1. Mythology: “Archetypes”
Part 2 of Mythology Unit
Grade 10 Academic
GDHS
Revised Sept 2013

2. What is an archetype?
Archetypes are recurring character types (and relationships), and/or patterns of symbols or situations found in the mythology, religion, and stories of all cultures
For example:
The questing heroes
Heralds who call them to adventure
Wise old men or women who give them advise or/and magical gifts
Threshold guardians who seem to block their way
Shadowy villains who try to destroy them

3. Carl Jung’s ideas about Archetypes
Just as an individual may possess a personal unconscious, a culture too has a collective unconscious
Fairy tales and myths are like the dreams of an entire culture, springing from the collective unconscious

4. Archetypes and Literature
Carl Jung first applied the term archetype to literature. He recognized that there were universal patterns in all stories and mythologies regardless of culture or historical period.
He believed that part of the human mind contained a collective unconscious shared by all members of the human species, a sort of universal, primal memory.

5. The term archetype can be applied to:
An image
A theme
A symbol
An idea
A character type
A plot pattern

6. Archetypes can be expressed in
Myths
Dreams
Literature
Religions
Fantasies
Folklore

7. Key things to know about archetypes
Archetypes are prototypes
As their name suggests, they derive from associations in our distant past (arche = original or first; type = stamp or model)
They are recurring images, character types, symbols, and story patterns that are structural principles that give literature its unity

8. Archetypes often have heritage so far in the past that we now accept the association without fully realizing the initial connection.
Their presence in literature makes it possible to connect one literary work to another and to literature as a whole

9. The Hero’s Quest There are 8 stages to the Hero Quest Monomyth
It is visualized as
a cycle as opposed
to a plot diagram

10. Stage 1: Call to Adventure
The hero is called to adventure by some external event or messenger. The Hero may accept the call willingly or reluctantly.

11. Stage 2: Helper
During the early stages of the journey, the hero will often receive aid from a protective figure. This supernatural helper can take a wide variety of forms, such as a wizard, and old man, a dwarf, a crone, or a fairy godmother.

12. Stage 3: Crossing the “Threshold of Adventure”
Upon reaching the threshold of adventure, the hero must undergo some sort of ordeal in order to pass from the everyday world into the world of adventure.
This trial may be as painless as entering a dark cave or as violent as being swallowed up by a whale. The important feature is the contrast between the familiar world of light and the dark, unknown world of adventure.

13. Stage 4: Tests and Helpers
Tests: The hero travels through the world of adventure where he must undergo a series of tests. These trials are often violent encounters with monsters, sorcerers, warriors, or forces of nature. Each successful test further proves the hero's ability and advances the journey toward its climax.
Helpers: The hero is often accompanied on the journey by a helper who assists in the series of tests and generally serves as a loyal companion. Alternately, the hero may encounter a supernatural helper in the world of adventure who fulfills this function.

14. Stage 5: The Ordeal
Climax/The Final Battle: This is the critical moment in the hero's journey in which there is often a final battle with a monster, wizard, or warrior which facilitates the particular resolution of the adventure.

15. Stage 6: Flight
Flight: After accomplishing the mission, the hero must return to the threshold of adventure and prepare for a return to the everyday world. If the hero has angered the opposing forces by stealing the “elixir” or killing a powerful monster, the return may take the form of a hasty flight.

16. Stage 7: Return
Return: The hero again crosses the “threshold of adventure” and returns to the everyday world of daylight. The return usually takes the form of an awakening, rebirth, resurrection, or a simple emergence from a cave or forest.

17. Stage 8: Elixir
Elixir: The object, knowledge, or blessing that the hero acquired during the adventure is now put to use in the everyday world. Often it has a restorative or healing function, but it also serves to define the hero's role in the society.

18. Example: The Lion King
Remember the beginning of Lion King? Simba's birth is being celebrated. The unusual aspect of his birth is his royal status. His father, Mufasa, is the King of the Jungle.
Simba's father is
murdered by Scar, but
Simba believes he is responsible
for his father’s death…

19. ...which leaves our little hero helpless and forces him to leave his kingdom. Have no fear, however; heroes always return to their land.
Call to Action: Simba initially fights with Nala, but he soon realizes they are old friends. She tells him of Scar's terrible reign, asking that he return to the kingdom to return it to prominence. This begins Simba's quest to gain his father's kingdom back from Scar.

20. Helper: Simba receives help from Rafiki, a medicine man-type character
Helper: Simba receives help from Rafiki, a medicine man-type character. Rafiki is the supernatural force in The Lion King. He influences Simba and provides him with guidance.

21. Simba is immature at first and unable to be the hero he will eventually become. However, once he realizes Scar must be removed and that he is the only one that can do it, he assumes his proper role as the hero.

22. Helper (supernatural): The spirit of
Mufasa, Simba's father, tells Simba to
be strong and assume his place on the
throne. Simba, who has been reluctant up to this point to return to his kingdom, realizes he has little choice but to avenge his father's murder.
Tests: The hyena’s prove to be quite the challenge to Simba at first.
But Simba is determined to
achieve success and defeat Scar,
and the hyena’s are no match.

23. Ordeal: Simba's descent into "hell" is combined with his defeat of Scar and the hyenas. Remember all the flames in the background as he fights Scar? He symbolically goes where none of the other lions could go in order to help his tribe and prove himself. Simba's unhealable wound? His past, where his courage failed him and his tribe, will always haunt him.

24. Simba becomes king, earning his elixir (power)
Simba becomes king, earning his elixir (power). He returns the animal kingdom back to normal and the hero quest comes to an end.

25. Creation Myths

26. It’s not all Greek to us There is only one earth…
So isn’t there only one way the earth and mankind was created?
If there are hundreds of thousands of cultures…
With hundreds of thousands of beliefs…
Aren’t hundreds of thousands of cultures incorrect in their beliefs?
Who’s right??

27. It’s not all Greek to us
Although we may never know, it is essential to our understanding of literature, archetypes, patterns, character behaviours, symbols, and themes to study these in more depth and examine our human history.
By examining different cultures and their versions of events, we get an in-depth look at their values, beliefs, intelligence, concerns, fears, afterlife, and mindset. This helps us interpret their literature, which has roots for so much of our own modern art and literature.

28. Creation Myth Research Presentation
Groups or 3-4
10-15 minutes
PowerPoint/Prezi Presentation

29. Why are there similar plot events?
Which plot event repeated most?
Think about it:
Why has this event been repeated so many times? What is the “cause” of this repetition?

30. Pangaea

31. In geologic terms, a plate is a large, rigid slab of solid rock
In geologic terms, a plate is a large, rigid slab of solid rock. The word tectonics comes from the Greek root “to build.” Putting these two words together, we get the term plate tectonics, which refers to how the Earth’s surface is built of plates. The theory of plate tectonics states that the Earth’s outermost layer is fragmented into a dozen or more large and small plates that are moving relative to one another as they ride atop hotter, more mobile material. Before the advent of plate tectonics, however, some people already believed that the present day continents were the fragmented pieces of preexisting larger landmasses (“supercontinents”). The diagrams below show the breakup of the supercontinent Pangaea (meaning “all lands” in Greek), which figured prominently in the theory of continental drift – the forerunner to the theory of plate tectonics

33. Think Critically
Why is this information important for the study of mythology?
How does it contribute to our understanding of archetypes?
How can it further explain some of the similarities we’ve noticed in the study of various creation myths from around the world?

34. Mythology “Legends, Epics, Fables, and Fairytales”
Part 3 of Mythology Unit
Grade 10 Academic
GDHS
Revised Sept 2013

35. Legends A narrative that has taken place in human history
It does not include things that can be deemed impossible (ex: miracles)
It is historically grounded

36. Epics
Normally composed by one poet and involves a considerable amount of time, space, and characters.
Generally involves a hero of noble (sometimes even godly) origin, who performs from great deeds of valour.
A narrative that is national in character; meaning it is meant to arouse in its readers/listeners a sense of great pride in their country.

37. Fables
A fable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or verse, that features animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities). A fable illustrates a moral or ethical lesson (the moral of the story), which may be expressed explicitly at the end of the story in a pithy phrase.
Fables connect to other genres of writing:
the lesson becomes the theme in a short story or novel
how the lesson is taught becomes the plot
characters can be developed to create point of view

38. Fairytales
A fairy tale is a story of marvels and magic featuring characters from folklore such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, giants, talking animals and others. These stories often involve royalty, and modern versions usually have a happy ending. They are about the adventures, fortunes, and misfortunes of a hero or heroine who ends up living happily ever after.

39. Fairytales
The fairy tale leaves all decisions up to us, including whether we wish to make any at all. It is up to us whether we wish to make any application to our life from a fairy tale, or simply enjoy the fantastic events it tells about. Our enjoyment is what induces us to respond in our own good time to the hidden meanings, as they may relate to our life experience and present state of personal development.