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Archetypes
Common situations, characters, and symbols
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Situational archetypes | the quest, the task, the journey, the fall, death and rebirth, nature vs mechanistic world, battle between good and evil |
| The quest | hero searches for someone/something to restore the land |
| The task | a part of the ultimate goal, little challenges throughout the quest where the hero performs a super-human deed |
| The journey | hero tries to find truth or information, descends into physical/psychological hell and is forced to find faults; hero's lowest point, accepts responsibility, and returns home |
| The fall | goes from higher to lower point of being, loses innocence, and is accompanied by banishment; caused by hubris (Greek: excessive pride) |
| Death and rebirth | most common situation; cycle of nature, circle of life; morning/springtime: rebirth, night/wintertime: death |
| Nature vs mechanistic world | nature is good; science, technology, and society are evil |
| Battle between good and evil | good signifies eternal optimism, triumphs over great odds; evil signifies larger force/army, greater power, arrogant |
| Symbolic archetypes | light vs dark, Heaven vs Hell, water vs desert, haven vs wilderness, the tower vs the castle, supernatural intervention, ice vs snow, whirlpool, the magic weapon |
| Light vs dark | light suggests good, hope, renewal, and ideas; dark suggests evil, unknown, fear, and ignorance |
| Water vs desert | water is necessary to live/grow, birth & rebirth symbol, used in baptismal services; desert is dry & arid, hard to live/never changes, self-awareness, lonely quest of meaning |
| Haven vs wilderness | haven - place of safety; wilderness - dangerous; heroes take shelter to regain health/strength |
| The tower vs the castle | the tower is a place of evil, symbolizes isolation; the castle is a strong place of safety, holds treasure, may be enchanted |
| Supernatural intervention | Gods intervene on side of the hero (Aeolus gave Odysseus a bag of wings) or against the hero (Zeus crashed his boat) |
| Ice vs snow | symbolizes death, indifferent |
| Whirlpool | destructive power of nature, chaos |
| The magic weapon | symbolizes extraordinary quality of hero, only hero can use it to the fullest, given to the hero by his mentor |
| Character archetypes | the hero, the young man from the provinces, the initiates, mentors, hunting group of companions, the loyal retainer, friendly beast, the devil figure, the outcast |
| Woman figures | earthmother, the temptress, platonic ideal, unfaithful wife, damsel in distress |
| Star-crossed lovers | two character fall in love, disapproved of by society, friends, and family; fated to end tragically for eachother |
| The creature of the nightmare | monster summoned by the deep, threatens life of hero/heroine, often in human or animal form |
| The hero | goes on adventures, self-sacrifice, hard life, tries to be killed at birth, usually raised by foster parents, solves some sort of issue to save the world |
| The young man from the provinces | spirited away at an early age and raised by strangers, considered a stranger and new problems exist when returning home |
| The initiates | young heroes go through a ceremony or training of some kind before the quest, usually innocent and wears white |
| Mentors | serve as a mother/father figure, guardian, teacher, or counselor; work as a role model and teach by example; typically older |
| Hunting group of companions | companions of the hero, fiercely loyal and willing to die, will face any number of challenges to stay together |
| The loyal retainer | duty is to protect the hero, of a lesser social class, reflect hero's nobility |
| Friendly beast | shows nature is on the hero's side |
| The devil figure | evil incarnate, offers something to the hero and makes a trade where the hero must give up something |
| The outcast | figure is banished from society for a real/imagined crime against humankind, destined to become a wanderer |
| Earthmother | symbolizes life, spiritual and emotional nourishment, wears earthly colors |
| The temptress | sensuous beauty with dark hair and attractive body, hero is physically attracted to her, tries to cause his downfall - only want power over him |
| Platonic ideal | source of inspiration, not usually physically attracted to her (more intellectually), spiritual ideal |
| Unfaithful wife | married woman, sees her husband as dull of distant, attracted to more interesting and young men |
| Damsel in distress | vulnerable, naïve, helpless; needs to be rescued by hero, often used to lure the hero |
Created by:
BCBundy
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