Older Than Feudalism: Difference between revisions

 

 

* Most of ancient South Asian literature and [[Hindu Mythology]], including:

** The Hindu Upanishads, ''[[Ramayana]]'', ''[[Mahabharata]]'', and ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]''.

** ''[[The Art of War]]'', probably by Sūn Zǐ (also spelled Sun Tzu).

** ''[[The Thirty-Six Stratagems]]'', usually attributed to Sūn Zǐ or Zhuge Liang.

 

'''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; [[Science Marches On|more research]] [[History Marches On|has shown that]] people can and do modify all sorts of tales for many purposes.

 

 

== A-C ==

* [[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.

* [[Achilles in His Tent]]: [[Homer]]'s ''[[The Iliad]]''; [[Trope Namers|Trope Namer]]

* [[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.

* [[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 Namers|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]]: ''[[Odyssey|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.

* [[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]].

* [[Androcles' Lion]]: [[Aesop's Fables]]; [[Trope Namers|Trope Namer]].

* [[And Your Little Dog, Too]]: Hector killing Patroclus in ''[[The Iliad]]''.

* [[Blind Seer]]: Tiresias in Greek works such as ''[[Odyssey|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 Magic]]: In [[The Bible|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 [[Gladiator Games|gladiatorial combat]].

* [[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.

* [[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]]''.

* [[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.

* [[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 ''[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]]''. Subverted with Mary, who's often depicted as knowing why she's pregnant with Jesus.

* [[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.

* [[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 [[The Histories|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.

* [[Comforting the Widow]]: The Widow of Ephesus story in ''Satyricon''.

* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: [[The Bible|The Apostles]] of all people, when they [[Sidetracked by the Analogy|took a parable too literally]]:

'''Apostles:''' He's upset that we didn't bring any bread! }}

* [[Cool and Unusual Punishment]]: In addition to [[Cold-Blooded Torture|physical tortures]], [[Greek Mythology]] features a variety of less physical tortures such as those inflicted upon Tantalos and Sisyphos (in ''[[Odyssey|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.

* [[Cunning Like a Fox]]: In [[Aesop's Fables]].

* [[Cutting the Knot]]: The original Gordian Knot.

 

== D-I ==

* [[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 Takes a Holiday]]: Sisyphos tied up Thanatos in [[Greek Mythology]], and nobody could die until Ares rescued him.

* [[Deconstruction]]: [[Euripides]]'s ''Trojan Women'' and ''Hecuba'' portrayed [[The Trojan War]] as a human tragedy rather than a sweeping epic tale of martial valor in the Homeric tradition, by showing the human consequences of war and its aftermath on the conquered people, and the cruelty and violence of the "heroic" invaders.

* [[Determinator]]: Odysseus ''does'' get home.

* [[Different As Night and Day]]: [[Classical Mythology|Artemis and Apollo]] became this quite literally after the Greeks and Romans started regarding them as sun god and moon goddess.

* [[Dishing Out Dirt]]: Poseidon, Greek god of the sea, is also the Earth-shaker who causes earthquakes.

* [[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. [[Greek Mythology|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.

* [[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 [[Classical Mythology|Phaethon]] drove the sun chariot recklessly, he died and nearly destroyed all life on Earth.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[Eaten Alive]]: Some characters in Greek myth die this way, such as [[Odyssey|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.

* [[Every Man Has His Price]]: Excessive amounts of bribery were commonplace in [[The Roman Republic]].

* [[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"]]: ''[[The Bible]]'' never specifically states exactly which pharaoh is involved in the ''[[Book of Exodus]]''.

** 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.

* [[Evil Cannot Comprehend Good]]: Dates back to ''[[The Bible]]'', in which the Devil often shown in this fashion, being unable to appeal to anything other than selfish desires when manipulating humans.

* [[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.

* [[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]]''.

* [[Flash Back]]: [[Homer]]'s ''Odyssey''.

* [[Flipping the Table]]: Jesus does this with the moneychangers in the temple.

* [[Food Chains]]: Eating some pomegranate seeds in [[The Underworld]] forced Persephone to return there every year. In the Homeric Hymns, Hades force-fed her. [[Odyssey|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 ''[[The Trojan Cycle|Cypria]]'' mentions a spear, created by the Athene, Hephaestus, and Chiron, for Peleus.

* [[Funny Foreigner]]: A staple of ancient Greek and Roman comedy. An example is Triballos, a "barbarian god" serving as an ambassador to Cloudcuckooland in [[Aristophanes]]' ''The Birds''.

* [[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 Cripple]]: Hephaestus was a crippled god, yet a brilliant craftsman who created magnificent works, including weapons, armor, and ''robots''.

* [[Genre Deconstruction]]: See Deconstruction above.

* [[God and Satan Are Both Jerks]]: [[The Bible|The Book of Job]]: God bets Satan that Job won't ever lose faith, regardless of how Satan messes the man up.

* [[Going Native]]: Octavian's propaganda against Mark Antony made the latter out to be the [[Ur Example]].

* [[Gold Fever]]: Discussed in Book II of the ''Aeneid'', when Aeneas recounts how King Polymestor of Thrace murdered Polydorus, the son of his ally King Priam of Troy, to rob Polydorus' treasure of gold. Aeneas' words ''auri sacra fames'', the "accursed hunger for gold", was a popular quote even in antiquity.

* [[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.

* [[Gratuitous Greek]]: Several Roman authors often inserted Greek quotations into their works.

* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]: The Achaeans and Trojans in ''[[The Iliad]]''.

* [[Guile Hero]]: [[Odyssey|Odysseus]]. Ruth and Queen Esther in ''[[The Bible]]''. Krishna in the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.

* [[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 Achilles is definitely this; one could make a case for [[Implacable Man|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]]''.

* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: [[Greek Mythology|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.

* [[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 Librarian]]: The Greek goddess Athena was beautiful ''and'' wise.

* [[How Do You Like Them Apples?]]: Eris's Apple of Discord in the [[The Trojan Cycle|Trojan Cycle]].

* [[Human Pincushion]]: Saint Sebastian's legend says that his martyrdom had him become this. In a subversion, he [[Made of Iron|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 [[Healing Factor|heads from groing back.]]

* [[I Am Who?]]: Oedipus, especially in [[Sophocles]]'s ''[[Oedipus the King]]''.

* [[I Am X, Son of Y]]: "[[Odyssey|I am Odysseus, son of Laertes]]". Commonly used in ''[[The Bible]]'' as well.

* [[Ignore the Fanservice]]: Socrates is above such things.

* [[Impossible Task]]: Heracles, David, Psyche, and Perseus faced them in stories from this period.

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Odysseus shot an arrow throw the handle-rings of twelve axes in ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''.

* [[Improbable Food Budget]]: The seven years of plenty before Joseph's drought.

* [[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]]''.

* [[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 Bound|Prometheus]]'' and [[Euripides]]'s ''[[Medea]]''.

* [[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 ''[[Odyssey|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.

* [[Miles Gloriosus]]: The play of that name is the [[Trope Namer]], but ''[[The Iliad]]'s'' [[Trope Maker|Paris]] beat him to it.

* [[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 Four Gospels|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 Bulrushes]]: Moses himself, in the [[Book of Exodus]]. Also Oedipus in [[Greek Mythology]], Romulus and Remus in [[Roman Mythology]], and Karna in the ''[[Mahabharata]]''.

* [[Noble Savage]]: Used by Tacitus when describing the Germanic and Caledonian tribes.

* [[No Hero to His Valet]]: Jesus mentions that [http://niv.scripturetext.com/luke/4.htm "no prophet is accepted in his hometown."] for this reason.

* [[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.

* [[Old Retainer]]: Odysseus's old nurse in ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''; Phoenix to Achilles in ''[[The Iliad]]''.

* [[Omniscient Morality License]]: [[The Bible|The Book of Job]], as well as most of the tests, trials, and commands God gave people.

* [[The Only Way They Will Learn]]: "The Tao which can be explained is not the eternal Tao." Laozi, fifth century BCE China.

* [[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.

* [[Outdoor Bath Peeping]]: David to Bethsheba in ''[[The Bible]]'' (Samuel 1). Actaeon and Siprotes to Artemis, and Tiresias to Athene, in [[Classical Mythology]].

* [[Outsourcing Fate]]: Several examples in [[Greek Mythology]], but probably the best-known is Paris having to choose the most beautiful goddess from among Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. [[Trojan War|We all know how that ended.]]

* [[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]].

* [[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.

* [[Preacher's Kid]] (diabolic type): In [[The Bible|Leviticus]] 10:1,2 the very first High Priest, Aaron (the brother of Moses), had two of his sons mess up.

* [[Prodigal Hero]]: [[The Bible|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]].

* [[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 [[The Trojan Cycle|Trojan Cycle]].

* [[Pungeon Master]]: [[God]] made some puns in ''[[The Bible]]''.

* [[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.

* [[Pyrrhic Victory]]: The [[Trope Namer]] is the Greek general and king [[wikipedia:Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus of Epirus]], who tried to conquer Italy. Rome beat him in a war of attrition partly because of Roman improvements on Greek military doctrine (combined arms tactics, and generals commanding from the rear instead of leading from the front), but mostly because they could replace their forces fairly readily and Pyrrhus couldn't.

 

== Q-Z ==

* [[Reptiles Are Abhorrent]]: In ''[[Book of Genesis|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.

* [[Riddle Me This]]: The Sphinx in [[Greek Mythology]].

* [[Riddle of the Sphinx]]: The [[Trope Namer]] in [[Greek Mythology]].

* [[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.

* [[Rock of Limitless Water]] - Several of these appear in Greek Mythology. In addition, Moses creates one with [[God]]'s power in ''[[The Bible]]''.

* [[Rousing Speech]]: Boudicca gave one in her (ill-fated) campaign against the Romans. Pericles' funeral oration in the Peloponnessian War, as depicted by Thucydides, has elements of this.

* [[Rule of Three]]: In the [[The Bible|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 [[Odyssey|those pesky suitors]] would have been easier were it not for this.

* [[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.

** "Do not under any circumstances bring [[Trojan Horse|this horse]] into your city, because then us Greeks will never ever be able [[The Trojan Cycle|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."

* [[Scylla and Charybdis]]: [[Odyssey|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]].

** 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.

* [[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.

* [[Sidetracked by the Analogy]]: Happens every so often when when one of [[The Bible|Jesus's parables]] falls flat. See [[Comically Missing the Point]] above.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[Talking Your Way Out]]: Sisyphos did this to escape [[The Underworld]] after he died.

* [[Tell Me About My Father]]: Telemachos in ''[[Odyssey|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 [[Thanatos Gambit|Trope Page]]), although the one with the most lasting influence makes up the bulk of the [[The Four Gospels|Gospels]]: Jesus Christ's entire ''life''.

* [[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.

* [[Troll Bridge]]: The Angel of Death in ''[[The Bible]]''.

* [[Turn the Other Cheek]]: Jesus advocates and names this trope in the [[The Bible|New Testament]].

* [[Twenty Bear Asses]]: Four words: David. Hundred Philistine foreskins. Worst. Quest. Ever.

* [[Two Lines, No Waiting]]: ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]'' has Odysseus attempting to get home, and Odysseus's son Telemachos's attempts to find his father.

* [[Unaccustomed as I Am to Public Speaking]]: Socrates at his trial, according to Plato.

* [[Underdressed for the Occasion]]: Appears in [[The Four Gospels|Matthew 22]].

* [[Unicorn]]: Greek writers first mention them in the 5th century BCE.

* [[The Uriah Gambit|Uriah Gambit]]: [[Trope Namer|Named after]] a biblical story of King David.

* [[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.

* [[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.

* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]: The message is already implied in the [[Greek Mythology|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.

* [[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]].

* [[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 ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''.

** 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.

* [[Zero Effort Boss]]: Emperor Claudius vs. Beached Killer Whale.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon]]