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Myth and the Origin of the Humanities. Week 2 Seminar Humanities 300. What is an archetype?. An archetype is a universal symbolic pattern.
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Myth and the Origin of the Humanities Week 2 Seminar Humanities 300
What is an archetype? • An archetype is a universal symbolic pattern. • It is a model that, through mythology, becomes part of our subconscious and an addition to the way we organize our thinking about ourselves, human beings in general and the nature of the universe.
What is a monomyth? • A fundemental myth of all cultures. The hero’s journey is the basic pattern found in many narratives from around the world. James Joyes used this term to describe the phenomena of this universal pattern.
Four Archetypal Myths • Woman of Power (Great Mother) • Lost or Hidden Paradise • Hero • The Hero’s Quest or Journey
Women of Power (Great Mother) • Queen of Sheba Hippolyta • Athena Aphrodite • Baba Yaga Eve • Gaia Medusa • Isis Boudica Things to look for: Where does the myth originate? Does she have supernatural powers? Does she have a male counterpart? Is she a warrior? Does a group of people or nation originate with her according to the myth? Are any animals associated with her?
Queen of Sheba An Ethiopian depiction
The “Paradise” Archetype • Shangra-la Kriti (or Satya) Yuga • Eden Land of the Kachinas • Avalon Shambala • Asgard Things to look for: In what culture does the myth originate? Where is the paradise located? Is the paradise a physical place? Was it inhabited by humans? How might humans get there?
The “hero” archetype • King Arthur Quetzlcoat • Herakles (Hercules) Buddah • Jesus Gilgamesh • Beowulf Odin • Thor Moses Things to look for: Where does the hero myth originate? Does the hero have unique birth story or parentage? Immortality? Special weapons? Group following? Moral teachings?
The archetypal “quest” story • Jason Percival • Gilgamesh Wunzh • Joan of Arc Moses • Bran Odysseus Things to look for: How is the hero “called” on his/her quest? What kind of transformation happens on the quest?