History Literature / InannasDescentToTheNetherworld

* {{Expy}}: Ereshkigal is a DarkerAndEdgier version of her younger twin, Inanna. Some scholars believe they were at one point two aspects of the same goddess before becoming separate entities.

* OurDemonsAreDifferent: The closest approximation is the Hollows of Manga/{{Bleach}} fame.

* ToHellAndBack: One of the oldest stories of this type; possibly even ''the'' UrExample

* {{NiceGuy}}: Enki, who helps Inanna, despite her earlier stealing his holy me(powers/laws), [[spoiler: and the fact she has gone to the underworld nab Ereshkigal's powers in the same way she grabbed Enki's ''me'']]. Enki in general is the TokenGoodTeammate [[JerkassGods among gods]].
** {{NiceGirl}}: Ninshubur, who is [[UndyingLoyalty very loyal]] to Inanna, and is one of the only really positive characters in this myth, along with Enki.

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for failing to mourn for her while she was dead. [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example. [[note]]To quote him,: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar#Ishtar_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh "There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year."]][[/note]] - Which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after]] ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''.

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for failing to mourn for her while she was dead. [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example. [[note]]To quote him,: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar#Ishtar_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh "There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year."]][[/note]] - which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after]] ''Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh''.

* PimpedOutDress: Inanna wears one during her descent into Irkalla. She's stripped of it partway through by the guards, though, in order to strip her of her power[[note]]For completeness, she is described beginning her descent while wearing a turban, a wig, a lapis lazuli necklace, beads upon her breast, a "pala dress" (ladyship's garment), mascara, pectoral, a golden ring on her hand, and a lapis lazuli measuring rod.[[/note]].

* PimpedOutDress: Inanna wears one during her descent into Irkalla. She's stripped of it partway through by the guards, though, in order to strip her of her power.

* [[MoneyDearBoy Power, Dear Boy]]: Inanna. Her reason for going to Irkalla in the first place? [[WorldDomination She wants dominion over the heavens, Earth, ''and'' the underworld, and everything there.]] She actually gets it, too, though not in the exact way she wanted it and at some great cost.

* WorldDomination: Inanna wants this, and not just in this world either.

* GenderFlip: In later retellings of the myth, Ninshubur was turned into a male god, to [[HeteronormativeCrusader remove homosexual conext from the myth]].

* LaserGuidedKarma: Inanna loses her husband for half the year because she tried to steal Ereshkigal's husband Gugalana in ''TheEpicOfGilgamesh'' [[spoiler: only for him to get killed by Gilgamesh and Enkidu]] and tried to steal Ereshkigal's power.

* SpinOff: Takes place just after Gilgamesh and his friend kill [[LivingMacGuffin Gugalana (The Bull of Heaven)]] in Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh, but is considered its own separate story.

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for failing to mourn for her while she was dead. [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example. [[note]]To quote him,: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar#Ishtar_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh "There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year."]][[/note]] - which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after]] Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh.

* PimpedOutDress

An important piece of MesopotamianMythology, and one of the oldest written stories. The story is about the goddess Inanna (later known as [[IHaveManyNames Ishtar]]) going to visit her sister (or possibly alter-ego) Ereshkigal.

* JerkassGods: A staple of MesopotamianMythology

* FauxActionGirl: Inanna. [[spoiler: She has to be rescued by her priestess and a male deity. However, this may have been a gambit of sorts. She had already sent out word of her demise ahead of time to her most powerful family members, knowing that no one who was in the underworld could break free on their own.]]

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for cheating on her while she was dead. [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example. [[note]]To quote him,: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar#Ishtar_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh "There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year."]][[/note]] - which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after]] Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh.

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for cheating on her while she was dead. [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example. [[hottip:To quote him,: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar#Ishtar_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh "There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year."]] - which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after]] Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh.

* OurDemonsAreDifferent: The closest approximation is the Hollows of {{Bleach}} fame.

* ZombieApocalypse: Possibly the UrExample: Inanna uses this threat against the gatekeeper if he does not let her in.
** Actually, it's not ''the'' UrExample; she used this threat in ''TheEpicOfGilgamesh'' when she demands the Bull of Heaven.

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for cheating on her while she was dead. [[Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example. [[hottip:To quote him,: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar#Ishtar_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh "There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year]]."]] - which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after]] Literature/TheEpicOfGilgamesh.
* ZombieApocalypse: Inanna uses this threat against the gatekeeper if he does not let her in.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Ereshkigal seems mostly portrayed this way.

* EvilTwin: Though it is not entirely clear which one is the ''evil'' one. See below.
* {{Expy}}: Ereshkigal is a DarkerAndEdgier version of her younger twin, Inanna. Some scholars believe they were at one point two aspects of the same goddess before becoming separate entities.

* {{Rescue}}: Inanna anticipates problems, and instructs her priestess what to do. The priestess and another deity end up going to rescue Inanna.

* SpinOff: Takes place just after Gilgamesh and his friend kill [[LivingMacGuffin Gugalana (The Bull of Heaven)]] in TheEpicOfGilgamesh, but is considered its own separate story.

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for cheating on her while she was dead. [[TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example. [[hottip:To quote him,: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar#Ishtar_in_the_Epic_of_Gilgamesh "There was Tammuz, the lover of your youth, for him you decreed wailing, year after year]]."]] - which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after]] TheEpicOfGilgamesh.

* {{Yandere}}: Inanna has her husband, Tammuz/Dumuzid, dragged off to the Underworld for cheating on her while she was dead. [[TheEpicOfGilgamesh Gilgamesh]] even lists this as one of her defining character traits when refusing her affections, even citing what she did to Tammuz as an example - which [[EpilepticTrees doesn't quite make sense if this myth is set after TheEpicOfGilgamesh]].

* MacGuffin: The asexual creatures that help Inanna be brought back to life.

* BackFromTheDead: Inanna, and later Dumuzi

* DesignatedHero: Inanna

* JustSoStory: Explains why we have winter and summer [[spoiler: Inanna, the fertility goddess, lets everything go dormant when her beloved husband is down in the Underworld, and lets things grow in the summer when he's back and she's happy.]]
* LesYay: Some think she was "more than just friends" with her priestess
* TheLongList: See "Oral Tradition"
* MacGuffin: The asexual creatures that help Inanna be brought back to life

* NotSoDifferent: Inanna and Ereshkigal. In fact, Ereshkigal might actually be a DarkerAndEdgier {{Expy}} of Inanna. This is further supported by the interesting thematic relation of the husbands of both women dying in the story as bookends, as well as the link-up between this story and the story where Gilgamesh kills Inanna's bull of heaven (the exact same bull that is the husband of Ereshkigal.)

* OutOfClothesExperience: Inanna is stripped of her clothing and jewelry (symbols of her power) to grovel before Ereshkigal