ARCHETYPES OF THE HERO

ARCHETYPES OF THE HERO• What is an archetype?• There are 12archetypes found inepic heroic stories.• Some of thesearchetypes appear inBeowulf.

1. Heroes Are Often ofObscure/Mysterious Origins.• Superman is an infant survivor from the planetKrypton.• Harry Potter is the boy who survived an evil curse.• King Arthur was raised in obscurity; so wasMoses.• Perseus and Hercules are sons of Zeus--demigods.Epic heroes cannot be full-god.• X-Men, and other comic characters, are mutants.• Jesus was conceived of Immaculate Conception.He was also raised in obscurity for his own safety.__________________________________________

2. Heroes are neitherfools nor invincible.• Odysseus defeats the Trojans—not throughstrength alone—but by using his intelligence todevise the plan of the Trojan horse. He also usedhis brain to escape the cave of the Cyclops.• Achilles’ mother dips him in the River Styx tomake him invincible, but he is still vulnerable onhis heel where she held him.• Superman has a problem with kryptonite.• Harry Potter is intelligent, but he is not immortal.__________________________________________

3. the hero’s way is not alwaysdirect or clear to him/her.• In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy knows she shouldfollow the yellow brick road, but she does notknow what dangers she will face along the way.Sometimes the road forks.• Harry Potter knows he must find the horcruxes,but he does not know the precise locations.• Frodo doesn’t know the true nature of the ring thathe must destroy.• Jesus—faced confusion in the desert and on thecross__________________________________________

4. The Hero has a goal or goals.• The Knights of the Round Table search for theHoly Grail.• Dorothy wants to find her way home.• Shrek must save a princess in order to get hisswamp back…minus all the fairy tale squatters.• In Greek mythology, Theseus defeats theMinotaur in order to become a famous hero. Hewanted to be remembered forever. So far, sogood.• Luke Skywalker must defeat the Empire.• Jesus Christ worked to defeat sin.__________________________________________

5. the hero’s way is beset withdangers, loneliness, andtemptation.• Frodo is hunted by the wraiths.• Robin Hood yearns for Maid Marian.• Luke Skywalker is tempted by the power of theforce.• Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan.• Another man’s wife attempted to seduce SirGawain.• Batman—faces seduction by various characters.• Hercules and his 12 Labors.__________________________________________

6. The hero is accompanied byfriends, servants, or disciples.• Robin Hood had his merry men.• Luke Skywalker had Han Solo, Chewbacca, R2-D2, C-3PO, etc.• Dorothy had the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and theCowardly Lion.• Harry Potter had Hermione and Ron.• Jesus had his disciples.• Shrek had Donkey and Puss.• Frodo had his group with him._________________________________________________

7. The hero has a guideor guides.• Luke Skywalker had Ben Kenobi and Yoda.• Frodo had Gandalf.• Harry Potter had Dumbledore.• Dorothy had Glenda.• Batman had Alfred.• Cinderella and the fairy godmother_________________________________________________

8. The hero descends into thedarkness, literally and/orfiguratively.• Peter Parker (Spiderman) grapples with his own darkthoughts of revenge.• Because he needed information from a dead man,Odysseus visits the Land of the Dead (Hades).• Harry Potter was transported to a cemetery where he had tofight for his life.• Dorothy grappled with despair in the Witch’s tower.• Hercules’ guilt caused him many problems.• Darth Vader• Jesus and the garden_________________________________________________

9. The hero is not the same afteremerging from the darkness.• Bruce Wayne changes into Batman when heemerges from darkness.• Luke Skywalker finally becomes a Jedi knightwhen he uses the positive aspects of the force toovercome the evil emperor.• Dorothy’s values/priorities were different whenshe returned home.• After his adventure, Bilbo Baggins was no longersatisfied with quiet, hobbit life.__________________________________________

10. What the hero seeks issymbolic of what is actuallyfound.• The destruction of the ring in The Lord of the Ringsrepresents the defeat of greed, corruption, and evil.• Locating Mary Magdalene’s grave represents vindication,truth, and honor to Dr. Robert Langdon in The Da VinciCode.• In The Wizard of Oz, the search for the wizard symbolizedthe search for self-discovery.• Harry Potter looking for the horcruxes—they representevil.• Aladdin’s Lamp—represents chances and wishes forimproving life.• Jesus and the cross—symbolizes forgiveness and eternallife for Christians_________________________________________________

11. The hero suffers awound or wounds.• Frodo is stabbed by the wraiths.• Luke Skywalker loses his hand.• Under a trance, Hercules murders his ownchildren.• Harry Potter loses characters close to him.__________________________________________

12. Heroes tend to be male;however, women represent wisdom.• Glinda, the good witch of the North from TheWizard of Oz, gives Dorothy the wisdom sheneeds in order to finish her quest.• Mina in Dracula• Hermione represents wisdom to Harry Potter.• Ariadne gives Theseus the wisdom he needed inorder to find his way out of the labyrinth.• Princess Leiea• Arwen from The Lord of the Rings.__________________________________________

Speaking of womenrepresenting wisdom…When asked on surveys,an extremely highnumber of people listtheir mother orgrandmother as theirhero. Why?• Love• Sacrifice• Wisdom/Advice