History Literature / TheEpicOfGilgamesh

Gilgamesh is the [[SuperStrength super strong]], ruggedly handsome, two-thirds god and one-third mortal king of Uruk, and he is bored. He spends his free time sleeping with each new bride the night of her wedding, which their husbands are not too happy about, but he is the king, and he can do what he wants. The people of Uruk beg the gods to provide Gilgamesh with something better to do. The gods decide that what the restless, powerful, [[JumpedAtTheCall adventure-hungry]] hero needs is a best friend and WorthyOpponent. So they have the womb goddess Aruru make a wild man named Enkidu, who lives out in the wilderness among the animals, annoying farmers and hunters. One of them convinces a temple harlot Shamhat to [[AManIsNotAVirgin make a civilized man out of him]], by sleeping with him for a week. After his first taste of sex, Shamhat convinces Enkidu to come back with her to the temple and learn how to live like a civilized human, promising she will introduce him to a best friend so he'll never be lonely again. He accepts.

Before we get started, ''[[{{Catchphrase}} mongrels]]'', we're not talking about the recurring ''FinalFantasy'' and ''FateStayNight'' characters. Or the {{anime}} [[Anime/{{Gilgamesh}} of the same name]]. Or the [[ComicBook/GilgameshTheImmortal Argentine comic book]]. Or [[MemeticMutation GIRUGAMESHU!!]] Now then...

Before we get started, ''[[{{Catchphrase}} mongrels]]'', we're not talking about the recurring ''FinalFantasy'' and ''FateStayNight'' characters. Or the {{anime}} [[Anime/{{Gilgamesh}} of the same name]]. Or the [[ComicBook/GilgameshTheImmortal Argentine comic book]]. Or [[MemeticMutation GIRUGAMESH!!]] Now then...

Before we get started, ''[[{{Catchphrase}} mongrels]]'', we're not talking about the recurring ''FinalFantasy'' and ''FateStayNight'' characters. Or the {{anime}} [[Anime/{{Gilgamesh}} of the same name]]. Or [[MemeticMutation GIRUGAMESH!!]] Now then...

** Although seeing as this is one of, if not the, oldest tales in existance, it leads to the question of [[CriticalResearchFailure what genre there is to be savvy of...]]
*** [[OralTradition Oral Tradition]], of course.
* GetOnWithItAlready: Most of the long speeches are palatable enough, but there are a handful that get repeated verbatim to several people. On the other hand, this probably shouldn't be too surprising as the work was originally "written" on clay tablets with pictographs impressed into them while still wet. Likely the "template" for these speeches was reused. UrExample of Copy Paste?
** A more likely reason is that despite having been written down and codified, the epic was derived from oral sources and for most people continued to be oral storytelling. Back then most people were illiterate, after all. Repetitions, rhyme and such are essentially mnemonic devices to help people repeat the story verbatim from memory. Repetition is also a common stylistic element of oral storytelling, used for pacing, emphasis and symmetry. Think of song refrains, fairy tales and the like.
*** Recent studies have suggested that people in ancient Mesopotamia (and Egypt) were surprisingly literate. Even so, every tablet had to be hand copied, so some repetitiveness no doubt helped keep things straight and prevent errors.
* GodEmperor: Gilgamesh again (well, they did name it after him). It also points out how the Sumerian kings are specifically ''not'' this.

** He ''could'' have been the product of, say, a divine/human breeding experiment where he is the tenth generation descendant of pairings involving 1365 out of 2048 8xgreat-grandparents who were divine, yielding someone who is 66.65% divine. Close enough for government work!

** This is another one of those "life was really different 4,000 years ago" things, but sexual orientation as we know it didn't really exist back then. It's pretty strongly hinted in some translations that Gilgamesh and Enkidu WERE in fact lovers. Sandar's translation gives a line from the Coming of Enkidu as; "When you see him you will be glad; you will love him as a woman and he will never forsake you."

** Really, this is [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzagged]]. The standard Akkadian version dates to ca. 1200 and it borrows material from the ''Epic of Atrahasis'', which dates to 1650. ''Atrahasis'' has a narrative structure similar to ''Genesis'' from the Bible, and it deals with the story of Utnapishtim, so it should qualify as a heroic epic. But the very earliest ''Sumerian'' Gilgamesh poems – including narratives of the Cedar Forest, the Bull of Heaven, and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment the Underworld]] – date from 2200. Is ''Gilgamesh'' from 1200 or 2200? Doesn't quite matter, since the fictional narratives ''Instructions of Shuruppak'' and ''Legend of Etana'' date to 2600 – during or before the ''actual reign of Gilgamesh''. So ''Gilgamesh'' isn't the oldest bit of fiction or writing, but it is ''considered'' the oldest heroic epic, and it's certainly '''the oldest piece of written fiction which self-consciously uses literary tropes'''.
** [[SureWhyNot Oh, and the Sumerian poems]] ''[[SureWhyNot actually were]]'' [[SureWhyNot written in the Third Dynasty of Ur.]]

* DownerEnding: It was the first story of a hero going through every trial, a heroic journey to try to achieve something, and in the end, ''he failed''. What message does that send?

Before we get started, ''[[{{Catchphrase}} mongrels]]'', we're not talking about the recurring ''FinalFantasy'' and ''FateStayNight'' characters. Now then...

* MortonsFork: Gilgamesh [[GenreSavvy declines]] Ishtar's [[DeathBySex advances]]. [[WomanScorned So she invokes divine wrath on him.]]

*** [[OralTradition Oral Tradtion]], of course.

* WhoWantsToLiveForever

* OutrunTheFireball: Possibly the last trope in the world you'd expect to be OlderThanDirt, but there it is: on his journey to Dilmun, Gilgamesh had to pass through the tunnel through which the [[BeyondTheImpossible sun]] goes at night. The tunnel was long, and before he could get to the other end, the sun god entered from the other side... If that's not a fireball to outrun, I don't know what is.

----

** Although seeing as this is one of, if not the, oldest tales in exastance, it leads to the question of [[CriticalResearchFailure what genre there is to be savvy of...]]

A legend from ancient Babylon and Akkad, the epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest heroic epic that survives to this day and is very much OlderThanDirt. See UrExample below for more details.

The partners have their next adventure when Gilgamesh turns down the goddess Ishtar's offer to sleep with her, [[GenreSavvy noting the unsavory fates that befall her lovers]], and she retaliates by unleashing the Bull of Heaven on Uruk. The two heroes manage to slay it, which the gods aren't too happy about and decide Enkidu will have to die because of this.

->''The evil from which there is no escape awaits you now.''
-->--'''The Death of Gilgamesh'''

* FinalFantasy: This series implies that the dimension-hopping eight-armed warrior that appears in certain games IS the original epic hero, still seeking immortality and ultimate power.

Gilgamesh is the [[SuperStrength super strong]], ruggedly handsome, two-thirds god and one-third mortal king of Uruk, [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight King Of Heroes]], and he is bored. He spends his free time sleeping with each new bride the night of her wedding, which their husbands are not too happy about, but he is the king, and he can do what he wants. The people of Uruk beg the gods to provide Gilgamesh with something better to do. The gods decide that what the restless, powerful, [[JumpedAtTheCall adventure-hungry]] hero needs is a best friend and WorthyOpponent. So they have the womb goddess Aruru make a wild man named Enkidu, who lives out in the wilderness among the animals, annoying farmers and hunters. One of them convinces a temple harlot Shamhat to [[AManIsNotAVirgin make a civilized man out of him]], by sleeping with him for a week. After his first taste of sex, Shamhat convinces Enkidu to come back with her to the temple and learn how to live like a civilized human, promising she will introduce him to a best friend so he'll never be lonely again. He accepts.

Before we get started, ''[[{{Catchphrase}} mongrels]]'', we're not talking about the recurring ''FinalFantasy'' and ''FateStayNight'' characters. (Even though the latter IS Gilgamesh.) Now then...

--> Gilgamesh: "Urshanabi, climb up on to the wall of Uruk, inspect its foundation terrace, and examine well the brickwork; see if it is not of burnt bricks, and did not seven wise men lay these foundations?"

->''You must have been told that this is what your being a human involves. You must have been told that this is what the cutting of your umbilical cord involved. The darkest day of humans awaits you now. The solitary place of humans awaits you now. The unstoppable flood-wave awaits you now. The unequal struggle awaits you now. The unavoidable battle awaits you now. The evil from which there is no escape awaits you now.''

->''You will not find the life you seek.''
->''When the Gods created Man,''
->''Death for mankind they set aside,''
->''Life in their own hands retaining.''
-->--'''Siduri to Gilgamesh'''

** Really, this is [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzagged]]. The familiar 12-tablet Akkadian version dates to ca. 1200 and it borrows material from the ''Epic of Atrahasis'', which dates to 1650. ''Atrahasis'' has a narrative structure similar to ''Genesis'' from the Bible, and it deals with the story of Utnapishtim, which qualifies it as a heroic epic. But the very earliest Gilgamesh poems, in Sumerian, date from 2200, and they include narratives of the Cedar Forest, the Bull of Heaven, and [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment the Underworld]]. Still, the ''Instructions of Shuruppak'' and the ''Legend of Etana'', both fictional narratives, date to 2600 – during or before the ''actual reign of Gilgamesh'' – and simple Sumerian hieroglyphs date back to 3500. Drawings and oral traditions go back much farther. So ''Gilgamesh'' isn't the oldest bit of fiction or writing, but it is ''considered'' the oldest heroic epic, and it's certainly '''the first piece of sophisticated fiction which self-consciously uses literary tropes'''.

A legend from ancient Babylon and Akkad, the epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest heroic epic that survives to this day and is very much OlderThanDirt. Even older than ''Literature/TheIliad'' and ''Literature/TheBible''. In fact, ''The Epic of Gilgamesh'' is the oldest written narrative ever discovered -- thus making it the UrExample of quite literally every trope found within it.

To make a long story short, Gilgamesh ultimately fails Utanapishtim's test of staying awake for seven nights (he doesn't even last seven seconds). But Utanapishtim's wife convinces him to be nice and give the seeker ''something'' for his trouble. So he tells Gilgamesh where to find a plant that will grant eternal life and youth. The good news is he finds it. The bad news is a snake eats it when he takes a break on the way home to bathe. Tough luck. Looks like Gilgamesh the NotSoInvincibleAfterAll has to come to terms with the fact that WeAreAsMayflies and content himself with the beauty and majesty of his mighty kingdom. [[FantasticAesop Or he could always go back for more]].

Some versions have him decide that the only way to live forever is by becoming a legend and living on in memory. When it comes to ''that'' kind of immortality, he succeeded.

As noted, this is the oldest surviving written story in existence. (That is to say, currently. There may be older manuscripts which archaeologists have yet to discover, but for now, Gilgamesh is it.) Thus, ''all'' of the tropes on this page are {{Ur Example}}s.

* UrExample: Since this is literally the oldest written story that scholars know of, almost all of the examples on this page fall into this category.
** Which, ironically, takes place in Uruk, not Ur.
** This presumably makes it the UrExample of [[UrExample Ur Examples]].

->''"You will not find the life you seek.''

->''Life in their own hands retaining."''