeigneur sexually abuses young women]] in his kingdom, which angers his people and prompts their desperate prayers to the gods. Averted, however, in that according to the themes of the story, [[ValuesDissonance this behavior is merely a sign of immaturity in the minds of ancient Sumerians]].

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: She is probably the UrExample, although this is a modern oversimplification of her job. She was the priestess of Ishtar, goddess of, among other things, sex, and having sex with any man who asks is a respected part of her ministry, rather than anything shameful.

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Shamhat's seven-day sex with Enkidu is the first step in making him a civilized man.

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Her seven-day sex with Enkidu is the first step in making him a civilized man.

* WildChild: Wild ''Man'' in his case, before becoming "civilized" by Shamhat.

* NoodleIncident: Gilgamesh lists a number of Ishtar's former lovers and the tragedies that befell them, but in most cases, he gives us little more than a few vague clues as to what happened. Presumably these were references to even older stories that are now lost. Apparently Ishtar had sex with [[BestialityIsDepraved a lion]] one time?

* SpoiledBrat: He started off as this, treating his divine birth and position of authority as a license to do whatever he wanted, which involves DroitDuSeigneur of newly wedded wives and, depending on the translation, forced labor, drinking contests, and wrestling for the men. Thankfully, he gets better later on.

* ManlyTears: Subverted. He cries over the death of his best friend, and unlike modern standards, it's considered an inherently masculine thing.

* UnevenHybrid: He is more godly than human, being only one-third of the latter.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: The king, and also a badass to an almost ridiculous level.

* HandsomeLech: Invoked since he originally was a {{Hunk}} who [[DroitDuSeigneur sexually abuses young women]] in his kingdom

* ExtraParentConception: Described as being "created" more than born and two-thirds divine but one-third man. Since his mother Ninsun is a goddess and her usual consort Lugalbanda was a deified king most presume there was a second mortal father involved.

* SemiDivine: He's two-thirds god, one-third human. The math is weird, yes, but remember that the gods ''created'' him more than they ''birthed'' him. His mother is Ninsun, and his father is Lugulbanda.

* FemmeFatale: She promises Gilgamesh good fortune if he becomes her lover. As Gilgamesh [[GenreSavvy points out]], her previous lovers came to horrific ends.

* MirrorCharacter: Beautiful and powerful, but arrogant, entitled, and deeply immature - Ishtar is essentially Gilgamesh himself writ large.

* BeastMan: He has the head of a lion, and - according to some sources - a snake for a penis.

* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: She is probably the UrExample, although this is a modern oversimplification of her job. She was the priestess of Ishtar, Goddess of Sex, and having sex with any man who asks is a respected part of her ministry, rather than anything shameful.

* SlutShaming: On his deathbed, Enkidu - mad at Shamhat for making him human, and therefore, mortal - rages against her, wishing her a future of poverty and shame. However, the sun god Shamash reminds him that she was good to him and that without her, he would never have met Gilgamesh, and Enkidu retracts his curses, wishing her instead a life of fulfilment and wealth.

* EvilCounterpart: Beautiful and powerful, but arrogant, entitled, and deeply immature - Ishtar is essentially Gilgamesh himself writ large.