History Literature / TheEpicOfGilgamesh

* OverprotectiveDad: Anu lets Ishtar borrow the Bull of Heaven because Gilgamesh was rude to her. Somewhat subverted because Ishtar/Inanna threatens to "Scream so loud the dead will devour the living"

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: King Gilgamesh.

* RedundantDepartmentOfRedundancy: Every major plot point is written out at least twice. For instance the people complain about Gilgamesh's bad behavior as king by saying: "Gilgamesh sounds the bell for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; yet the king should be a shepherd to his people. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute." This is redundant enough on its own but it is then immediately repeated ''word for word'' by the gods.

** Gilgamesh declines Ishtar's [[DeathBySex advances]]. [[WomanScorned So she invokes the Bull of Heaven on Uruk.]]

* ThresholdGuardians: Downplayed: The Scorpion Men guard the tunnel that the sun rolls through at night. Gilgamesh gets through them by just explaining his situation, and they let him go.

--> '''Gilgamesh:''' "[[DescriptionPorn 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]]?"

-->''Alas the days of old are turned to dust because I commanded evil; why did I command thus evil in the council of all the gods? I commanded wars to destroy the people, but are they not my people, for I brought them forth? Now like the spawn of fish they float in the ocean.''

-->''Enkidu opened his mouth to speak, saying to Gilgamesh: 'My friend, we have reduced the forest to a wasteland. In your might you slew the guardian, what was this wrath of yours that you went trampling the forest?'''

* HalfHumanHybrid: Well, "one third human" hybrid, anyway (the folks of the time thought that if a woman got pregnant after sleeping with two different men then the baby had two fathers).

* SemiDivine: Gilgamesh is two-thirds god. For those scratching their heads at the genetics, this is due to an ancient belief that ''all'' of a woman's male sexual partners during pregnancy contribute to the resulting baby; Gilgamesh therefore is the son of two gods and one mortal.

* UnevenHybrid: Gilgamesh is two-thirds god, one-third man ([[MindScrewdriver The ancient Sumerians thought that if a woman got pregnant after having sex with two different men, then the baby had two fathers]]).

* DualWielding: Gilgamesh uses a [[HeroesPreferSwords sword]] and an [[AnAxeToGrind axe]], sometimes both at once.

* {{Main/Manchild}}: In a separate, Sumerian poem, ''Bilgamesh and the Netherworld'', Bilgamesh loses his wooden ball and mallet when it falls into the Netherworld. He can't stop crying until his beloved (in this poem he is a servant) Enkidu brings it back for him.

* OurGiantsAreBigger: Humbaba -- "His maw is fire, his breath is death... Who, even among gods, could attack him?"
* 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 ''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, we don't know what is.

* DeathBySex:
** Enkidu blames Shamhat for leading him to an early death by seducing him, but then he's reminded that Shamhat led him to civilization and his friendship with Gilgamesh, so he repents and wishes blessings on her instead.
** Ishtar's lovers all meet ironic ends.

* ScorpionPeople: A pair of gigantic scorpion-men guards the gates to the tunnel the sun passes through each night, and tries to convince Gilgamesh to give up on his quest for immortality and go back home.

A [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology legend from Ancient Mesopotamia]], the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' is one of the oldest known works of great literature, dating from around 2100-1200 BCE and inscribed on clay tablets.

Heartbroken by the loss of his friend and suddenly aware of death's inevitability, Gilgamesh sets out on one last adventure [[ImmortalitySeeker in search of immortality]]. He ultimately fails, but in the process learns a valuable lesson about arrogance and impatience, [[BittersweetEnding and returns to rule Uruk as a wiser, humbler king.]]

* TheAce: Gilgamesh was a peerless hunter, warrior and king. The only person who ever comes close to matching him isEnkidu.

* TheAce: Gilgamesh.

The story follows the eponymous Gilgamesh, the SemiDivine King of Uruk. [[TheCaligula Gilgamesh is far from an ideal king]], spending most of his days partying, picking fights, and laying with people's wives, sometimes all at once. Understandably upset, the people pray for the gods to give their king a companion who can temper his wrath.

* AintTooProudToBeg: Humbaba offers Gilgamesh all the riches of the forest should Gilgamesh show mercy. Gilgamesh hacks his head off anyway.

A [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology legend from Ancient Mesopotamia]], the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' is the one of the oldest known works of great literature, dating from around 2100-1200 BCE and inscribed on clay tablets.

* {{Determinator}}: Gilgamesh.

* RedundantDepartmentOfRedundancy: Every major plot point is written out at least twice. For instance the people complain about Gilgamesh's bad behavior as king by saying: "Gilgamesh sounds the bell for his amusement, his arrogance has no bounds by day or night. No son is left with his father, for Gilgamesh takes them all, even the children; yet the king should be a shepherd to his people. His lust leaves no virgin to her lover, neither the warrior's daughter nor the wife of the noble; yet this is the shepherd of the city, wise, comely, and resolute." Which is redundant enough on its own but it is then immediately repeated ''word for word'' by the gods.
* SemiDivine: Gilgamesh is two-thirds god. For those scratching their heads at the genetics, this is due to an ancient belief that ''all'' of a woman's male sexual partners during a pregnancy contribute to the resulting baby; Gilgamesh is therefore the son of two gods and one mortal.

* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Shamhat's seven-day sex with Enkidu is the first step in making him a civilized man.
* ScorpionPeople: A pair of gigantic scorpion-men guards the gates to the tunnel the sun passes through each night, and try to convince Gilgamesh to give up on his quest for immortality and go back home.

* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Gilgamesh's abuses of the people as King of Uruk include rape, forced conscription, and ringing the city bell because he thinks it's funny.

While not the first example of literature ever written (with Sumerian and Egyptian texts like the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Shuruppak Instructions of Shuruppakn]]'' the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesh_temple_hymn Kesh temple hymnn]]'' the Hymns of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enheduanna Enheduanna]] and the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Texts Pyramid Texts]]'' dating back even further) it is often considered to be the earliest surviving [[TheEpic heroic epic]], predating ''Literature/TheIliad'' and even the majority of Literature/TheBible by well over a thousand years. Naturally, any trope found in this work is OlderThanDirt, and is likely either [[UnbuiltTrope Unbuilt]] or an UrExample.

While not the first example of literature ever written (with Sumerian and Egyptian texts like the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Shuruppak Instructions of Shuruppak]]'', the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesh_temple_hymn Kesh temple hymn]]'', the Hymns of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enheduanna Enheduanna]] and the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Texts Pyramid Texts]]'' dating back even further) it is often considered to be the earliest surviving [[TheEpic heroic epic]], predating ''Literature/TheIliad'' and even the majority of Literature/TheBible by well over a thousand years. Naturally, any trope found in this work is OlderThanDirt, and is likely either [[UnbuiltTrope Unbuilt]] or an UrExample.

Their prayers are answered in the form of Enkidu, a WildMan who emerges from the woods to fight Gilgamesh. The two brawl in the streets of Uruk until neither can continue, and by the end the two have become the greatest of friends. For a while, they entertain themselves with grand adventures, but eventually their actions anger the gods, who strike Enkidu down.

While not the first example of literature ever written (with Sumerian and Egyptian texts like the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instructions_of_Shuruppak Instructions of Shuruppak]]'', the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kesh_temple_hymn Kesh temple hymn]]'', the Hymns of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enheduanna Enheduanna]] and the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_Texts Pyramid Texts]]'' dating back even further) it is often considered to be the earliest surviving [[TheEpic heroic epic]], predating ''Literature/TheIliad'' and even the majority of ''Literature/TheBible'' by well over a thousand years. Naturally, any trope found in this work is OlderThanDirt, and is likely either [[UnbuiltTrope Unbuilt]] or an UrExample.