Older Than Feudalism - Television Tropes & Idioms

All of The Oldest Ones in the Book first recorded after the invention of the Greek alphabet (c. 800 BCE) and before the fall of Rome (c. 476 CE). Works from this period include:

All ancient Greek and Roman myths, literature, and theatre.*
Some of these stories may have originated before the Greeks invented their alphabet, but the only versions we have come from this period
The Bible*
Some parts of the Torah/Pentateuch may originate from as early as 950 BCE, but this is uncertain, and for simplicity's sake the whole Bible is included on this index.
Most of ancient South Asian literature and Hindu Mythology, including:
- The Hindu Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Bhagavad Gita.
- The Panchatantra fables
- The plays of Kālidāsa
- The Buddhist epic Buddhacharita
- The Twenty-Five Tales of the Vetala
Most surviving examples of ancient Chinese literature, philosophy, and history date to this period:
- The Analects of Confucius
- The Daodejing by Laozi and other foundational texts of Taoism.
- The Art of War, probably by Sūn Zǐ (also spelled Sun Tzu).
- The Thirty-Six Stratagems, usually attributed to Sūn Zǐ or Zhuge Liang.
The Zoroastrian holy book, Avesta.
The Manichean holy book, Shabuhragan.

Note: Tropes originating in other mythologies/religions almost never belong in here, as we have no idea whether those stories even existed by the 5th century CE, or what forms they took, centuries before they were first written down. Even Norse and Celtic mythology are only Older Than Print; although they're derived at least in part from earlier (unwritten) stories, the details are fundamentally un-dateable. Early folklorists often started with the assumption that folktales and myths never changed; more research has shown that people can and do modify all sorts of tales for many purposes.

Tropes that date back to this time period:

Abdicate The Throne: A famous, albeit curious, example appears in The Odyssey. Odysseus, son of Laertes, is the legitimate King of Ithaca. His father Laertes is however still alive in the last chapter. He had retired to his farm, but seems virile enough to take arms. Most scholars agree that Laertes had abdicated the throne in favor of his son, but nowhere does the text explain why.
Abduction Is Love: The abduction of Persephone by Hades in Greek Mythology. This married couple of deities is typically depicted as relatively happy, and stable, with few fights and very few stories of infidelity.
Absence Makes The Heart Go Yonder: Agamemnon and Clytemnestra didn't wait during the Trojan War, nor remain faithful. Clytemnestra did have a reason, though.
Abusive Parents: Common in Classical Mythology. Ouranos and Cronos both imprisoned all their children at birth. Hephaestos in The Iliad tells how his father Zeus threw him off a mountain. Acrisios imprisoned his daughter Danae, then threw her into the sea when she got pregnant anyway.
A Chat With Satan: Two such tests of character occur in The Bible: The serpent's conversation with Eve, and Satan trying to tempt Jesus in the wilderness.
Achilles Heel: The Big Bad Duryodhana in the Mahabharata, and Talos in Greek Mythology. Also Achilles, the Trope Namer.
Achilles in His Tent: Homer's The Iliad; Trope Namer
Actually, I Am Him: In the The Odyssey, Odysseus returns to Ithaca disguised as a beggar. His first contact with Penelope, has him delivering (false) news concerning her missing husband.
Adam and Eve Plot: The Book Of Genesis casts the Sons of Noah (Ham, Japheth, and Shem) and their unnamed wives in this role. The Adam and Eve story from the same book is not however a particularly good example. Neither of the two was a survivor from a previous group, nor did they struggle against extinction.
Adipose Rex: King Eglon from The Bible (Judges 3).
An Aesop: Greek folktales, notably Aesop's Fables, have these.
Age Without Youth: Tithonos of Greek Mythology ages forever without dying, after a botched wish. The Cumaean Sibyl is cursed with the same after spurning Apollo.
A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Genesis 3 and the fall of Adam and Eve.
Akashic Records: A repository of ultimate knowledge on another plane of existence. In other words, The Internet! The name comes from Sanskrit, and the concept originates in the Samkhya philosophies, which were first recorded around 200 CE.
Alcohol Hic: Afflicts Aristophanes in Plato's Symposium.
Alien Lunch: Atreus in Greek Mythology, and his brother Thyestes.
All Amazons Want Hercules: The Trope Namer happens in a Greek myth. Also occurs in the Mahabharata with Hidimba falling for Bhima.
All for Nothing: Saul, David, and Solomon in The Bible.
All Girls Want Bad Boys: The Odyssey contains a well known Greek story: Aphrodite, though married to the smith-god Hephaestus, much prefers the bloody war-god Ares and has a long affair.
All Just a Dream: Zhuangzi.
All of the Other Reindeer: Hephaestus was either born crippled and abandoned at birth, or born ugly and crippled when his father threw him off of Olympus. In The Iliad the other gods mock him for his lameness. A Homeric Hymn has Hera describe her son with disgust. He still manufactures most of their great weapons.
All Planets Are Earthlike: Showed up in the first space travel story ever, "A True History" by Roman author Lucian. (This is excusable because the telescope wouldn't be invented until the Renaissance.) Not only is the moon Earthlike, but so is the Sun.
Almost Dead Guy: A Greek legend, based looooosely on the historical Marathon run.
Alternate History: Book IX of Livy's History of Rome.
Anachronic Order: The Bible is written this way. One of the major principles of Judaism is Ein Mukdam Umeuchar Batorah, which basically means don't assume things happen in the order they're written.
Anachronism Stew: The most famous Greek myths of Theseus jump from bronze age Crete to Classical, democratic Athens, and depict other Greek cities as early Archaic monarchies.
Ancestral Weapon: Theseus received his father's sword from his mother.
Ancient Grome: The Romans themselves would place plays in Athens or other Greek cities, to avoid slandering the state, but leave everything else Roman-like.
And I Must Scream: Tityos and Prometheus suffer horrible torture in Greek myths. Tityos suffers forever; Prometheus is bound forever or for several centuries, Depending on the Writer.
And Now You Must Marry Me: A Real Life custom found in many cultures around the world — anthropologists call it "marriage by abduction" or "bridal theft". Appears in The Bible in the abduction of the Shiloh women, and the rape of Dinah in Genesis 34. The Romans had their Rape of the Sabine Women.
Androcles Lion: Aesop's Fables; Trope Namer.
And Your Little Dog Too: Hector killing Patroclus in The Iliad.
Angel Unaware: Lot's houseguests in Sodom (Genesis 19).
Angry Guard Dog: The Greek underworld is guarded by the multi-headed Cerberus.
Animal Assassin: Hera sendt two serpents to kill the infant Heracles. Of course, it didn't work.
Animorphism: See Baleful Polymorph and Voluntary Shapeshifting on this page.
Answering Echo: Narcissos and Echo, in Ovid's poetry.
Antagonistic Offspring: See David and Absalom.
Anvilicious: Aesop's Fables
Apocalypse Wow: The entirety of the Book of Revelation.
Apple of Discord: How Eris started the Trojan War, and the Trope Namer.
Arcadia: Trope Namer is a region in Greece, held to be the home of Pan, the god of shepherds and the wilderness. Virgil celebrates it as a pastoral paradise in his Eclogues.
Archangel Gabriel: First mentioned in the Book of Daniel.
Archangel Michael: First mentioned in the Book of Daniel.
Arranged Marriage: More the rule than the exception, in many cultures. When it's time for Abraham's son Isaac to get married, Abraham sends his servant back to the old country to find a nice girl for him. Isaac and Rebecca agree to the match without meeting each other (Genesis 24).
Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: From The Bible, 1 Peter 4:15: "by no means let any of you suffer as a murderer or thief or evildoer or a troublesome meddler."
Ascended Fanfic: The Aeneid was a fanfic continuation of The Iliad.
Ass In A Lion Skin: One of Aesop's Fables.
Attempted Rape: In The Odyssey, the giant Tityos is tortured forever in Tartaros for trying to rape the goddess Leto.
Author Filibuster: The plot of The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius Platonicus wraps up early with the last chapter spent talking about how awesome the cult of Isis was, of which Apuleius just happened to be a member.
- Stealth Parody: OR, Apuleius was making fun of the cults as elaborate cons to part gullible persons (like the hero Lucius) from their money.
Ax Crazy: Referenced by Socrates.
Badass Bookworm: Athena was the Greek Goddess of crafts, knowledge, and warfare, though her domain was more in the strategic aspect of war. As a female deity, she didn't look the part when not wearing her armor.
Badass Crew: The Argonauts, who included famous heroes such as Hercules among them.
Baleful Polymorph: Several in Greek myth: Circe transformed men into animals in The Odyssey; various gods transformed Procne and Philomela into birds, and turned some Arcadian guys into werewolves. Zeus turned Io into a cow. Dionysus turned some pirates into dolphins.
The Bard: Ancient Greeks had them, and one shows up in The Odyssey. He may even be Homer's Author Avatar.
Barrier Maiden: In the Theogony, the god Atlas has to hold up the sky forever.
Bastard Bastard: Abimelech, son of Gideon in the Book of Judges 8:29-9:56, was the illegitimate son of Gideon who murdered his 70 legitimate brothers (he had a lot of step-mothers), then conquered his father's kingdom.
Battle Epic: The Iliad is one.
Battle of Wits: Sun Tzu's The Art of War is practically a handbook for these.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: The Bible is probably the most frequently misquoted text in history. Special mention goes to the adage "Money is the root of all evil", a misquote of 1 Timothy 6:10.*
"For the love of money is the root of all evil." Meaning greed, not money itself.
Be A Whore To Get Your Man: Delilah and Samson in The Bible (Book of Judges).
Be Careful What You Wish For: Tithonos wished for immortality, but both he and his lover Eos forgot to wish for eternal youth. In one of Aesop's Fables, a herdsman notices one of his calves missing from the herd. He prays for his patron deities to lead him to whoever stole the missing calf. When he finds the thief, it proves to be a lion.
Because Destiny Says So: In Greek Mythology, an oracle warned Pelias that a man with one sandal would be his downfall. Iason/Jason was that man, and the rightful heir of the throne Pelias usurped. Destiny is the plot driver in Virgil's The Aeneid, because Aeneas is fated to found Rome. The gods like to remind him of he has a destiny.
Bedsheet Ladder: Michal and David in The Bible (Samuel 19).
Big Bad: Hera (for Heracles). Poseidon in The Odyssey. Satan (in The Bible). Cronos in the first part of Hesiod's Theogony.
Bigger Is Better in Bed: The Book of Ezekiel of The Bible.
Big Heroic Run: The original Marathon run, 490 BCE.
Bi the Way: Many ancient Greek men had homosexual relationships, especially before they were 30 years old, the usual minimum age for a man to marry a woman. Bisexuality was usually not treated as unusual or wrong.
The Blacksmith: Hephaestus is an immortal blacksmith. The Iliad describes him at work, creating armor and weapons.
Blessed with Suck: King Midas.
Blind Seer: Tiresias in Greek works such as The Odyssey.
Blood Bath: The Christian apologist Prudentius accused the priests of the Magna Mater of bathing in bulls' blood; he may have been exaggerating, but the trope at least appears in his anti-pagan writings.
Blood Knight: Ares, the Greek God of War — or rather, bloodlust and slaughter.
Blood Magic: In Exodus, when the Angel of Death came to kill the firstborn children of Egypt, the Jews painted their doors with lamb blood so the angel would know which babies to spare.
Blood Sport: Roman gladiatorial combat.
Bluff The Impostor: When Odysseus finally returned home to Ithaca in The Odyssey, his wife Penelope tested him with a blatant lie about their bedroom's construction. Odysseus proved his identity by correcting her.
Bolt of Divine Retribution: The Greek god Zeus punished many people with his signature lightning bolt, i.e. Iasion (who slept with Demeter) and Salmoneus (who tried to impersonate Zeus).
Born As An Adult: In the Theogony, Athena emerged from the head of Zeus in adult form and fully armed, and Aphrodite emerged from the sea foam in adult form. In the Works and Days, Hephaestus created Pandora, the first mortal woman, in adult form.
Bound and Gagged: Odysseus asks his crew to tie him to the mast when his ship sails past the Sirens in The Odyssey. The other sailors use his reactions as a gauge for when it's safe to unclog their ears.
Boy Meets Girl: Ovid's Pygmalion and Galatea, sort of.
Breaking the Bonds: The story of Damon and Pythias from Classical Mythology, as well as the story of Samson from The Bible.
Breaking the Fourth Wall: Ancient Greek playwrights did this all the time... they even did it before the concept of the Fourth Wall was an accepted universal conceit!
Break the Haughty: The Ancient Greek idea of hubris often includes the gods punishing the prideful mortal.
Bring My Brown Pants: A regular occurrence in the plays of Aristophanes.
Bring News Back: Pheidippides at the Battle of Marathon, who managed to warn Athens that Sparta would not aid them in time for the battle.
Brother-Sister Team: The Iliad has twin deities Apollo and Artemis teaming up to slay the children of Niobe. Apollo killed the sons, Artemis the daughters.
Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie: When the Isrealites left Egypt, they took the embalmed body of Joseph with them (Exodus 13:19), fulfilling Joseph's own wish (Genesis 50:25).
But I Can't Be Pregnant!: Abraham and Sarah in Genesis. Subverted with Mary, who's often depicted as knowing why she's pregnant with Jesus.
The Call Knows Where You Live: God wants the prophet Jonah deliver a warning to Nineveh. Jonah tries to shirk the mission, but God's intervention prevents him from getting away till he agrees to fulfill the mission.
Canon Fodder: Notable examples in Homer's works include the fate of Aeneas in The Iliad, and the specifics of the Fall of Troy.
Captain Ersatz: Aphrodite is almost certainly the same goddess as the Mesopotamian Inanna/Ishtar, with a Hellenized name and new back story, at least in the story of her and Adonis/Attis. He, in turn, is the Phrygian/Greek ersatz of the Mesopotamian Dumuzi/Tammuz, Inanna's husband.
Carry a Big Stick: Hercules's Weapon of Choice.
The Cassandra: Cassandra herself, in the works of Homer.
Cassandra Truth. Princess Cassandra of Troy; Trope Namer.
The Casanova: Zeus, king of the Greek pantheon. Yes, they had very different values from us.
Catch the Conscience. Happens to King David in The Bible, courtesy of Nathan (2 Samuel 12).
Celebrity Endorsement: Ancient Roman gladiators used to do this all the time.
Celibate Hero: The title character of Euripides's Hippolytus.
Celestial Paragons And Archangels: There are several kinds of angels in The Bible, some mightier than others.
Cement Shoes: In The Bible, Jesus says that people who tempt others to sin should "be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck".
Chained to a Rock: Prometheus in Hesiod's Theogony is the Trope Namer.
The Chains of Commanding: The Sword of Damocles, described by Cicero.
Changeling Fantasy: Many Half-Human Hybrids in Greek Mythology, if their father or mother was a god.
The Chessmaster (only the version without chess motifs): The Art of War is a good guide on how to be the Chessmaster (but inspired by go instead).
Chess with Death: Some Greek characters challenge gods to contests and end up dead or otherwise badly off. I.e. Marsyas (5th century BCE), Arachne (Ovid and Virgil), and Thamyris in Apollodorus and Asklepiades.
The Chooser of The One: The prophet Samuel chose the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David, in The Bible, led by God.
City Mouse: From Aesop's "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse". Trope Namer.
The Clan: The Greeks loved genealogy and linked most of their gods together into one huge Badass family.
Clap Your Hands If You Believe: The Gospel of Luke.
The Climax: In The Odyssey, for example, the climax comes in Books 21 and 22, when Odysseus strings his bow, reveals himself, and starts killing people. There's not much denouement.
Clingy Jealous Girl: Hera, though she had reason to be jealous since Zeus was constantly unfaithful.
Clingy MacGuffin: The Ring of Polykrates, as recounted by Herodotus.
Clothes Make the Superman: In the Greek myth of Perseus, the invisibility cap, flying sandals, and magic arms are what let Perseus kill Medusa.
Cluster F-Bomb: Gaius Valerius Catullus' Carmen 16.
Cold-Blooded Torture: Greek Mythology has Prometheus and Tityos chained up while vultures perpetually eat their regenerating livers. Echetos liked to hack off the body parts and genitals of everyone he met. In Real Life the Persian and Roman Empires executed some people by crucifixion.
Combat by Champion: David and Goliath (The Bible, 1 Samuel 17). Eteocles and Polyneices finally agreed to end the war of Thebes this way, but killed each other simultaneously. Republican Roman soldiers practiced single combat.
Comes Great Responsibility: Virgil used this trope as the Roman ideal. The Bible has the Parable of the Faithful Servant.
Come to Gawk: The title character in Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound was Chained to a Rock in the middle of nowhere, but he figured this was part of the punishment too. In The Bible the Philistines blinded Samson and put him on display. Real Life Romans publicly displayed crucifixion victims.
Comforting the Widow: The Widow of Ephesus story in Satyricon.
Comedy: Greek theatre from the 5th century BCE onwards, with Aristophanes as the most notable author.
Cool and Unusual Punishment: In addition to physical tortures, Greek Mythology features a variety of less physical tortures such as those inflicted upon Tantalos and Sisyphos (in The Odyssey) and Atlas (in Theogony). The biblical Cain's punishment for killing his brother was to be shunned by all people for the rest of his life.
Cool Horse: Laomedon and Achilles both own immortal horses in The Iliad.
Cool Sword: Perseus's sword was a gift from the gods, according to Aeschylus and Apollodorus.
Country Mouse: From Aesop's "The City Mouse and the Country Mouse". Trope Namer.
Crossover: The Argonautica (3rd century BCE).
Crowd Song: The chorus in Greek drama.
Crying Wolf: The original is one of Aesop's Fables.
Cunning Like a Fox: In Aesop's Fables.
Cutting the Knot: The original Gordian Knot.
Daddy's Girl: According to The Iliad, Athena is Zeus' favorite child. Ares claims that Zeus rarely bothers to restrict her behavior. She also has the boyish traits associated with the trope.
A Date with Rosie Palms: Genesis 38 is the source for an outdated term for masturbation, Onanism. *
Some argue that, technically speaking, the sin in question, and thus the term, was Onan not impregnating his late brother's wife for him rather than what he did with his tonker instead, but in either case, the possibly wrong use of the term is older than dirt regardless.
David Versus Goliath: The Trope Namer is from the Book of Samuel in The Bible.
The Day of Reckoning: The Book of Revelation in The Bible.
Dead Person Conversation: Odysseus converses with several ghosts in Homer's Odyssey.
Death by Childbirth: Likely as old as our species, what with our disproportionately huge heads and tiny, tiny hips. In The Bible, Jacob's favorite wife Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin.
Death Takes a Holiday: Sisyphos tied up Thanatos in Greek Mythology, and nobody could die until Ares rescued him.
Democracy Is Bad: Plato's The Republic, various ancient Chinese writings.
Demythtification: Euhemerus' treatment of Greek mythology is the alternate trope namer.
Denied Food as Punishment: Tantalos killed his son and tried to trick the gods into eating him. Punished in Tartaros, he stands forever in a pool of water, surrounded by fruit trees, but whenever he reaches for it the water drains away and the branches blow out of reach.
Determinator: Odysseus does get home.
Different as Night and Day: Artemis and Apollo became this quite literally after the Greeks and Romans started regarding them as sun god and moon goddess.
Different for Girls: In The Trojan Cycle, when Thetis disguised her son Achilles in drag, he completely failed to pull it off — not that he really wanted to dodge the draft.
Dishing Out Dirt: Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, is also the Earth-shaker who causes earthquakes.
Distressed Damsel: Andromeda and Hesione, both in the same pickle: their parents pissed off Poseidon, and had to sacrifice them to giant sea monsters to save their kingdoms. Thanks, Mom!
Don't Look Back: In the story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Book of Genesis), looking back got Lot's wife turned into a pile of salt. Orpheus lost his wife Eurydice (again) because he looked back when leading her out of Hades.
Double Entendre: A favorite tactic of Greek comedians. Aristophanes's plays are full of them.
Double Standard: In The Odyssey the nymph Calypso complains about this. She points out that male gods frequently sleep with mortal women, but are "harsh and far too jealous" when goddesses take mortal lovers.
Downer Ending: Rather common in Greek Mythology. The Odyssey has the murder of Agamemnon. The Returns told the deaths of several characters of the Trojan War. The Telegony has Odysseus killed accidentally by one of his own sons. The Argonauts' story ends with Jason's ignominous death. Greek tragedy almost required this trope.
Draft Dodging: Odysseus tried to avoid joining the Trojan War by pretending to be insane, but the other princes called his bluff. Thetis tried to get her son Achilles out of it by dressing him in drag.
Dressing as the Enemy: Homer's Iliad.
Driven By Envy: Cain killing Abel in The Bible.
Driven to Suicide: King Saul from The Bible. Queen Iocaste in Oedipus The King.
Drives Like Crazy: Yes, really: Jehu, son of Nimshi drives his chariot "like a madman" (The Bible, 2 Kings 9:20). When Phaethon drove the sun chariot recklessly, he died and nearly destroyed all life on Earth.
The Drunken Sailor: In The Odyssey, the ship was almost home when the sailors decided to crack open Odysseus's pouch, assuming he was hoarding wine or gold. It actually contained all the winds, which immediately blew them way off course.
Dual Wielding: Dimachaerii type gladiators in Ancient Roman games.
Dude, She's Like, In a Coma!: In Greek Mythology the handsome Endymion is enchanted to eternally sleep, with his youth and beauty preserved. Meanwhile Selene, goddess of the Moon, frequently makes love to him.
Due to the Dead: Achilles dragging and abusing Hector's corpse in The Iliad exemplifies the evil version. The protagonists in Sophocles's Antigone and Electra exemplify the good form.
Dumb Muscle: Ajax in The Iliad. Olympic "meatbag" athletes, according to some ancient Greek philosophers. Heracles is often depicted this way, not to mention Atlas who got tricked by Heracles.
Dystopia: Prophesied in the Book of Revelation.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Homer's Odyssey ends with the protagonist triumphant and the evildoers punished, but boy does Odysseus have to earn it. He literally goes through Hell, and 20 years of exile, angst, and heartsickness, to get home. This epic was held up as the prototype of comedy, which originally just meant any story with a happy ending.
Eats Babies: In the Theogony, the Titan Cronus swallowed his own children, though unlike Child Eaters he didn't make a habit of seeking out more babies.
Eaten Alive: Some characters in Greek myth die this way, such as Odysseus's shipmates in Polyphemos's cave. Some gods, such as Prometheus and the siblings of Zeus, suffer this and survive, because Greek gods can't die.
Emotional Bruiser: Hector in The Iliad: mighty warrior, devoted husband and father, and named by Helen as the only one who's nice to her but Priam.
Enthralling Siren: The Sirens and their fatally enthralling voices in Greek Mythology.
Epic Catalog: The Catalogue of Ships in Book II of The Iliad is probably the most famous one in ancient epic poetry.
Eureka Moment: Trope Namer is Archimedes in his bath, allegedly.
Even the Guys Want Him: Narcissus of late Greek and Roman myth.
Every Man Has His Price: Excessive amounts of bribery were commonplace in the Roman Republic.
Everything's Better with Rainbows:
- Rainbows used by characters: In Greek religion, the rainbow was personified as the goddess Iris, and was the path left by her as she travelled between heaven and earth.
- Rainbows as symbols: In Genesis 9, the rainbow is the sign of God's promise that he will never again destroy the Earth with a flood.
Everything's Worse with Bears: In The Bible (2 Kings 2) when a group of children mocked Elisha for his baldness, he cursed them, whereupon two bears came out of a forest to maul them.
Expecting Someone Taller: Jesus.
Explain Explain Oh Crap: Deianira in Trachiniae, telling the chorus about the "strange sight" that is the bubbling, disintegrating piece of cloth she used to smear a "love potion" onto a shirt she just gave her husband.
Face Heel Turn: In the back story of Euripides' play Hecuba, Achilles defected to Troy after falling in love with Polyxena, one of its princesses.
The Face Of The Sun: This type of solar iconography first showed up in Roman and late Greek religious artwork, such as the sides of temples.
Fairest of Them All: The Judgement of Paris in The Trojan Cycle, when Eris deliberately provoked a fight between goddesses using an Apple of Discord inscribed with the words "to the fairest." The resulting fight caused the Trojan War.
Fake Defector: In The Aeneid and The Odyssey Sinon surrenders to the Trojans, claiming he defected from the Greeks, so he can convince the Trojans that the Trojan Horse is a gift.
Faking the Dead: Orestes in Electra.
False Rape Accusation: Potiphar's wife, after failing to rape the biblical Joseph, tells her husband that Joseph raped her.
Fanon: The Bible never states that there are three Magi, never even gives a definite number, and doesn't specify that they were male. It also doesn't specify that the fruit Adam and Eve ate was an apple, and doesn't refer to Mary Magdalene as a prostitute.
Fashion Hurts: Plutarch mentions painful footwear.
The Fatalist: All the time. Thetis warned her son Achilles that two fates awaited him: if he went to Troy, he would die young, but become famous forever. If he stayed home, he would live a long time, but be forgotten. He went to troy and was not shy about courting death. Hector knew he was fated to die at Achilles's hands, but eventually chose to face him.
Feed the Mole: One of The Thirty-Six Stratagems.
Fighting For A Homeland: The march of the Ten Thousand, as depicted in Xenophon's Anabasis. The Hebrews fighting the Canaanites in The Bible. The Trojan refugees in The Aeneid.
Fire-Forged Friends: The Spartans and Thebans encouraged soldiers to have a lover in the army so that they'd fight harder to protect them. And if they died, hopefully they'd go Axe Crazy in a quest for vengeance.
Fire Of Comfort: The domain of Hestia, Greek goddess of the Hearth. She was associated with the fireplace and the joys of domesticity. A Homeric Hymn to her mentions her place of honor in the residences of every immortal god and every mortal man.
Flashback: Homer's Odyssey.
Flipping the Table: Jesus does this with the moneychangers in the temple.
Fluffy the Terrible: A nasty-looking dog named "Puppy" in The Satyricon.
Food Chains: Eating some pomegranate seeds in the underworld forced Persephone to return there every year. In the Homeric Hymns, Hades force-fed her. Odysseus almost loses several men to the lotus-eating addiction.
Forbidden Fruit: The Adam and Eve story from Genesis is the Trope Namer.
Forged by the Gods: Hephaestus forges new armour and shield for Achilles, a knife for Peleus, and the shield and armour of Heracles. The Cypria mentions a spear, created by the Athene, Hephaestus, and Chiron, for Peleus.
A Form You Are Comfortable With: In Greek Mythology, Zeus apparently did this sort of thing whenever he had an affair with a mortal woman, at least according to the story in which his true form turned the woman Semele to ash. In The Bible, angels occasionally tried to appear in human form, since their true forms were bizarre Eldritch Abominations.
Gate of Truth: Described in the underworld in Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid.
Gender Bender: Tiresias in Greek Mythology, Iphis and Hermaphroditos in Ovid's Metamorphoses, and Bhangasvana and Shikandin in the Mahabharata.
Genius Bruiser: Odysseus is a powerful Badass, and also a master of cunning and strategy. Heracles is sometimes depicted this way, too.
Genius Cripple: Hephaestus was a crippled god, yet a brilliant craftsman who created magnificent works, including weapons, armor, and robots.
Giant Squid: Large squids were first described by Aristotle, but Pliny the Elder is the first to give them more explicitly gigantic proportions (heads "as big as a cask" and 30 ft. arms) in his Natural History. The actual animals are presumably Older than Dirt.
God and Satan Are Both Jerks: The Book of Job: God bets Satan that Job won't ever lose faith, regardless of how Satan messes the man up.
Gosh Dang It to Heck!: The third commandment of the Hebrews: "You shall not take the name of Y**H your God in vain, for Y**H will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain." (Exodus 20:7, NKJV). Euphemisms for this four-letter word were "the Name" in speech or "Lord" in prayer.
Grand Theft Me: Yayati, after the curse of his father-in-law that he should become old and infirm, asked his sons to exchange their youthful body with his. All refused except the youngest son, Puru, who was crowned after his reign. Puru was the ancestor of the Kauravas and the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. His brother Yadu was the ancestor of the Yadavas — thus the ancestor of Krishna.
Gratuitous Greek: Several Roman authors often inserted Greek quotations into their works.
Gray Eyes: Athena is always described as glaukopis, meaning she has blue-green, or blue-gray eyes (or in an alternate translation, owl eyes). Translations typically simplify it to "gray-eyed."
Grey and Gray Morality: The Achaeans and Trojans in The Iliad.
Guile Hero: Odysseus. Ruth and Queen Esther in The Bible. Krishna in the Mahabharata.
Healing Factor: Prometheus had his liver torn out every day and grown back by the next. Whenever Heracles cut a head off the Hydra, two more grew.
Hell: The Christian concepts of Heaven and Hell go back to the New Testament. The fire-and-brimstone version was inspired, however, by the lakes of fire in the Egyptian Underworld where damned souls were often punished.
Hell of a Heaven: Happens in one version of the classic Indian epic Mahabharata.
Hello Nurse: Helen of Troy.
Hermit Guru: John the Baptist, and the Real Life Pillar Hermits.
Hero Killer: Typhon in Classical Mythology, who is terrifying enough to make the gods flee Olympus, and badass enough to defeat Zeus in a straight up fight. From a Trojan perspective Aeneas is definitely this; one could make a case for Mezentius or Turnus in The Aeneid.
Heroic Bastard: Almost all of the demigod heroes in Greek Mythology, such as Heracles. Karna in the Mahabharata, and Jephthah in The Bible.
Hit Me Dammit: In Kings 20:35-37, a prophet of God needs to be beaten and bruised in order to deliver the message God had for King Ahab (It makes sense in context).
Hoist by His Own Petard: Oedipus's father Laios, when he's killed by the son he abandoned years earlier. Murderous King Diomedes, eaten by the freakish horses he used to feed human flesh. Corrupt minister Haman in The Bible, hung on the gallows he built for his rival.
Hollywood Atheist: Despite the name, this shows up at least as early as the book Hayy ibn Yaqzan.
Honor Before Reason: Cicero mentions Marcus Atilius Regulus, who had been captured by Carthage in the Punic Wars. He was sent to Rome to negotiate a Roman surrender, with the promise that he would return to Carthage. If he was unsuccessful, the Carthaginians would kill him. Regulus went to Rome, argued AGAINST surrender, and then returned and accepted execution by a Carthaginian sword.
Hope Springs Eternal: In Hesiod's story of Pandora's Box, hope was in the box (jar) to either help mortals, or deceive them.
Hope Sprouts Eternal: The olive branch was the sign to Noah that the flood waters were receding.
Hot Amazon: In Aethiopis, Achilles falls in love with Penthesilea, Queen of the Amazons.
Hot Librarian: The Greek goddess Athena was beautiful and wise.
How Do You Like Them Apples?: Eris's Apple of Discord in The Trojan Cycle.
Human Pincushion: Saint Sebastian's legend says that his martyrdom had him become this. In a subversion, he actually survived, so he "had" to be flogged to death.
Hydra Problem: Heracles fought the Trope Namer. He had to burn the stumps to stop its heads from groing back.
Hypocrite: Agamemnon in The Iliad; you go to war over a woman being taken — that means you shouldn't take another man's woman.
I Am Who?: Oedipus, especially in Sophocles's Oedipus The King.
I Am X, Son of Y: "I am Odysseus, son of Laertes". Commonly used in The Bible as well.
I Believe I Can Fly: Icarus, Pegasus, Harpies, Sirens, Hermes and Perseus with winged sandals...
Identical Stranger: Menaechmi, by the Roman author Plautus.
I Fell for Hours: In The Iliad, when Hephaestus recalls being flung off of Olympus by Zeus he says that he fell all day.
If I Wanted You Dead: The biblical David twice gets close enough to kill Saul, but stays his hand. Although not explicit, the message is clear. Saul doesn't get it.
I Gave My Word: The oaths of the suitors that required them to follow Menelaus to Troy. Also the Oath of the Styx that Greek gods cannot break, which has gotten Zeus, Helios, and others in big trouble...
Ignore the Fanservice: Socrates is above such things.
Immortality Type III (Regenerative): Greek gods don't age, can't be killed, and heal very quickly, but they can get injured and feel pain.
Impossible Task: Heracles, David, Psyche, and Perseus faced them in stories from this period.
Impoverished Patrician: The Roman Republic was full of them. One narrates Juvenal's Satires.
Improbable Aiming Skills: Odysseus shot an arrow throw the handle-rings of twelve axes in The Odyssey.
Improbable Food Budget: The seven years of plenty before Joseph's drought.
Information Wants to Be Free: The Prometheus myth: the secret of fire given to the mortals against the other gods' will. Older than They Think? Yup.
In the Blood: Original Sin in Genesis.
In the Name of the Moon: The heroes of Homer's Iliad do this, down to formulaic repetition originally designed to allow extemporaneous reciters of epic poetry to keep to the meter.
Invisible Jerkass: Plato's The Republic recounts the myth of Gyges, a shepherd who finds a ring of invisibility. Gyges promptly uses its power to seduce the queen, assassinate the king, and become king. Plato's moral is that morality is rooted completely in society, and with anonymity, all morality disappears.
Invisibility: The Ring of Gyges and the Cap of Hades.
Invisibility Cloak: The Cap of Hades, which rendered all wearers invisible; later borrowed by Perseus.
Irrevocable Message: The execution order in Antigone, by Sophocles. The result was death and tragedy, not played for laughs.
It Was a Gift: Perseus was given his mirror-like shield and winged sandals by the gods Athena and Hermes. In Greek Mythology, Philoctetes got the famous bow of Heracles at the latter's death.
I Will Wait For You: Odysseus's wife Penelope and his dog Argos both waited 20 years for him to return. Penelope kept a ton of obnoxious suitors hanging while she waited.
Jews Love to Argue: Parts of the Old Testament.
Judgment Of Solomon: 1 Kings 3:16-28, Old Testament. Solomon did it with a baby.
Just the First Citizen: Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome: his official title, princeps, literally means "first" and is conventionally translated in this context as "First Citizen." He very deliberately avoided titles like "king" or "dictator".
Kangaroo Court: The trial of Jesus, as depicted in the Gospels.
Kid Hero: David in The Bible (1 Samuel), specifically his fight with Goliath.
King Incognito: Odysseus did it twice: once at Troy, and again in Ithaca. The prophet Elijah did this among the Israelites, and King Solomon was forced to after being dethroned by an imposter.
Klingon Promotion: If you successfully prosecuted a Roman Senator in court, you obtained their rank. Between 235 and 284 CE there were 25 different Roman emperors, mainly because they kept assassinating their predecessors.
Kneel Before Frodo: In the Ramayana, after the war against Ravana is won and Sita is rescued, Rama rewards his generals for their courage. When Hanuman walks up, Rama breaks into tears and tells him there's no treasure valuable enough.
Kraken And Leviathan: The Leviathan in The Bible (Job 41).
Lady Land: The Amazons in Greek Mythology.
Lady of War: The Greek goddess Athena.
Lady Macbeth: Jezebel, wife of King Ahab in the Old Testament.
Law of Inverse Fertility: In "want but can't conceive" form only: Theseus's mortal father Aegeus, and several women in The Bible.
Let Me Tell You A Story: Jesus's parables are a famous example; the prophet Nathan has an earlier example in The Bible (2 Samuel 12).
Literal Genie: In a late (Roman) myth about the Greek god Hermaphroditos, an annoying clingy girl wished she could forever be united with the uninterested deity she was harassing. Some literal-minded god fulfilled her wish ... by fusing their bodies together into one hermaphroditic person.
Living MacGuffin: Helen of Troy from The Iliad.
Loads and Loads of Races: Classical Mythology features many races: Ordinary humans, pygmies, gods, nymphs, cyclopes, giants, centaurs, satyrs, fauns, blemmyes, Arimaspians, dog-heads...
Losing Your Head: Orpheus's head continued to sing after his decapitation, according to Ovid.
Lost In Imitation: Several Greek myths are best known, and more often repeated, from a later version after a famous poet or playwright altered the contours of an earlier story. Such was apparently the case with Aeschylus's Prometheus and Euripides's Medea.
Lottery of Doom: How the Minotaur got fed, according to late Greek writers such as Diodorus Siculus and Apollodorus.
Lotus-Eater Machine: Homer's The Odyssey; Trope Namer.
Lotus Position: Gautama Buddha.
Love at First Sight: Classical Mythology is full of this: Eros, god of love, can inflict it on anyone whenever he wants, but then he suffered the same with Psyche. Numerous hapless souls fell for Narcissus, only to be callously rejected, and finally the gods made him pine away for his own reflection.
Lover And Beloved: Common in Ancient Greece; they called this Erastes Eromenos.
Love Ruins The Realm: Dido's fling with Aeneas supposedly started the Punic Wars. Prince Paris abducting Helen started the Trojan War. Marcus Antonius allowing Cleopatra to co-rule opened him up to bad PR and ultimately civil war.
Luck-Based Mission: Keno slips, Chinese Han Dynasty, circa 205 BCE.
Lysistrata Gambit: The trope namer, Lysistrata, was published during this time.
Macho Masochism: Mucius Scaevola was an ancient Roman who demonstrated his courage and loyalty to the city by thrusting his hand into a flame until it was consumed, when an enemy tried to threaten him.
Made a Slave: Joseph was enslaved in Genesis. Heracles was enslaved to Omphale in Classical Mythology.
Mad Oracle: Pythia, a.k.a. the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, was occasionally depicted giving oracles in a state of possessed frenzy. The Real Life version, not so much.
Mad Scientist's Beautiful Daughter: Medea, in the trope's more general form.
Magical Girlfriend: Greek myth of Pygmalion, the anti-social guy who was so great Aphrodite turned his statue into Galatea, the perfect bride, so he could be happy forever.
Magic Music: In Classical Mythology Orpheus could charm wild animals, plants, rocks, and even the god Hades with his singing.
Magic Wand: What Circe uses to turn men into pigs in The Odyssey.
Magma Man: Vulcanus is the Roman god of volcanos. Italy has active volcanos, and they tended to blame eruptions on this god.
The Magnificent Seven Samurai: Seven Against Thebes.
Making a Splash: "There is nothing softer and weaker than water, And yet there is nothing better for attacking hard and strong things." — Laozi, Daodejing, Ch. 78
The Man Behind the Man: Some Bible students believe that Isaiah 14:12 (particularly in the King James Version) and Ezekiel 28:12-19 is God talking to The Man Behind The Kings.
The Man In The Moon: A Talmudic tradition holds that the face of Jacob is engraved upon the Moon.
Massive Multiplayer Crossover: The Classical myth of Jason and the Argonauts: name a Greek hero, he was probably in this one, everyone from Hercules to Oedipus. Many had sons at Troy.
Matriarchy: The Amazons, first mentioned in The Iliad, are the sexist variety, supposedly demonstrating why women should never rule.
Men Are Generic, Women Are Special: The Greek Theogony has men created first, and the woman created later as a punishment to ruin mortal life.
Mentor Archetype: In the The Odyssey, Athena poses as Mentor, Telemachus's elderly advisor, and convinces him to actively seek information on his missing father, instead of passively waiting.
Merlin Sickness: The fruit on Anostus causes this in the Roman Varia Historia, by Claudius Aelianus.
Miles Gloriosus: The play of that name is the Trope Namer, but The Iliad's Paris beat him to it.
Mission from God: The Patriarchs, Moses, prophets in general (The Bible).
Modesty Bedsheet: Believe it or not, there are numerous Roman wall paintings depicting couples during sex — with the woman wearing a brasserie, because it would've been considered lascivious for her to show her breasts. To her own husband. During sex.
Monkey Morality Pose: Dates back to the days of Confucius.
Moon Rabbit: Earliest recorded reference found during the Warring States period of Ancient China.
Morton's Fork: In the New Testament (Mark 12:13) the Pharisees try to catch Jesus in one by asking if they should pay taxes to Caesar.
Moses in the Bullrushes: Moses himself, in the Book of Exodus. Also Oedipus in Greek Mythology, Romulus and Remus in Roman Mythology, and Karna in the Mahabharata.
Multishot: Rama, hero of the Ramayana, can shoot one thousand arrows with one draw, and once used such a feat to shoot down a rain of stones aimed at him.
Murder the Hypotenuse : King David effects the death of General Uriah, so he can have Bathsheba for himself, in The Bible (2 Samuel 10-12).
My Hovercraft is Full of Eels: Plautus's Poenulus, in which an incompetent interpreter turns Phoenician into Latin gibberish.
Naked First Impression: Mortal men pay dearly for having accidentally seen a Greek goddess bathing.
Never Accepted In His Hometown: Jesus Christ mentions this happening to prophets.
Never Found the Body: At least as early as 200 CE, Achilles Tatius' Leucippe and Clitophon.
New Media Are Evil: Socrates' criticism of writing, which apparently goes back to an old tradition among the Greeks; didn't stop Plato, though.
Nice Jewish Boy: Lots of them in The Bible.
Nice Job Breaking It, Herod: The Trope Namer Herod, as well as the Ur Example of Pharaoh with Moses from Exodus.
Nice Mice: Found in The Lion and the Mouse in Aesop's Fables.
Nigh Invulnerability: Achilles, the Nemean Lion, and Antaeus, all from Classical Mythology.
No Arc in Archery: Aristotle, the poster-boy for Artistic License - Physics, claimed that an arrow would fly in a straight line until its momentum was used up, then drop suddenly to the ground. Never mind the fact that every actual archer of the time knew he was full of shit.
Noble Savage: Used by Tacitus when describing the Germanic and Caledonian tribes.
No Hero to His Valet: Jesus mentions that "no prophet is accepted in his hometown." for this reason.
No, Mister Bond, I Expect You To Dine: In the Book of Genesis, Joseph does this to his brothers in Egypt. Subverted, because he actually intends them no harm at all.
No Place For Me There: In The Bible, Moses could not enter The Promised Land because of his impiety at Meribah (never mind that the other Israelites frequently surpassed him by leaps and bounds). King David could not build the Temple of Jerusalem because he was a man of war, and the temple had to be built by a man of peace (his son Solomon).
Nostalgia Ain't Like It Used To Be: In many myths of this period, the ambiguous "past" was much better than life at the time; for example, people lived much longer (Genesis), they mingled with gods, etc. Hesiod's myth of the Five Ages explicitly describes the decline of humanity.
Nouveau Riche: Satyricon (c. 60 CE) has Trimalchio, a freed slave that has come to untold riches and is not afraid to show it off.
Obfuscating Insanity: Odysseus tried this in The Trojan Cycle, to avoid having to go to Troy. The biblical David did it when in exile before he became king.
Obfuscating Stupidity: The original Brutus and the Roman emperor Claudius are two famous Truth in Television examples.
Occupiers Out of Our Country: One of the first known examples is that of the Jewish Zealots, of the 1st century BCE.
Old Retainer: Odysseus's old nurse in The Odyssey; Phoenix to Achilles in The Iliad.
Omniscient Morality License: The Book of Job, as well as most of the tests, trials, and commands God gave people.
Only Sane Man: Most prophets. Also Odysseus. Noah and Lot from the Book of Genesis — although "righteous" rather than sane.
The Only Way They Will Learn: "The Tao which can be explained is not the eternal Tao." Laozi, fifth century BCE China.
Ordered To Cheat: Krishna urges Bhima to illegally hit Duryodhana below the belt in the Mahabharata, since his Achilles Heel is his thighs.
Organ Autonomy: Ancient Greek and Roman doctors commonly believed that the uterus could get up and wander around a woman's body, inciting her to insanity. This is why the word "hysteria" comes from the Greek word for uterus.
Our Angels Are Different: The Bible actually features very few Winged Humanoid Angels. Otherworldly, Lovecraftian Eldritch Abominations abound. The angels in Isaiah and Ezekiel are particularly awesome. The Cherubim were originally imagined as winged cobras.
Outdoor Bath Peeping: David to Bethsheba in The Bible (Samuel 1). Actaeon and Siprotes to Artemis, and Tiresias to Athene, in Classical Mythology.
The Owl Knowing One: Owls are the symbol for the Greek goddess of knowledge Athena.
Papa Wolf: In The Odyssey, many of Odysseus' problems are caused by Poseidon's wrath and revenge for the fate of his son Polyphemos, whom Odysseus blinded. Ares, usually not depicted in a favorable light, once killed a son of Poseidon to stop him from raping Ares' daughter.
Parental Favoritism: Jacob vs. Esau, Joseph vs. his brothers (Genesis).
Parody: The ancient Greek Batrachomyomachia, a parody of the war epic genre depicting a conflict of mice and frogs.
Pater Familicide: The Greek hero Heracles, in a fit of insanity caused by Hera.
Peacock Girl: Hera in Greek Mythology sometimes wears a few feathers; the peacock is her sacred bird.
Pegasus: The Trope Namer shows up first in Hesiod.
Plague of Good Fortune: Herodotus tells of a king who had such good luck that he threw a cherished ring in the ocean to try and balance things, hoping to dodge whatever doom the gods had in store for him. The ring was eaten by a fish, the fish captured by a fisherman, and the ring returned to the king. This sealed his fate —- he lost everything.
Planet of Hats: The allegorically intended nations of Hyperborea and Atlantis, among others.
Plant Person: Greek legend has the dryads, the nymphs of trees, groves, woods, and mountain forests. Hamadryads were a type that died when their tree died.
Platonic Cave: Plato's philosophy, of course.
Please Shoot The Messenger: In Classical Mythology, Iobates was the King of Lycia. His nephew Proetus sent Bellerophon to Iobates with a note that said "Kill the bearer of this message."
Please Spare Him, My Liege!: Large portions of Numbers and Leviticus consist of the Israelites doing something to piss God off, God threatening to wipe them all out, Moses pleading with Him, and then God agreeing to destroy only a few thousand instead.
Power Incontinence: King Midas just can't stop turning everything to gold... his food, his water, his daughter...
The Power of Rock: In Book of Joshua, Joshua destroyed the walls of Jericho with music.
Preacher's Kid (diabolic type): In Leviticus 10:1,2 the very first High Priest, Aaron (the brother of Moses), had two of his sons mess up.
Prodigal Hero: Moses exiles for some time, then comes back to free the Israelites from slavery.
The Promised Land: Canaan in the book of Exodus, which is also the Trope Namer.
Prongs of Poseidon: Poseidon's trident, the Trope Namer.
Proper Lady: The Odyssey features Penelope, Queen of Ithaca, who remains loyal to her missing husband Odysseus for twenty years, keeping her suitors at bay. She was cited as the greatest example of marital faithfulness in the classical world.
A Protagonist Shall Lead Them: Saul, Moses, David, etc.
Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: Euripides's Medea, after Jason dumped her for the princess of Corinth. This did not end well.
Public Domain Artifact: Many such artifacts are drawn from very old stories, but it happened back then too. The Golden Fleece was used by various mythographers in their retellings of the Argonauts story, and Hercules's bow showed up in his stories and The Trojan Cycle.
Pungeon Master: God made some puns in The Bible.
The Punishment: In some versions of the Greek Medusa myth, Medusa used to be a beautiful nymph. Being a hideous monster, and turning people to stone, was a punishment from Athene for having sex (or rather, getting raped) in her temple.
Purple Is Powerful: In Ancient Rome, the Patrician class were the only people allowed to wear Tyrian purple.
Purpose Driven Immortality: The Bible contains several examples of people who were promised that they would not die until they saw some prophesy fulfilled, such as Simeon who was promised he would live to see the Lord's Messiah.
Rage Against the Heavens: The Book of Job, and Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound.
Rags to Royalty: Gaius Julius Caesar went from Impoverished Patrician to dictator-for-life of Rome. The biblical Esther went to common Jewish girl to queen.
Raised by Wolves: Romulus and Remus by a wolf. Atalanta by a bear, according to late Classical writers. In both cases, it's more that the babies were nursed by wild animals until human foster-parents found them.
Reclining Reigner: The Roman upper class were well-known to dine on reclining sofas, the better to show off their affluence.
The Red Sonja: The Greek myth of Atalanta.
Reincarnation Romance: Several examples in Hindu mythology: Sati/Parvati and Shiva; Kama and his wife; etc.
Reptiles Are Abhorrent: In Genesis, the evil Serpent that persuades Adam and Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit appears to be a stand-in for Satan.
The Resenter: Cain, towards Abel, in the Torah.
Revenge SVP: The Cypria featured the story of Eris, goddess of Strife. Denied invitation to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, she responded by orchestrating a quarrel between Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera. Said quarrel lead to The Trojan War.
Riddle Me This: The Sphinx in Greek Mythology.
Riddle of The Sphinx: The Trope Namer in Greek Mythology.
Right Way Wrong Way Pair: The Bible's book of Proverbs' first 29 chapters carry the thread of contrasting the wise man and The Fool.
Ring of Power: The Ring of Gyges, which made his wearer invisible, but also corrupted him (as told by Plato in book II of The Republic).
Rip Van Winkle: The oldest examples are found in The Talmud in the story of the ancient Rabbi and scholar Honi ha-M'agel, and in Diogenes Laertius' biography of the Greek sage Epimenides.
Roaring Rampage of Rescue: Essentially the entire plot of the Ramayana once the demon king Ravana kidnaps Rama's wife Sita, starting a war in the process.
Roaring Rampage of Revenge: From Greek Mythology: Achilles avenging Patroclus, Odysseus killing the suitors, and Heracles on several occasions.
Robot Girl: Hephaestus has these as servants in The Iliad. Really.
Romance Arc: Genesis: God creates Man. Next on the agenda — Introducing Man's love interest. Classical Mythology examples include Venus and Adonis, Jason and Medea, and Cupid and Psyche.
Rule of Three: In the New Testament: In John 13:38 "Jesus answered (Peter), Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice." After his resurrection, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him, extracting from Peter a promise to continue his work three times before he leaves him alone. This could be a symbolic reversal of Peter's thrice-denial of Jesus before his death.
Sacred Hospitality: An ancient Greek custom, and a plot point in many myths. The gods punish those who violate this rule. Getting rid of those pesky suitors would have been easier were it not for this.
Sadly Mythtaken: When the Greeks started worshipping the Egyptian child-god Harpokrates (Har pa-Khered), they called him the god of silence because Egyptians usually depicted him holding a finger to his lips. But in Egyptian iconography, this was just a symbol of childhood, like sucking a thumb.
Same Sex Triplets: Greek Mythology has the 3 Fates, the 3 Furies, the 3 Graces, the 3 (elder) Cyclopes, the 3 Hekatonkhires, the 3 Horai/Seasons (usually), the 3 Harpies (usually), the 3 Graeae, and the 3 Gorgons (usually).
Satan Is Good: Specifically, the redemption of Prometheus in Prometheus Bound fits this trope perfectly.
Schmuck Bait:
- "Do not under any circumstances bring this horse into your city, because then us Greeks will never ever be able to conquer Troy."
- Adam and Eve: "You can eat anything you like in this garden, except the fruit from That One Tree. Got that? Whatever you do, don't touch the fruit from That One Tree."
- Pandora's Box (actually a jar), with Pandora intentionally set up to peek.
Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: Happened more and more towards the end of the Roman Republic.
Scylla and Charybdis: Odysseus lost several men to the Trope Namers.
Sealed Evil in a Can: Pandora's Box, filled with all the miseries and evils that now make humanity miserable, as told by Hesiod.
Sealed Good in a Can: Several examples predate feudalism. Hesiod's Theogony did it twice:
- The Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed were imprisoned by Uranus, then again by Cronus, because they were ugly. Zeus freed them, and they pledged their not-inconsiderable skills to his cause.
- Pandora managed to shut the box before Hope got away.
Sea Monster: Charybdis and Leviathan are just a couple of many sea monsters found in early myths.
See You In Hell: According to the Roman biographer Suetonius, a certain actor implied this in a farce during Emperor Nero's bloody reign.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The Greek god Cronos, whose brutal efforts to prevent his children from overthrowing him directly motivated them to do exactly that. Oedipus, fleeing his adoptive parents to avoid killing Dad and marrying Mom, came to Thebes where his real parents lived.
Sexual Extortion: Testament by Joseph featuring Potiphar's Wife, mentioned in Genesis.
Shaming The Mob: The Gospel according to John 8:1-11, New Testament.
Shapeshifting Seducer: Greek god Zeus used the usual form for a Bed Trick with Alcmene, mother of Heracles. But he has also gone after mortal women as a bull, a swan, and a "shower of gold."
Shoot the Dog: Fairly common early in the Old Testament.
Sins of Our Fathers: In The Bible, especially Original Sin. The Greek gods bring misfortune on several descendants of Tantalus through their family curse, even those who were innocent, because Tantalus was a cannibalistic ass.
The Smart Guy: Athena among the Olympians: she's the goddess of wisdom, strategic thinking, and various arts. Odysseus tends to be this whenever acting as part of a group, or leading a crew.
Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: The Argonauts had to pass their ships through the maritime version in Greek Mythology.
Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter: One of the Ajaxes in The Iliad curses the gods until Poseidon and Zeus both smite him.
Soiled City On A Hill: The state of the world just before The Great Flood occurred, and of Sodom and Gomorrah. Atlantis in Classical Mythology, and Dvārakā in the Mahabharata, both sank into the seas for this reason.
Solar Powered Magnifying Glass: Used to light the Olympic torch in The Clouds. Greek historian Lucian claimed that Archimedes built a giant bronze mirror and set fire to ships attacking Syracuse, but the story is hard to believe.
The Sons And The Spears: The oldest known version is by Plutarch.
Sorcerer's Apprentice Plot: Lucian's Philopsuedes, 150 CE.
Spontaneous Choreography: The Greek chorus did this on stage, as evidenced in the terms strophe and antistrophe (referring to dancing), though the actual dance steps are lost.
Standard Hero Reward: The Greek seer Melampos "won" a princess for a bride by performing heroic feats.
Stereo Fibbing: The Bible, specifically the story of Susannah and the Elders in the Apocrypha.
Stranger in a Familiar Land: Homer's Odyssey.
Straw Character: Plato regularly used strawmen as opponents to Socrates in his Socratic Dialogues.
Suddenly Suitable Suitor: In the classical Sanskrit play The Recognition of Śakuntalā.
Supernatural Aid: Gods granted Perseus the use of winged sandals and the Cap of Hades (which rendered all wearers invisible) so he could slay Medusa.
Superpowerful Genetics: Greek myths included Sisyphos, who literally talked his way out of Tartaros. His son Sinon convinced the Trojans to bring the Trojan Horse into their city. Apparently lying is genetic.
Tag Team Suicide: "Pyramus and Thisbe" by Ovid, the inspiration behind Romeo and Juliet.
Taken for Granite: Everybody who ever looked at a Greek Gorgon. Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt in Genesis 19.
Take That: The Bible includes several passages that amount to insults directed at enemies of ancient Israel, such as saying that the people of Moab and Ammon were descended from the products of Parental Incest. Euripides's Electra mocks a plot development in Aeschylus's Oresteia.
Take That, Audience!: Most surviving Ancient Greek comedies featured a parabasis, in which the actors suddenly halted the plot to spend several minutes insulting random spectators. Aristophanes's characters also insulted the audience in their dialogue.
Taking You with Me: The Bible — post Traumatic Haircut Samson and the Philistines, specifically.
Talking Your Way Out: Sisyphos did this to escape the underworld after he died.
Tell Me About My Father: Telemachos in The Odyssey.
Tempting Fate: Capaneus of the Seven Against Thebes, and the companions of Diomedes after the Trojan War.
Thanatos Gambit: Several examples (as detailed on the Trope Page), although the one with the most lasting influence makes up the bulk of the Gospels: Jesus Christ's entire life.
Thicker Than Water: When Theseus comes to Athens, his step-mother, Medea, tries to poison him, but Aegeus recognized the tokens he had left for Theseus, saves him, and exiles Medea — although he had never even seen his son before.
Thunderbolt Iron: It seems that at least some of the time, Greeks regarded meteorites as the thunderbolts of Zeus.
Tragedy: Greek theatre, starting in the late 6th century BCE.
Tragic Hero: A stock technique of Greek tragedy is to make the protagonist one of these, at least in surviving examples and Aristotle's genre analysis.
Tragic Mistake: Used by the Greek playwrights and codified by Aristotle.
Trail of Bread Crumbs: Theseus, on Ariadne's advice, used a ball of twine this way in the Cretan Labyrinth.
Translator Microbes: In the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit blessed Jesus's Disciples so that when they preached, anyone could understand their words, regardless of language barriers.
Traumatic C-Section: Agamemnon wants to do this to pregnant Trojan women in The Iliad.
Traumatic Haircut: Samson suffers this in the Book of Judges.
Tricking The Shapeshifter: Zeus learned that his wife Metis would bear a son who would overthrow him, so he tricked her into shapeshifting into a fly, and swallowed her whole. Thus he tricked Fate as well.
The Trickster: Hermes is a famous example in Greek Mythology. As a newborn, he stole Apollo's cattle. The Homeric Hymn to Hermes describes him as "a son, of many shifts, blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates". Eris has a similar role in the Cypria.
Trojan Horse: The Trope Namer.
Trojan Prisoner: Jesus at Golgotha, on a spiritual level.
Troll Bridge: The Angel of Death in The Bible.
Turn The Other Cheek: Jesus advocates and names this trope in the New Testament.
Turtle Island: Pliny the Elder in his Natural History describes a giant fish called pristis, which is so big that sailors have taken it for an island and landed on its back.
Twenty Bear Asses: Four words: David. Hundred Philistine foreskins. Worst. Quest. Ever.
Two Lines, No Waiting: The Odyssey has Odysseus attempting to get home, and Odysseus's son Telemachos's attempts to find his father.
Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Hephaestus and Aphrodite in The Iliad.
Unaccustomed As I Am To Public Speaking: Socrates at his trial, according to Plato.
Underdressed for the Occasion: Appears in Matthew 22.
The Unfavourite: Ares in The Iliad, in the eyes of his father Zeus. In a famous scene, Athena helps her champion Diomedes defeat Ares himself in combat. Ares escapes while severely wounded and bleeding. When he complains to Zeus about his favoritism for Athene, Zeus basically chews him out for being a violent bully.
Unicorn: Greek writers first mention them in the 5th century BCE.
Uriah Gambit: Named after a biblical story of King David.
Vestigial Empire: What the West Roman Empire became before it disappeared altogether... which makes this trope one of the youngest on this page, without quite being Older Than Print.
Voice of the Legion: Daniel experiences it in The Bible.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: In "Prince Khaemwase and Si-Osiri," the two Ethiopian wizards shapeshift themselves into geese. Though Egyptian, this tale is only from the 1st century CE. Greek gods like Zeus, Proteus, Thetis, and many river gods could take any shape they pleased.
Walk on Water: Jesus Christ and Apostle Peter both did it in the New Testament. Ancient Greeks credit Orion with the ability.
War Elephants: Encountered by Alexander on invading India; also famously used by Hannibal in the Second Punic War.
Warrior Poet: King David slew giants, won wars... wrote poetry, and once danced naked to celebrate the return of the Ark.
We Have Become Complacent: Croesus and Solon, as described in Herodotus's Histories.
Welcome Back Traitor: The Bible.
What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?: Old Greek and Roman poems played up the mediocrity of an event by writing it in epic verse. Batrachomyomachia used epic verse to narrate a battle between frogs and mice.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Several examples in Classical, Norse, and Judeo-Christian mythology, ranging from Aeneas after evading Achilles in The Iliad to Jesus Christ's stepfather Joseph after Luke 2:41-51. See the trope page for details.
Who's on First?: Odysseus telling Polyphemus that his name was "Nobody," leading to Polyphemus screaming to the other Cyclopes that "Nobody has blinded me!" Naturally, they saw no need to go help him.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: The message is already implied in the Greek myth of Tithonos, who wished for immortality but forgot to ask for eternal youth, and now ages forever.
Wicked Stepmother: In Greek Mythology, Hera reacted to her husband Zeus' constant infidelity by harassing or trying to kill her stepchildren, such as Apollo, Artemis, and Heracles.
Wig, Dress, Accent: The Bible — A minor prophet in 1 Kings 20 disguises himself by pulling his headband down over his eyes.
Wizard Duel: In "Prince Khaemwase and Si-Osiri," the story-within-the-story features a duel between an Egyptian wizard and an Ethiopian wizard at the royal court in Memphis. Though Egyptian, this tale is only from the 1st century CE.
A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: One of Aesop's Fables.
Wonder Child: Isaac in The Bible.
World of Ham: Happens in The Bible.
Wretched Hive: Sodom and Gomorrah from The Bible.
You Can't Go Home Again: Homer's Odyssey.
You Have Waited Long Enough: Poor Penelope has to put up with this for years in The Odyssey.
Youngest Child Wins:
- Zeus, king of the Greek gods, is the youngest of his siblings according to Hesiod. His father Cronos, previous king of the gods, was also the youngest son. Homer, however, makes Zeus the eldest son of Cronos.
- Also a remarkably popular trope in The Bible: Abel, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Moses were all favored younger sons. (In most cases, parental favoritism led to big trouble...)
Zero-Effort Boss: Emperor Claudius vs. Beached Killer Whale.

Older than Dirt

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