ARCHETYPES
Adapted from a presentation
by Cicily Coney
What is a Myth?
• Traditional story or legend
• Of unknown origin
• Tells of historical events that often explain
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a natural phenomenon OR
a cultural practice, belief, or institution
How do Myths work?
• Myths rely on things called
archetypes to tell a story.
• Archetypal patterns and
images exist in every culture
and in every time period of
human history.
Archetypes
• The original pattern or model of which
all things of the same type are
representations or copies. It is the
prototype or perfect example.
• In the case of literature, an archetype is
a recurring symbol, character type,
plot, setting, or theme universally
repeated throughout time period and
culture.
History of Archetypes
• Developed by Karl Jung (Swedish) and
Joseph Campbell (American).
• Psychologists who began examining the
mythology of different time periods and
cultures.
• Discovered repetitive elements throughout
time and culture.
• Contended that archetypes are not
premeditated, but an inherent part of the
human psyche.
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They can be seen as a metaphor for the
human journey to self-knowledge.
COLOR
Western literature relies on color
imagery to project certain ideas.
WHITE
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Positive: purity, innocence, light, bright
• Often brides wear it to signify purity
• Light of knowledge; enlightenment
Negative: sterility, emptiness, mourning
• Storm troopers wear white; blind
followers of evil
BLACK
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Positive: elegance, maturity, wisdom
• Formal occasions men/women
often wear black
Negative: evil, death, night, chaos
• Darth Vader
• Ringwraiths in Lord of the Rings
• Dementors in Harry Potter
• Many fear mystery of the darkness
BLUE
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Positive: loyalty, peace, coolness, calm, truth
• A “true blue” friend is one who stands by
you
• Psychological tests show blue to be very
calming
Negative: discouragement, doubt,
depression
• Feeling “blue”
YELLOW/GOLD
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Positive: sunshine, wealth, illumination
• Precious metal
• Sunshine is the giver of life
• Golden harvest
Negative: deceit, cowardice, treason
• “yellow-belly” = coward
• Cowardly lion
GREEN
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Positive: youth, renewal, hope
• Jolly Green Giant
• Beauty of Spring
Negative: jealousy, envy, inexperience
• “Oh, beware, my lord, of jealousy! It is
the green-eyed monster which doth
mock the meat it feeds on.”
—Othello Act III Sc.3
• Greenhorn=naive and inexperienced
PURPLE
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Positive: royalty, wisdom, valor
• Most difficult color of dye to process; only
the wealthiest could afford it
Negative: bruising, injury
RED
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Positive: love, life, passion, sacrifice
• Valentine’s Day
• Life’s blood
Negative: anger, lust, violence, ambition
• “seeing red”
• The Siren often wears red
SHAPE
Thanks for the heavenly
message brought by thee,
Child of the wandering sea,
Cast from her lap, forlorn!
Oliver Wendell Holmes
“The Chambered Nautilus”
Angular Shapes
 Triangle – Communication between heaven
and earth, fire, trinity, aspiration, movement
upward, return to origin, sight, light
 Square – Pluralism, earth, firmness,
stability, construction, material solidity
 Cross – The Tree of Life, axis of the world,
struggle, martyrdom
Curved Shapes
 Circle – Heaven, intellect, thought, the sun, unity
perfection, eternity, oneness, completeness,
hearing, sound
 Oval – Woman, passivity, life (think egg), forces
of time
 Spiral – Evolution of the universe, orbit,
growth, deepening, cosmic motion,
breath, spirit, water
NUMBERS
Number symbolism pervades all cultures.
0-3
• 0=potential and possibility
• 1=creation, life, wholeness, unity,
the sun
• 2=duality, opposites (i.e.
black/white, male, female,
good/bad)
• 3= light, spiritual awareness (Holy
Trinity)
4-6
• 4= power, associated w/cube, four
seasons, cardinal directions (north,
south, east, west) elements (earth,
air, water, fire) the cross
• 5=natural man (2 arms, 2 legs, head)
and five natural senses; five Chinese
elements (earth, metal, fire, wood,
water)
• 6=love, beauty, romance and
harmony between the male and
female principles (six days of creation
in Genesis)
7
• 7= most potent because it combines 3
(light) +4 (power), perfect order; luck,
days of the week, Seven Deadly Sins,
Seven Holy Virtues
8 - 10
• 8= infinity symbol; representation of
the loop between the conscious and
the unconscious
• 9=gestation and birth/rebirth, Dante’s
Nine Circles of Hell/Nine Circles
of Heaven; nine Greek muses
• 10=solidarity of creatures or resistance
to spirit; beginning of new cycle at
higher level of awareness; Ten
Commandments
11 - 13
• 11= ambiguity; can represent
invention and the pioneering spirit
• 12=signs of the zodiac, months of the
year, tribes of Israel, gods on Olympus
• 13=traditionally an unlucky number
because of association with Judas
Iscariot; 13th card in Tarot deck is
Death
THE HERO’S JOURNEY
Based on the work of Joseph Campbell
Steps delineated by Christopher Vogler
THE EPIC
 Physically impressive hero of
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national/historical importance
Vast setting
Quest/journey for something
of value
Supernatural forces
Glorification of hero in the
end
Rooted in specific
culture/society
Archetypal Hero
Common characteristics
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Unusual birth
Leaving of family or land to reside elsewhere
An event or “call to adventure” that leads him on a
quest
Has a special weapon (talisman) or power only he
can wield
Often has supernatural help
Must prove himself many times, often narrowly
escaping death
Experiences atonement or revenge for father
Upon death, the hero receives spiritual reward
Types of Heroes
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Innocent: is thrust into the question; doesn’t want to do it, but
does because there is nobody else who will
Orphan: typically on a quest for a family
Warrior: fights vehemently for the success of the quest
Fool: bumbling, silly, succeeds by accident
Caregiver: quest is to give comfort to others
Wanderer: moves from town to town in attempt to find
internal goal
Martyr: makes a conscious decision to die for the success of
the quest
Tragic: experiences an inner struggle because of a
character flaw; that struggle ends in the defeat of the hero
Anti-hero: protagonist who is lacking all heroic qualities
Archetypal Villain
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Purpose is to foil the quest of our hero
Often dressed in black or dark colors
Typically operates in darkness, at
night, or under shroud of mystery
Sidekick
Aids our hero in his quest
• Often adds humor
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Fair Maiden
• Sought after by both hero
and villain
• Usually the focus of any
romance
Shaman
• Wise person
• Offers help to our hero
• Often teaches hero the skills he
needs to succeed on the quest
Siren
• Tries to lure our hero away from his quest
• Often female who uses “womanly wiles”
to distract hero
• Often wears red
• Sometimes disguised as a witch,
animal, or serpent
Hero’s Journey
The archetypal hero will always embark on an
inner or outer quest that will test his character
and provide him and his world with a special
“elixir” of enlightenment and truth.
• Ordinary World
Ordinary
World
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Something in the hero’s life is
pulling in different directions and
causing stress
• Call to Adventure
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External or internal pressures force
the hero to face the beginnings of
change
• Refusal of the Call
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Hero feels the fear of the unknown
and tries to turn away from the
adventure
• Meeting with the Mentor
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Special
World
The hero meets with a traveler of
the worlds who equips him with
training, equipment, or advice
• Crossing the Threshold
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The hero commits to leave the
ordinary world and enter the
unknown
• Tests, Allies, and Enemies
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The hero is tested and sorts out
allegiances in the special world
• Approach
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The hero and allies prepare for the
major challenge in the special
world
• Ordeal
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The hero confronts death or his
greatest fear. Out of this moment
of death comes new life.
• Reward
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The hero takes possession of the
treasure won by facing death, but
there is the danger of loss.
• The Road Back
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Ordinary
World
The hero completes the challenge
and leaves the Special World to
return home.
• Resurrection
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The hero is severely tested on the
threshold of home and is purified by a
last moment of sacrifice or death and
rebirth.
• Return with the Elixir
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The hero returns home bearing some
element of the treasure that has the
power to transform the world as the
hero has been transformed.
Recognizing the Journey
With a small group, explain how the steps of the
hero’s journey are revealed in a well-known film
of your choice.
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The Wizard of Oz
Star Wars
Harry Potter
The Lord of the Rings
Finding Nemo
Toy Story
The Lion King
Shrek
Archetypal Settings
Garden
• The Perfect Society
• Abundance of water
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Most important ingredient
Life-giving; baptism
Cleanses and renews
Eternal Springtime
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Green and gold
Simplicity and innocence of life
Marked by love and harmony
Think Garden of Eden
Wasteland
•Gray, brown, black
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Either way too much water or way too little
Marked by antagonism, hatred, war
Nature is destructive
Loss of innocence; scarcity of food, shelter,
love despite constant toil
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Our hero’s quest ultimately focuses on
reaching his garden setting, whatever that
may be
Can be a physical or symbolic setting
We’re all trying to move toward our own
personal garden setting
Ironically, sometimes in our efforts to create
our garden we’re actually creating a
wasteland
• Environmentally
• Emotionally
• Spiritually
• Physically
Archetypal Themes
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Hero (good overcoming evil)
Obstacle (struggle with self, struggle with
nature)
Quest
Death and Rebirth
Initiation (coming of age, loss of innocence)
Outcast (alienation, isolation, acceptance
of atypical)