Archetypes In King Arthur And Odysseus

    Most people think of a hero as a strong, superior, good-looking person that could never make a mistake. However, in a story called The Odyssey, a connection to real life reveals imperfections to be common in heroes. Each person has their low points and highlights, regardless of their “rank”. The author and epic poet, Homer, exemplifies our main character, Odysseus, to take on this idea of a hero throughout his writing. The time period took place in Ancient Greece, allowing Greek culture to relate to the poem. Different aspects of such culture and history may have influenced the works and creativity of Homer as well. A major point includes The Trojan War because it focuses in on Odysseus’ journey to bring Helen back home by devising a plan to destroy warriors in the city. Acknowledge this factor when reading The Odyssey, for not only evidence of heroism, but also other major points of archetypes, in which the device reflects the insights of readers in modern time and what is seen from Ancient Greek culture.

Heroes, as shown in literature, often undertake the most difficult tasks and place themselves in mortal danger in order to bring back, for themselves and their societies, both knowledge and treasure. Their stories follow “Hero Journey.” The Odyssey, as the epic story of the hero Odysseus, follows closely the complete cycle of a Hero Journey, both as a physical and as a psychological undertaking. The Hero Journey, used as a framework for both Odysseus’ physical and mental journeys, serves to bind the two together. Each of Odysseus’s physical difficulties can be viewed as a metaphor for a psychological hardship that he must overcome, and by overcoming these hardships, Odysseus matures—achieving a more complete understanding of himself and

An archetype is defined as an image, story-pattern, character, setting, symbol, or situation that recurs frequently in literature and in life. It demonstrates universal human experiences and associates strongly with readers through a subconscious understanding. In the Epic of Gilgamesh the main character, Gilgamesh, is an example of a superheroic archetypal hero. He took on an epic quest for everlasting life by following the archetypal steps of a hero’s journey. Through suffering due to tragedy, realizing the nature of his quest, seeking help from a mentor, experiencing failure, and returning home with a companion, Gilgamesh’s story followed the situational archetype of a hero’s journey.

Archetypes are universal symbols used in literature to represent fundamental human motifs. In the medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, the hero must undergo archetypal situations to succeed in his quest to redeem the honor of Camelot. Gawain embodies the transcendent hero as he further goes into “The Zone of Magnified Power” (Campbell 71) then faces conflict resulting from the threat placed on the society. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight dramatically demonstrates how a single character can play many archetypal roles.

With every corner we turn in today’s culture, we become more and more aware of the archetypes that surround us. Archetypes are the works of a typical character, situation, setting, or symbol that can be found in fantasy and reality. An example would be the renowned medieval story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet. The author permeates the story with situational, symbolic, and character archetypes that illustrate the profound life of Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain was apprehensive of his journey at first, but as time passes, he began to make choices that unveils to the audience the true flawed knight that he was.

The archetype (in Jungian psychology) is a primitive mental image inherited from the earliest human ancestors, and is supposed to be present in the collective unconscious; basically this means that human beings have subconsciously passed down human stereotypes from generation to generation. This can be used to explain the striking resemblance between many stories all through time; it can be based on plot, characters, or even passing symbols. The resemblance between characters can be seen in the three Greek plays The Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, and Antigone, which share the archetypal characteristics of a hero, sage, and villain.

Many of the archetypes in this story were the origin for the archetypes used in todays literature. Two examples in “The Odyssey” are the temptress and the father-son

Archetype refers to a generic version of a personality. Archetypes are continually present in folklore and literature for thousands of years, including prehistoric artwork. The identification of archetypes in literature is to primarily find the behaviors and characteristics of the main protagonist, it is important to discover the ambiguity of how the traits change and develop throughout the rising

Homer’s The Odyssey shows many archetypes throughout this tale of adventure. There is bravery, death, leadership monsters, and slaughter all circling around the archetypes in the epic. The Odyssey was set down in writing around 8th century B.C. The story is told by Homer. Odysseus is his main character The archetype Odysseus plays is the hero. Other archetypes in The Odyssey are the monster and the father figure. Modern readers gain insight about Ancient Greek culture from the use of archetypes in Homer’s epic, The Odyssey.

The representation of archetypes in texts, has transformed prominently over time. The archetype of the hero, has been evident in texts as early as the 16th century, therefore has changed drastically over time due to the influences and the reflections of the historical events in which have occurred, as well as the social values in various time periods. The development of the hero archetype can be drawn from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's 1835 poem, Morte d'Arthur, Brothers Grimm's 1857 version of the classic tale, Little Red Cap, and 2010 TV Movie, Avalon High by Meg Cabot. These three texts explore how events and values over time have influenced the archetype of the hero.

The traditions of storytelling have long been used as a means to impart wisdom and life lessons to others. One of the most effective ways in which this is done is through the use of archetypes. While it is possible to look at these images in a general way, one may also focus an analysis on a single tale. In this way it is possible to explore the particular images used and their significance in a given situation, (often a coming of age rite of

A hero isn’t shaped by his strengths but by the values he possesses. Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, reveals the moral and ethical constitution of the ancient Greeks. Over time, certain cultures have grown to value a number of human characteristics. Those who acquire such values become respected heroes. After the fall of Troy, the protagonist of the epic, Odysseus, set sail for his home, Ithaca, where his faithful wife and son were waiting for him. Over the course of his journey, Odysseus faced some of the most ferocious opponents known to the Greeks. Even through this formidable journey, Odysseus and his family have stayed true to the diverse aspects of the ancient Greeks. The Odyssey exemplifies the human ideals of hospitality, loyalty and

Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity

In this paper I will analyze two characters in two separate works, one from a literary text and one from a film. The focus of this paper will be on heroes that have a relationship to an element of mythology. I will use the character Odysseus from Homer’s epic poem, “The Odyssey” and the character Wonder Woman from the American superhero film “Wonder Woman”. In this essay I will analyze the gender, appearance, actions, and roles that these heroes have. Throughout this essay, I will also discuss the negative characteristics that both these heroes have, such as their violent actions towards others. Heroes possess numerous qualities that make them great, however, there are certain qualities of a hero that are consistent throughout Greek mythology; bravery, intelligence, and strength. These qualities are significant to these two Greek Mythologies because these heroes are known to bravely risk their lives for others, using their wisdom to guide them, all while fighting strongly for what they believe in. This paper will serve to prove that regardless of the gender of each of these personas, the characteristics that define a hero remain consistent.

When people think of a hero, they think of a tall, handsome, loyal, brave, and a type of man that could do no wrong. The “hero” that is portrayed in the Odyssey is a man named Odysseus. This “hero” may be tall and handsome, but he is often arrogant, disrespectful, conceited, and rude. Odysseus consists of positive and negative characteristics that is shown in the text by Homer. These characteristics impact the characters day to day, or in the book’s case, the quests. In the Odyssey, Homer values the characteristics hospitality and cunning, but he objects bad leadership.