Introduction to
Archetypes II
Feraco
SDAIE
29 September 2013
Archetypes and Statements
 Plots are about journeys – descents and
ascents, quests and returns, adventures
both physical and emotional
 A story without movement – without
development of either plot or character – is
fairly pointless
 A book is a static medium, but its content
must be dynamic!
 Your college essays must also be about
journeys – demonstrating both personal
growth and your potential for further
development
Archetypal Journeys
 These may not always be personalstatement fodder, but I’d use one if I’d
been on one!
 The quest for identity
 The epic journey to find the promised
land
 A common variant is the quest to found the
“good city” – a land where our characters
and values can prosper
 The quest for vengeance
 The warrior’s journey to save his people
 The search for love / to rescue one’s love
More Archetypal Journeys
 The journey in search of
knowledge
 The tragic quest (penance, selfdenial, redemption)
 The fool’s errand
 The quest to defend the land, or to
rid the land from danger
 The search for home
 The “grail quest” (i.e., the search
for human perfection)
Campbell’s Five Stages
 Campbell identified five major
stages of the typical Hero’s Journey
 Regardless of the archetypal
nature of said journey, legend after
legend incorporates the following
stages
 Campbell also established certain
characteristics of a hero’s journey;
while it’s impossible to find every
characteristic in every legend,
most of these appear with startling
frequency
Stage One: Departure
 The hero is called to adventure
 This can be something he/she discovers
independently, but it’s usually an imperative
from someone else – sometimes from a
divine source, other times for a national
leader, and even from a familial dictate
 Interestingly, this call to adventure is
met with resistance nearly as frequently
as it’s enthusiastically met
 Many heroes are reluctant to leave what they
know, even when the necessity of their
departure is clear
Stage Two: Initiation
 The hero, having left behind the
familiar, must cross the threshold
of adventure
 This usually requires entrance into
a new, somewhat dangerous realm
 This entrance is also often
accompanied by a more mature
perspective
 Also something of a planning
stage; most reluctant heroes also
abandon their trepidation once
they’ve departed home
Stage Three: The Road of Trials
 Usually the longest stage of any heroic plot –
the “adventure segment”
 The hero often undergoes tests of strength, and
these tests are not always immediately
recognized or understood
 Other tests include trials of endurance and
resourcefulness – combinations of physical
and psychological prowess
 The tests themselves often require creative
solutions – it’s rarely as simple as it should be!
 The hero sometimes enjoys supernatural or
divine aid along the way; in other instances,
the hero is accompanied by mortal help
(sidekicks, loyal backers, friends, family,
warriors, etc.)
Stage Four: The Innermost Cave
 Also called the “descent” because our heroes
almost always fall or stumble along the way
 It’s highly unusual for a heroic journey to consist of
an endless series of triumphs
 Heroes suffer setbacks, particularly during the
third stage, and these setbacks lead them to
the Cave – an underworld or place of great trial,
sometimes within the hero’s own mind
 This trial results in the hero’s rebirth, whether
it be physical, emotional, or spiritual
 Most importantly, the hero undergoes an
internal transformation
 It is the lowest point of the journey, but its
presence is necessary for true triumph
Stage Five: Reintegration/Return
 At the end of the journey – assuming he
isn’t killed and doesn’t sacrifice himself
along the way – the hero must return
home
 This can be a dicey proposition;
reintegration in particular often proves
difficult
 However, patience often proves a virtue
during heroic journeys, and this stage is
no exception
 Ideally, the hero uses the lessons he’s
learned/wisdom he’s gained through
his adventure to benefit his home – to
restore the land to former glory, for
example
Situations Within a Story
 The following situations are common to
most heroic legends, and usually
appear in something approaching the
following order
 The first two roughly correspond to the
Departure, the third and fourth to the
Initiation, the fifth to the Road of Trials,
and the final four to the Innermost Cave
 That said, the order can shift,
particularly when the storyteller
modifies the archetypal structure
 A Road followed by a Fall, followed by
another Road and Fall before ending with a
victory and returning home
The Quest and the Task
 The Quest
 What the hero must accomplish in
order to restore peace, order, and
normalcy to a troubled land
 Usually a search for something – a
talisman, for example
 Often paired with the Journey, where
the hero goes in search of some truth
or revelation that will save his land
 The Task
 The nearly superhuman feat(s) the
hero must perform in order to fulfill
his quest
The Initiation and the Ritual
 The Initiation
 For a younger hero, a moment of
maturation; for a reluctant hero, a
moment of commitment
 An increased awareness of the
problems, challenges, and stakes
involved in what lies ahead
 The Ritual
 The actual ceremonies (training,
departure, etc.) the initiated hero
experiences that mark his rite of
passage into a new world
 Hardens the hero’s role within his
society
The Trials and the Fall
 The Trials
 The challenges a hero faces as he
approaches his goal
 The Fall
 The descent from a higher state of
being to a lower one
 The corruption of values or drive – for
younger heroes in particular, a loss of
innocence, faith, or trust
 The loss of comrades
 Often a punishment for a
transgression, not always on the
hero’s part
Death and Rebirth
 Death and Rebirth
 What came before (the hero prior to
this point) no longer persists
 What comes after (the hero posttransformation) proves key to victory
 This motif mirrors the life cycle that
dominates nature – young, strong and
vigorous rising to power
 Watch carefully to see when this takes
place; winter indicates old age and
death, whereas spring indicates
renewal and youth
The Battle and the Wound
 Battle Between Good and Evil
 While some contemporary stories enjoy
blurring the line between the two, the pitting
of these polar opposites is a very old trope –
the clash of one primal force with another
 Our insistence on uncompromised good
triumphing over evil even against all odds –
again, something that’s fading in a more
cynical age – seems to paint a picture of
humans as optimists
 The Unhealable Wound
 A loss – either physical or psychological –
that cannot be resolved, at least not fully
 This can either occur within the hero
(physical, emotional, spiritual) or without
(losing someone)
Symbolic Archetypes
 Light vs. Darkness
 Light usually suggests hope, renewal, or
intellectual illumination; darkness implies
the unknown, ignorance, or despair
 Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity
 Some characters exhibit wisdom and
understanding of situations instinctively as
opposed to those supposedly in charge
 Loyal retainers often exhibit this wisdom as
they accompany the hero on the journey
 Supernatural Intervention
 Spiritual being intervene on the hero’s
behalf – and sometimes against him
Symbolic Archetypes
 Fire and Ice
 Fire represents knowledge, light, life, and
rebirth, while ice represents ignorance,
darkness, sterility, and death (think desert)
 Nature vs. Mechanistic World
 Nature is good; technology is evil. Enough
said.
 The Threshold
 Gateway to a new world which the hero must
enter to change and grow
 The Underworld
 A place of death or metaphorically an
encounter with the dark side of the self
 Entering an underworld is a form of facing
one’s fear of death
Symbolic Archetypes
 Haven vs. Wilderness
 Places of safety contrast sharply against a
dangerous wilderness
 Heroes are also often sheltered for a time to
regain health and resources
 Water vs. Desert
 Because water is necessary for life and
growth, it commonly appears as a birth
symbol (i.e., baptism represents spiritual
birth) and sign of purification.
 This goes for water in its many forms – rain,
oceans, rivers, etc.
 The desert, by virtue of its barrenness,
suggests the opposite; death, infertility,
hopelessness, degeneration, and loss
Symbolic Archetypes
 Heaven vs. Hell
 Both represent places (above the stars and
beneath the world) that ancient Man could
not explore; traditionally, humans tend to
associate the parts of the universe that seem
off-limits to them with the dwelling places of
the gods or natural forces they believe
govern their world
 The gods live in the skies and atop
impossibly high mountains; demons lurk in
the shadows of the world’s bowels
 The Crossroads
 A place or time of decision when a
realization is made and change or penance
results
Symbolic Archetypes
 The Maze
 A puzzling dilemma or great source of
uncertainty/confusion, search for a
dangerous monster (inside or outside), or a
journey into the heart of darkness
 The Castle
 A stronghold of safety – a fortress – that may
be enchanted…or bewitched. Often contains
treasure, warriors, or princesses
 The Tower
 A stronghold of evil that often represents the
isolation of the self
 The Magic Weapon
 The weapon the hero needs in order to
complete his quest
Symbolic Archetypes
 The Whirlpool
 Symbolizes the destructive power of nature
or fate
 Fog
 Symbolizes uncertainty
 Numbers
 3, for example, represents light, spiritual
awareness, unity (ex. Holy Trinity), and
masculinity embodied
 4 is associated with the life cycle, four
seasons, earth, nature/elements, and
femininity embodied
 7 is the most potent of all symbolic numbers;
it signifies the union of 3 and 4, the
completion of a cycle, and the attainment of
perfect order (also a religious symbol)