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** The ''Daodejing'' by [[Laozi]] and other foundational texts of Taoism.
** ''[[The Art of War (Literature)|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.
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* [[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 (Literature)|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 (Literature)|A True History]]'' by 2nd century 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 (Literature)|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.
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* [[Everything's Worse With Bears]]: In ''[[The Bible (Literature)|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]]: [[The Bible (Literature)|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 (Creator)|Euripides]]'s 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.
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* [[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 forFor A Homeland]]: The march of the Ten Thousand, as depicted in [[Xenophon (Creator)|Xenophon]]'s ''[[Anabasis (Literature)|Anabasis]]''. The Hebrews fighting the Canaanites in ''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]''. The Trojan refugees in ''[[The Aeneid (Literature)|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.
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* [[Hell]]: The Christian concepts of [[Heaven]] and Hell go back to the [[The Bible (Literature)|New Testament]]. The [[Fire and Brimstone Hell|fire-and-brimstone version]] was inspired, however, by the lakes of fire in the Egyptian [[The Underworld|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 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 (Literature)|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).
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* [[Hot Amazon]]: In ''[[The Trojan Cycle (Literature)|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 (Literature)|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.]]
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* [[Lover and Beloved]]: Common in Ancient Greece; they called this [[Erastes Eromenos]].
* [[Love Ruins the Realm]]: [[The Aeneid (Literature)|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 Namers]], ''[[Lysistrata (Theatre)|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.
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* [[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 Devil|The Man Behind The Kings]].
* [[The Man in The Moon]]: A [[Talmud (Literature)|Talmudic]] tradition holds that the face of Jacob is engraved upon the Moon.
* [[Marked Bullet]]: The [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Sling_:Sling (weapon) |sling bullets]] with "ΔΕΞΑΙ" (Greek for "take that") engraved on them.
* [[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 (Literature)|The Iliad]]'', are the sexist variety, supposedly demonstrating why women should never rule.
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* [[No Mister Bond I Expect You to Dine]]: In the [[Book of Genesis (Literature)|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 (Literature)|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 AintAin'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 (Creator)|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 (Literature)|Trojan Cycle]], to avoid having to go to Troy. The [[The Bible (Literature)|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.
* [[Off the Table]]: In Roman legend, the Cumaean sybil visited Tarquin the Elder (the last king of Rome, 6th century BCE) and offered him nine books of prophecy for a great price. He refused; she burned three of them and offered the rest at the same price. After repeating this, he finally paid the original price for the remaining three.
* [[Old Retainer]]: Odysseus's old nurse in ''[[The Odyssey (Literature)|The Odyssey]]''; Phoenix to Achilles in ''[[The Iliad (Literature)|The Iliad]]''.
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* [[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 [[The Bible (Literature)|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 [[The Bible (Literature)|Book of Joshua]], Joshua destroyed the walls of Jericho with music.
* [[PreachersPreacher's Kid]] (diabolic type): In [[The Bible (Literature)|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 (Literature)|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]].
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* [[Proper Lady]]: ''[[The Odyssey (Literature)|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 (Theatre)|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 (Literature)|Trojan Cycle]].
* [[Pungeon Master]]: [[God]] made some puns in ''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]''.
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* [[Purple Is Powerful]]: In [[Ancient Rome]], the Patrician class were the only people allowed to wear Tyrian purple.
* [[Purpose Driven Immortality]]: ''[[The Bible (Literature)|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 [http://en.[wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhus_of_Epirus: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.
 
 
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* [[Smite Me, O Mighty Smiter!]]: One of the Ajaxes in ''[[The Iliad (Literature)|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 (Literature)|Mahabharata]]'', both sank into the seas for this reason.
* [[Solar -Powered Magnifying Glass]]: Used to light the Olympic torch in ''[[The Clouds (Theatre)|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 ''Philopseudes'', 150 CE.
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* [[Stranger in A Familiar Land]]: [[Homer (Creator)|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 (Theatre)|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 (Literature)|Genesis]] 19.
* [[Take That]]: ''[[The Bible (Literature)|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 (Creator)|Euripides]]'s ''[[Electra (Theatre)|Electra]]'' mocks a plot development in [[Aeschylus (Creator)|Aeschylus]]'s ''Oresteia''.
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* [[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 (Literature)|The Iliad]]''.
* [[Traumatic Haircut]]: Samson suffers this in the ''[[Book of Judges (Literature)|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.
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* [[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' ''[[Histories (Literature)|Histories]]''.
* [[Welcome Back, Traitor]]: ''[[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]''.
* [[What Happened to The Mouse?]]: Several examples in [[Classical Mythology|Classical]], [[Norse Mythology|Norse]], and [[The Bible (Literature)|Judeo-Christian mythology]], ranging from Aeneas after evading Achilles in ''[[The Iliad (Literature)|The Iliad]]'' to Jesus Christ's stepfather Joseph after [[The Four Gospels (Literature)|Luke 2:41-51]]. See [[What Happened to The Mouse?|the trope page]] for details.
* [[Who's On First?]]: [[The Odyssey (Literature)|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.
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[[Category:index]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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