Tuesday September 23 Notes

The Mythic Hero Archetype

-Archetype

• Formed by repeated experiences in the lives of our ancestors
• Inherited in the "collective unconscious" of the human race
• Often exposed in myth, religion, dreams, and fantasies, as well as in literature
• Can be a character type, plot pattern, or description
• Recurs frequently in literature and folklore
• Thought to evoke profound emotional responses in the reader because it resonates with an image already existing in the mind

• Karl Jung (pronounced "yong") believed certain subconscious psychological urges and instincts manifests themselves in fantasies and reveal their presence through symbolic motifs
• These "forms or images ... occur practically all over the world as constituents of myth"
• As the forms rise out of the unconscious mind in dreams and myths, archetypes might appear as characters - princesses, knights, dragons, wizards, and fools
  
• Or they may show up as archetypal images - a sequence of events, a certain kind of place, or a talismanic object
• In the stories that speak to us most deeply, these elements remain remarkably constant. For example, the activities, communications, and adventures in which the mythic hero participates

-Examples of Archetypes
Important note: Many archetypes come in twos, or dichotomous pairs

• Sun and water - Both the sun and water exist constantly for all civilizations and has remained an important symbol throughout history. They may not represent the same things between cultures and time, but the fact that they were used as symbols is significant
• Journey/Quest
• Rite of passage
• Loss of/Search for Eden (aka paradise)
• Growth through conflict
• Nature/life cycle
• Religion (the search for God or personal code)
• Reconciliation of opposites
• -love/hate
• -heaven/hell
• -alienation/redemption
• -male/female

-THE MYTHIC HERO #1 (1/10 main ideas that make a mythic hero)

• The hero has an obscure/mysterious background
• The hero is either someone from outside a community
  
• Or from within a community, but possesses a hidden difference, often not known to the hero. Usually, someone else has to point out this difference.

There was a firedrill, so the notes end here before some examples of #1. Forgive me if the timing was late, but I believe someone else was supposed to post before me and I figured I'd post anyway.

Susan Kim