Heroes in Norse myths and legends

“Myths are the expression of the primordial images in the collective unconscious of man. In the beginning man had certain experiences and received them in their psyche in the form of images. Since they are the first images they are called archetypes of the collective unconscious.” The above cited paragraph is the opinion of Carl Gustav Jung (qtd. in Trivedi). According to Jung the unconscious patterns of age old impressions play a prominent part in the production of literature. They serve to gauge

07 1 THE BRITISH ACADEMY THE ANNUAL SHAKESPEARE LECTURE 1914 Hamlet and Orestes A Study in Traditional Types By Gilbert Murray, LL.D., D.Litt. Regius Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford Fellow of the Academy New York Oxford University Press American Branch 35 West 32nd Street London : Humphrey Milford THE BRITISH ACADEMY THE ANNUAL SHAKESPEARE LECTURE 1914 Hamlet and Orestes A Study in Traditional Types By Gilbert Murray