Line #55 Literature/TheEpicOFGilgamesh


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gigamesh_mourns_enkidu.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Gilgamesh [[ManlyTears mourning the loss of his friend]] Enkidu.]]
3
4	->''"How, O how could I stay silent, how, O how could I keep quiet?\
5	My friend whom I love has turned to clay:\
6	Enkidu my friend whom I love has turned to clay.\
7	Am I not like him? Must I lie down too, never to rise again?"''
8	-->-- '''Gilgamesh''', Tablet X
9
10	A [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology legend from Ancient Mesopotamia]], the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' is [[OlderThanDirt one of the oldest known works of literature]], dating from around 2100-1200 BCE and inscribed on clay tablets.
11
12	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 [[DroitDuSeigneur laying with brides and grooms on their wedding nights]] -- [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs sometimes all at once]]. Understandably upset, the people pray for the gods to give their king a companion who can temper his wrath.
13
14	Their prayers are answered in the form of Enkidu, a BeastMan who emerges from the woods to fight Gilgamesh. The two brawl in the streets of Uruk until neither can continue, and by the end [[DefeatMeansFriendship 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.
15
16	Heartbroken by the loss of his friend and suddenly aware of [[WeAllDieSomeday 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.]]
17
18	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.
19
20	----
21	!!''The Epic of Gilgamesh'' contains examples of:
22
23	* AbsurdlyCoolCity: Uruk itself. A similar phrasing provides BookEnds for the story.
24	--> '''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]]?
25	* TheAce: Gilgamesh was a peerless hunter, warrior and king. The only person who ever comes close to matching him is Enkidu.
26	* ActuallyIAmHim: When Gilgamesh lands at the mouth of the rivers, he asks the first man he sees where to find Utnapishtim. Naturally it ''is'' Utnapishtim, but he interrogates Gilgamesh on his purpose before revealing his identity.
27	* AdaptationalFriendship: In early Sumerian texts, Enkidu is Gilgamesh's servant. In the later Akkadian version, their relationship is [[HeterosexualLifePartners incredibly close friends]] and perhaps [[PromotedToLoveInterest lovers]].
28	* AnAesop: Having a MortalityPhobia is immature, and [[ImmortalityThroughMemory the only way to actually "live" forever is to leave a legacy of great deeds]].
29	* AfterlifeTour: UnbuiltTrope. Enkidu goes into the netherworld, almost gets stuck there but gets rescued, and afterwards gives Gilgamesh a detailed description of the different fates of the people he has seen. (The picture is extremely bleak even compared to what [[Literature/TheAeneid Aeneas]] sees: unless one has at least four sons left, one is quite miserable).
30	** It is important to note that this isn't included in the original Gilgamesh epic, but in a separate Sumerian poem (where Gilgamesh is actually called Bilgamesh).
31	* ArcNumber: 7, 10, 12, and 120 ([[BreadEggsBreadedEggs 10 × 12]]) come up a lot.
32	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Gilgamesh's abuses of the people as King of Uruk include rape, forced conscription, and [[CryingWolf ringing the city bell because he thinks it's funny]].
33	* AintTooProudToBeg: Humbaba offers Gilgamesh all the riches of the forest should Gilgamesh show mercy. Enkidu hacks his head off anyway.
34	* AppliedPhlebotinum: In the third act, the "Stone Things" that power the ferryman's boat. Gilgamesh destroys them in a temper tantrum.
35	* ArrogantGodVsRagingMonster: UnbuiltTrope, Shamhat was specifically sicced on Enkidu to prevent this from happening but when the man-monster is civilized he fights the tyrant Gilgamesh anyway because it is the right thing to do.
36	* ArtificialHuman: Gilgamesh, DependingOnTheWriter, although the stone tablets state that he wasn't as much born as he was "created". Enkidu as well.
37	* ArtisticLicenseSpace: A truly fascinating case. The text proposes that, upon setting in the west, the sun passes through a gigantic underground tunnel between two mountains (referred to in some translations as the "Twin Peaks") which takes it back around to where it rises in the east.
38	* BadassBoast: After Gilgamesh and Enkidu destroy the Bull of Heaven -- the divine beast sent to destroy them for mocking the goddess Ishtar -- Enkidu shakes the bull's torn off haunches at Ishtar, threatening to do the same to her if he catches her.
39	* BeastAndBeauty: Enkidu is a wild man raised by animals who [[SexAsRiteOfPassage enters the world of man sleeping with the beautiful priestess,]] Shamhat.
40	* {{BFS}}:
41	-->''"They cast great daggers\
42	Their blades were 120 pounds each\
43	The cross guards of their handles thirty pounds each\
44	They carried daggers worked with thirty pounds of gold\
45	Gilgamesh and Enkidu bore ten times sixty pounds each."''
46	* BittersweetEnding: Gilgamesh is spared the gods' wrath and gains wisdom, but he has to cope with the death of Enkidu, and immortality is denied him.
47	* BoldExplorer: Gilgamesh explored many new lands, defeating monsters and bringing home their treasures. Any actual TropeMaker is probably lost to history, so this is likely as close as we'll ever get.
48	* BookEnds: The epic starts with an evocative description of the splendor of Uruk. It ends with Gilgamesh and Urshanabi arriving at Uruk, and Gilgamesh using the exact same words to describe it.
49	* BullyingADragon: After killing the Bull of Heaven, sent by Inanna to punish Gilgamesh without striking Uruk with her full wrath, he and Enkidu mock her. Enkidu falls ill the same day and soon dies from a divine curse.
50	* CharacterDevelopment: The introduction implies that after his adventure, Gilgamesh became a decent king.
51	* ComingOfAgeStory: Although Gilgamesh is already an adult, the arc of the story is about him learning to ''act'' like one, particularly in the areas of impulse control and accepting death as an inevitable part of life.
52	* DeadSidekick: Gilgamesh completely falls apart after Enkidu's death.
53	* DefeatMeansFriendship: How Enkidu and Gilgamesh meet and become best buddies: by beating the crap out of each other.
54	* {{Determinator}}: Gilgamesh, which is why his name is on the story. First city ruler, first semi-mortal to survive Katabasis
55	* DeusExMachina: At Ninsun's request, Shamash told Gilgamesh that he must trick Humbaba in removing his seven 'auras' which make him impossible for even them to defeat and gifted him with three weapons (a mighty axe, a great sword and a bow). Even then that wasn't enough, and Shamash had to resort to binding Humbaba in thirteen winds to so Enkidu and Gilgamesh can kill him.
56	* DiabolusExMachina: A snake appears at the end to eat Gilgamesh's magic herb, ''just'' to deny him any kind of happy ending.
57	* DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu: After killing the Bull of Heaven, Enkidu throws its 'hindquarters' in Ishtar's face.
58	* DidntThinkThisThrough: In Utnapishtim's tale, the gods created the humanity so that they will work and feed the gods, allowing them to live in leisure. Then, the gods couldn't stand the noise people made, so they tried to exterminate them a few times, culminating with TheGreatFlood. It was apparently successful, but then they realized there is no one left to feed them, nor anything to eat...Whoops. Lucky for them, Utnapishtim managed to make it through and fed them, for which they granted him immortality. (One-time exception; sorry, Gilgamesh.)
59	* DreamSequence: Several, deliberately invoked as divination. Every dream Gilgamesh has before coming to the Cedar Forest involves a mountain falling on top of him. Enkidu deduces that this is ReversePsychology and predicts success.
60	* DroitDuSeigneur: This got him into ''big'' trouble since it was not cool with anyone in his kingdom, and eventually led to Enkidu arriving after the Gods answered his people's prayers.
61	* DualWielding: Gilgamesh uses a [[HeroesPreferSwords sword]] and an axe, sometimes both at once.
62	* EastwardEndeavor: Gilgamesh travels to the earthly paradise of the gods at the easternmost edge of the Earth, and then goes even farther east, across the sea, to the island where the mariner Utnapishtim lives and where he can find a plant that grants back youth. He fails in getting this plant, but in the uttermost east he learns to accept his mortality and overcomes the fear of death that has hounded him since Enkidu died, returning home a wiser man (at least by the standards of the ancient Middle Eastern societies) and at peace with himself.
63	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Ishtar may [[JerkassGods look down on humans and enjoy wreaking havoc in their lives]], but even she was horrified when Enlil [[KillAllHumans attempted to wipe out the human race in its entirety]] [[DisproportionateRetribution just because their noise was making it hard for him to sleep]].
64	* ExactWords: Ea warns Utnapistim of the coming flood even though the gods vow not to tell any human--but Ea didn't tell anyone. He just happened to be talking about it next to a fence that Utnapishtim happened to be standing behind.
65	* ExcessiveMourning: When Enkidu dies from a sickness sent by the gods, Gilgamesh refuses to let him be buried for seven days, hoping he can call him back to life by his mourning. Only when maggots appear in Enkidu's face, Gilgamesh allows the corpse to be buried, and then goes off into the steppe alone to cry for Enkidu, leaving his kingdom behind.
66	* FemmeFatale: The goddess Ishtar. All of her lovers were known to come to bad ends, as Gilgamesh not-so-delicately points out to her.
67	* FeralVillain: [[UnbuiltTrope Unbuilt]]. Enkidu is all set up to be this in an ArrogantGodVsRagingMonster situation but Shamhat's [[SexAsRiteOfPassage in depth education]] civilizes him and he becomes a HeroAntagonist for Gilgamesh.
68	* TheFerryMan: Urshanabi, as he transports Gilgamesh to where Utnapishtim is staying.
69	* FloweryInsults: When Enkidu curses Shamhat for indirectly leading to his death, he lets off a whole string of these, which (in at least one translation) ends with the... memorable "May the drunkard soil with his vomit any place you enjoy."
70	* GainaxEnding: The Epic is composed of twelve tablets. The first eleven tell the coherent story people are familiar with and the eleventh even BookEnds the beginning of the first tablet. The twelfth tablet then features a completely different story where Enkidu is alive, works as Gilgamesh's servant and then gets literally trapped in the Netherworld instead of dying of disease like in the main story. The tablet even ends by saying that it's the twelfth tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh, as if it's trying to ensure the reader that it really is part of the same epic. The tablet is actually an adaptation of a much earlier story, similar to the stories that were used as inspiration for the first eleven tablets. It is believed that it was included with the other tablets due to its long descriptions of the nature of the Netherworld and the afterlife, thus showcasing the wisdom that Gilgamesh gained in the eleven main tablets.
71	* GodEmperor: Gilgamesh again (well, they did name it after him). It also points out how the Sumerian kings are specifically ''not'' this.
72	* GoingToSeeTheElephant: Why did Gilgamesh drag Enkidu on a mission to defeat Humbaba and cut down the giant cedar? Because it was there[[note]]It's entirely possible that the reason is in one of the missing sections[[/note]]. According to Bilgames and Ḫuwawa, the Sumerian original, it's for glory and by Utu's suggestion.
73	* TheGreatFlood: Mentioned in retrospect. The biblical Noah was an {{Expy}} for Utnapishtim (or vice-versa). The prologue reveals that Gilgamesh later in his life used the information he gained from Utnapishtim to preserve the knowledge of the world before the flood.
74	* GrumpyOldMan: Utnapistim doesn't have much time for Gilgamesh. Not surprising, given what ''he'' went through to get immortality.
75	* HairTriggerTemper: Gilgamesh. He has a habit of throwing ''really'' destructive hissy fits.
76	* HeroicBSOD:
77	** Enkidu's death knocks Gilgamesh flat. He has to watch him die over the course of twelve days, is utterly shellshocked when it happens, and by his own account refused to start the funeral rites until Enkidu's corpse was visibly rotting, because Gilgamesh has really hoped the violence of his grief could bring his friend back.
78	** He could have gone back for more of the Flower of Youth, but turns out having everyone say something is impossible and reckless, going out and doing it, then having it snatched away at the last second can change your outlook on things a bit.
79	* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: There's a King Gilgamesh in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumerian_King_List Sumerian King List]] -- though it's probably safe to assume that the Mythological Gilgamesh was merely inspired by the Historical one.
80	* HomoeroticSubtext: There's no question that the deep love between Gilgamesh and Enkidu is central to the story. It's not explicitly sexual, but there's some subtext:
81	** Gilgamesh's dreams about Enkidu are a DoubleEntendre. While LostInTranslation, the Assyrian word for meteor "kisru" sounds like the word for male prostitute "kezru," while axe sounds like the word for eunuchs who take on the sexual role of women.
82	** Before they meet, Ninsun says of Gilgamesh and Enkidu: "Like a wife you'll love him, caress and embrace him." When Enkidu dies, Gilgamesh covers his face "like a bride."
83	* HookerWithAHeartOfGold: Shamhat, maybe. She is a ''harimtu'', a priestess associated with Ishtar. Ishtar is the goddess of, among other things, sex. ''Harimtu'' were definitely seen as sexy. Some scholars have argued that ''harimtu'' were temple prostitutes, but the evidence for this is inconclusive.
84	* HourglassPlot: In an inversion of Enkidu's transformation from a BeastMan to a civilized human, Gilgamesh starts wearing animal skins and lets his hair become tangled and matted after Enkidu's death drives him into a depression.
85	* IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer: Ishtar runs crying to her father after Gilgamesh spurns her, so he gives her the Bull of Heaven to [[DisproportionateRetribution terrorize Uruk in revenge]]. He only does it because Ishtar was being a BrattyTeenageDaughter about it, even after he warned her that making the Bull will cause a seven-year drought.
86	* ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou: Ishtar towards Gilgamesh.
87	* IKEAErotica: Sexual descriptions in this poem are neither flowery nor euphemistic. To introduce Enkidu to the joys of being human, Shamhat is asked to "Use your love arts; strip off your robes and lie there naked with your legs apart." She later "touches his penis and puts him inside her." He also stays erect for seven days (which is much longer than four hours, but that's [[RagingStiffie another trope]]).
88	* ImmortalitySeeker: Gilgamesh spends a good chunk of the story trying to win immortality.
89	* ImmortalityThroughMemory: An {{Aesop}} of the story. After having his final chance at immortality stolen from him, Gilgamesh comes to the realization that the true path to immortality comes not from living forever, but by leaving behind a great legacy that will allow you to be remembered long after you're gone. It's this revelation that marks Gilgamesh's final step in his CharacterDevelopment from an arrogant and selfish man to a wise king.
90	* JerkassGods:
91	** Ishtar. Accept her advances and she will kill you. Reject them and she will kill you along with hundreds of others.
92	** Enlil, the god who brought the great flood in an attempt to destroy humanity. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Ishtar was horrified by this.]]
93	* JumpedAtTheCall: Gilgamesh has a craving for adventure.
94	* KillHimAlready: After Gilgamesh defeats the demon Humbaba and has him at knife-point, Humbaba begs for mercy. Gilgamesh seems ready to grant it, but his friend Enkidu persuades him to get on with it.
95	* KnowWhenToFoldEm: Gilgamesh doesn't.
96	* LostEpisode: Thanks to the ''very'' old age of the work, the story had to be reconstructed from various fragments on tablets. Not all of them have been found.
97	* MakingASplash: Gilgamesh goes to find the survivors of the flood, who were granted {{immortality}}.
98	* {{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.
99	* ManlyTears: [[UnbuiltTrope Unbuilt]]. Gilgamesh sheds these at the death of Enkidu, but "manly tears" would actually have been a redundant concept to the Sumerians, who considered crying to already be ''inherently'' manly.
100	* MoodSwinger: Ishtar. At least Gilgamesh was smart enough to know not to sleep with someone who is a goddess of love by night, but goddess of war by day.
101	* MoreExpendableThanYou: Ushitar towards Gilgamesh.
102	* MortalityPhobia: [[UrExample This is possibly the oldest example of this trope.]] It chronicles the life of Gilgamesh as a seeks a way to avert death following an act that angered the Sumerian gods. The title character goes to great lengths to gain immortality, including trying to stay awake for seven days, and swimming to the bottom of the ocean to get a magical weed. His quest for immortality ultimately ends in him having to accept that death cannot be subverted.
103	* MortonsFork:
104	** Gilgamesh declines Ishtar's advances, because she kills or curses her targets of affection once she gets bored of them. [[WomanScorned So she invokes the Bull of Heaven on Uruk.]]
105	** Enkidu can either a) get killed by the Bull of Heaven or b) be slain by a BoltOfDivineRetribution for killing the Bull of Heaven.
106	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
107	** This was Ishtar's reaction after the Great Flood.
108	--->''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.''
109	** In the 2011 tablet, this is Enkidu's reaction after killing Humbaba.
110	--->''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?'''
111	* NarrativePoem: The UrExample.
112	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: It's well-known that Humbaba was put there by Enlil because he didn't want anyone cutting down the cedars. Enkidu insists on killing him anyway. Then Gilgamesh destroys a bunch of stone men hanging out by the ferry and asks Urnashabi for a ride, only to be informed that the stone men are how Urshanabi was able to cross the waters of death. They punt themselves across with poles instead, but Urshanabi can never cross again.
113	* NoahsStoryArc: Utnapishtim is the UrExample and TropeMaker, pre-dating Noah's story from ''Literature/TheBible''. Similarly to his biblical counterpart, he built a giant ship called ''The Preserver of Life'' to save his family, friends and all the animals from a flood. He was granted immortality afterwards.
114	* NominalHero: Gilgamesh starts off as an outright VillainProtagonist, but even after his HeelFaceTurn, his heroic deeds are motivated less by any real benevolence and more by a desire for personal glory.
115	* TheNothingAfterDeath: There ''is'' something, but Irkalla (the underworld) isn't fun.
116	* OhCrap: Enkidu and then Gilgamesh have this reaction to Humbaba and have to encourage the other to keep going.
117	* OurGiantsAreBigger: Humbaba -- "His maw is fire, his breath is death... Who, even among gods, could attack him?"
118	* 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.
119	* TheOutsiderBefriendsTheBest: Quite possibly the UrExample: Enkidu the wild man is created by the gods to balance out king Gilgamesh, who otherwise spends his days drinking, feasting and exercising DroitDuSeigneur. After a wrestling match ends in a draw, they become best friends and Gilgamesh a better king.
120	* OverlyLongGag: The part where the darkness was thick and there was no light, he could see nothing ahead and nothing behind him. It's repeated 6 times, all in a row.
121	* ParrotExposition: Several times a character will say something only to have it repeated back to them with only a little extra as a response. As the story probably originated from oral sources, it's likely the repetitive elements were deliberate, to help people remember them.
122	* {{Pun}}: When Utnapishtim warns the ruler of his city about the flood, he does so by saying that the sky will rain "kibtu (corn)" and "kukku (sound of kernels hitting the ground)" as a pun on "kibitu (misery)" and "kukkû (suffering)" in the original language. This means that Utnapishtim delivered the first recorded corny pun.
123	* RadishCure: Inanna/Ishtar asks Gilgamesh to be her consort, but he refuses, citing what happened to pretty much all of her other boyfriends and husbands. Enraged, she runs to her daddy, Nanna the moon god, and asks for Gugalana, the Bull of Heaven. (Actually, the first husband of her older twin Ereshkigal. This becomes important later.) Nanna warns her that giving her the Bull of Heaven will cause a drought and says no, but Inanna/Ishtar pitches a fit, threatening to cause [[UrExample what we today would call]] a ZombieApocalypse if Gugalana is not given to her. Nanna gives in, and Enkidu and Gilgamesh destroy Gugalana.
124	* RaisedByWolves: Enkidu was created by the gods, but then released in the wilds where he was raised by a herd of gazelles.
125	* RatedMForManly: Manly tears, testosterone poisoning, and Call to Adventure all in one.
126	* RedundantDepartmentOfRedundancy: Every major plot point is written out at least twice, as a vestige of oral tradition. For instance the people complain about Gilgamesh's bad behavior as king by saying:
127	-->''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.''
128	[[indent:18:This is redundant enough on its own but it is then immediately repeated ''word for word'' by the gods.]]
129	* SceneryPorn: Uruk's famous BookEnds description at the beginning and the ends of the tale.
130	--> ''The outer wall shines in the sun like the brightest copper; the inner wall is beyond the imagining of kings. Study the brickwork, study the fortification; climb the great ancient staircase to the terrace; study how it is made; from the terrace see the planted and fallow fields, the ponds, and orchards. One league is the inner city, another league is orchards; still another the fields beyond; over there is the precinct of the temple.''
131	-->''Three leagues and the temple precinct of Ishtar measure Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh.''
132	* 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.
133	* 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 [[ExtraParentConception contribute to the resulting baby]]; Gilgamesh therefore is the son of the goddess Ninsun and then two men, one god and one mortal.
134	* SerpentOfImmortality: The magical plant which grants eternal life and youth is stolen by a snake, making it immortal. Gilgamesh didn't get a chance to eat the plant and had to go home mortal.
135	* SexAsRiteOfPassage: Shamhat's two-week long sex session with Enkidu (with an interim educational conversation) is the first step in making him a civilized man.
136	* SexSignalsDeath:
137	** 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.
138	** Ishtar's lovers all meet ironic ends.
139	* ShiningCity: Uruk is visually beautiful, even if Gilgamesh runs rampant as a tyrant in the beginning.
140	* SoapOperaDisease: The ailment that kills Enkidu.
141	* SpannerInTheWorks: That darn snake who stole the herb of immortality.
142	* SuperStrength: Gilgamesh has to have it to achieve some of his feats. In real time his extreme feats were written thousands of years before Superman was even thought up.
143	* ThresholdGuardians: Downplayed: The Scorpion Men guard the tunnel that the sun rolls through at night, which leads to the realm of the gods. Gilgamesh gets through them by just explaining his situation, and they let him go.
144	* TheTimeOfMyths: Even when the story was written, it was set in the distant past. So for example, when Gilgamesh does DroitDuSeigneur, this does not mean this is how a Mesopotamian would've actually behaved historically.
145	* TooCleverByHalf: Gilgamesh decides not to act on impulse and plans to test the effects of the youth-restoring plant before he tries it himself, so he's going to bring it all the way back to Uruk. He loses it entirely through a moment's inattention.
146	* TooDumbToLive: In the [[GainaxEnding seemingly unrelated twelfth tablet]] Gilgamesh gives Enkidu a long list of things not to do when he's visiting the Netherworld to make sure he doesn't get noticed and caught. It basically boils down to "don't wear clothes that make you stand out, don't make any noise, don't throw things at people, and don't kiss and beat up the people you loved and hated in life". Enkidu doesn't listen to what Gilgamesh says and manages to break every single piece of advice that Gilgamesh gave him. Needless to say, he doesn't make it out.
147	* TookALevelInKindness: Gilgamesh becomes a good deal nicer as a ruler and a person after his fight with Enkidu.
148	* TragicBromance: Gilgamesh and Enkidu.
149	* UnbuiltTrope:
150	** A lot of the wish-fulfillment elements embodied in Gilgamesh are portrayed as immature character flaws that needs to be overcome (consider how later Myth/ClassicalMythology might have treated the same subjects), his heroic adventures only sets off a chain of events leading to the death of his best friend and when going on the most important quest of his life what does he do? He fails.
151	** More recent stories attempting to tread the same path typically feature a man going on an EpicQuest to achieve literal immortality, only to realize along the way that it is better to achieve figurative immortality by leaving a legacy of mighty deeds. Gilgamesh however does it the other way around: He attempts to make a legacy for himself ''first,'' and it's only later when he discovers that literal immortality is even possible that he redirects his efforts towards it, with the ''actual'' {{Aesop}} he learns at the end being that trying to fight death ''at all'' is an immature and fruitless endeavor.
152	* UnevenHybrid: Gilgamesh is two-thirds god, one-third man. The ancient Sumerians thought that if a woman got pregnant after having sex with two different men, then [[ExtraParentConception the baby had two fathers]].
153	* UnexplainedRecovery: The twelfth tablet has Enkidu alive with no explanation. However, the lack of context makes the situation unclear. There might have been an explanation that has yet to be found, or maybe the twelfth tablet was actually part of a different story. Still other scholars believe that it's an "inorganic appendage" to the epic.
154	* UrExample: Due to the ''sheer age'' of the work, most of it's tropes are either this or [[UnbuiltTrope Unbuilt]] examples. In particular Gilgamesh provides the current page image for the Ur-Example article, by using his SuperStrength to bend an Ox in half (in accordance with the "first usage ever" interpretation of what an Ur-Example is, though the story provides plenty of both versions).
155	* WalkingTheEarth: Gilgamesh after Enkidu's death.
156	* WeAreAsMayflies: At first Gilgamesh uses this as a flippant reply when Enkidu has reservations about the Humbaba hunt. It later becomes his obsession.
157	* WeCanRuleTogether: Ishtar claims that if Gilgamesh marries her, lords and kings will bow before him and distant lands will pay tribute to him, implying this trope.
158	* WhatTheHellHero: When Gilgamesh shows up on his doorstep asking how to gain immortality, Utnapishtim recounts the Deluge and his role in rescuing terrestrial life from it in full, terrifying detail. Then he follows up with "so what did ''you'' do to earn immortality lately?"
159	* WhoWantsToLiveForever: Gilgamesh does. The story is largely about him learning that it's too hard to achieve, even for a badass of his caliber, and that it's more mature to accept your own mortality.
160	* WildHair: Enkidu has it when he's first "born" and gets it cut when he's civilized. Gilgamesh later gains it after he goes wild-man in the aftermath of Enkidu's death.
161	* WomanlinessAsPathos: There is a wide variety of examples of the trope, beginning with Gilgamesh himself being a despotic tyrant who raped any woman he wanted, whether or not they were married or a relative to his allies. As part of the gods' plan to stop him, a wild man named Enkidu encounters a priestess and has sex with her, which (to the animal spirits) now made Enkidu "domesticated" and no longer wild. This civility causes Enkidu to become outraged when he learns of Gilgamesh's action, and so he goes to challenge him. The two fight and become {{Best Friend}}s. During their adventures, the LoveGoddess Ishtar becomes enraptured with Gilgamesh, but he spurns her. The gods see this as a great insult and punish the two by [[AesopCollateralDamage having Enkidu fall fatally ill]]. Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to become an ImmortalitySeeker, and this becomes his primary motive throughout the rest of the tale.
162	* WomanScorned: Ishtar. Then again, Woman ''Accepted'' isn't [[MortonsFork much better with her]].
163	* WorldsStrongestMan: Gilgamesh. If it had a name and could fight, Gilgamesh defeated it.
164	* WorthyOpponent:
165	** Enkidu and Gilgamesh. It's the foundation of their friendship.
166	** A copy of the ''Epic'' discovered in Iraq in 2011 contained additional lines that hadn't been seen before, depicting Gilgamesh and Enkidu referring to Humbaba as a worthy opponent after his death, and expressing some remorse at having destroyed the beautiful Cedar Forest in their battle.
167	* {{Yandere}}: Ishtar throws a tantrum when Gilgamesh rejects her and tries to destroy the whole city of Uruk. This is possibly one of the most extreme variants on the notion that "If I can't have you, then no one can!" ever committed to paper (or clay, rather).
168	* YouCantFightFate: You can't escape your own mortality (unless you're Utnapishtim and his wife).
169	* ZombieApocalypse: UrExample. Ishtar threatens to knock down the doors of the underworld to bring the dead up, who will eat the living.[[note]]May not be the ur-example, as the stanza is repeated verbatim in the story of Ishtar's descent into the underworld, where, it must be said, it makes far more sense.[[/note]]

Context Literature / TheEpicOFGilgamesh