1. Homer, HEROES, and The Odyssey

2. Archetype Definition Greek arche=first, typos=mold
Dictionary: Original pattern or first of its kind; a prototype
In literature: A symbol, setting, story structure, or character type that recurs in different times and places in myth and literature, suggesting that it embodies some universal human experience
Forms: archetypal (adj.)
Difference between archetype and motif?
Sometimes students get archetypes confused with motifs. But they are not always the same—though some archetypes can be motifs. A motif is a pattern that reoccurs throughout a work—an image, phrase, or scene that gets repeated. For instance, in The Odyssey, we discussed how the phrases “nymph with lovely braids,” “Athena, her eyes glinting,” “Dawn with her rose-red fingers,” and “Odysseus, man of pain” get repeated throughout the poem. We also get repetitions of telling stories, feasting, looms and weaving, disguises, etc.
Archetypes are character types or settings or symbols or structural patterns that get repeated throughout the whole of literature

3. The Archetypes The Hero (“to serve and sacrifice”)
His/her purpose is to separate and sacrifice self for the service of the Journey
He/she does not have to be all good (antiheroes, outlaws, loner heroes)
He/she grows or learns the most during the Journey

4. Epic Characters
The epic hero, who represents the values of a society, is at the center of every epic.
Epic heroes are exceptional people who undertake difficult quests or journeys.
Through the journey, heroes aim to achieve something of value to themselves or their people.

5. Epic Characters
Epic heroes may experience many obstacles, or conflicts, along the way.
These conflicts are sometimes external, created by forces of nature or, as in many epics and myths, the gods.

6. Epic heroes also experience internal conflict.
Epic Characters
Epic heroes also experience internal conflict.
Faced with an internal conflict, the heroes struggle to overcome their own fears, doubts, or downfalls.
HUBRIS

7. Most epic heroes have a foil.
Character Foils
Most epic heroes have a foil.
A foil is a character that stands in stark contrast to another character.
For example, Superman’s foil is Lex Luthor, a villain whose evil contrasts with Superman’s goodness.
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8. Goes through the Epic Hero Cycle: Epic heroes also all follow the same storyline. They go through the same cycle.
They are special, or supernatural, from birth.
They are charged with a quest.
They go through trials and challenges designed to test their strength and intelligence.
Epic heroes go to unnatural worlds that others may not enter.
Epic heroes get help from companions.
Even when they hit a low point, epic heroes always come back fighting. They have a resurrection and then they are restored to their rightful place.

9. Types of Heroes Situation Hero: Epic Hero:
A person who “saves the day” by completing a heroic act.
This person’s hero status may be celebrated, but only for a short period of time.
Epic Hero:
A hero has some unusual qualities that separates him from the average person.
In Greek mythology, a hero was often of divine origin, being the progeny of a deity.
A hero can be defined as a person who acts in a way that benefits the greater good of his society.

10. OTHER TYPES OF HEROES the Warrior, the Scholar, and the Saint.
Heroes fall into one of (or sometimes a combination of) three main archetypes or categories:
the Warrior,
the Scholar,
and the Saint.

11. The Warrior Hero
The Warrior archetype are those who in some way base their sense of hero-hood on strength.
This could be strength of purpose, physical strength, will power, endurance, perseverance, or some other form of strength

12. The Scholar
The Scholar archetype bases their sense of hero-hood on being 'smart'.
This could be founded in formal education, street-smarts, skills and abilities.

13. The Saint
The Saints base their sense of hero-hood in a desire to be (or be seen as) good.
This could be played out through formal religion or through doing things that are generally seen as "good."

14. The Tragic Hero
Noble birth
Well-liked
Tragic flaw (hamartia)
Downfall

15. Other epic heroes you may know

16. Character types, places, or symbols every culture shares
A Few Archetypes
Character types, places, or symbols every culture shares

17. Trickster Archetype
God, human or animal that plays pranks or jokes on others and disobeys normal rules of behavior
Prometheus (Greek)
Raven (Northwest)
Loki (Norse)
Brer Rabbit (African American)

18. Paradise by Jan Brueghel (1620)
Paradise Archetype
A perfect place that once existed and will exist again
Garden of Eden, return of Christ or life in Heaven (Christianity)
Golden Age, Elysian Fields (Greece)
Gold Age of Osiris, Fields of Aaru (Egypt)
Paradise by Jan Brueghel (1620)

19. The Underworld Archetype
“The eye of the sun can never/flash his rays through the dark and bring them light” (Book 11, lines 17-18)
Ghosts drawn to the blood—metaphor for life (they want to live again)
“unearthly cries” (lines 48, 724)
“Three times I rushed toward her (Odysseus’ mother), desperate to hold her/three times she fluttered through my fingers, sifting away/like a shadow, dissolving like a dream” (lines )
“By god, I’d rather slave on earth for another man—some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive—than rule down here over all the breathless dead” (Achilles, lines )
Many cultures have a similar depiction of the underworld. We will compare The Odyssey’s version of the underworld to the Sumerian depiction when we read Gilgamesh later.

20. The Greek Underworld and Hell
How does the underworld in The Odyssey compare or contrast with modern depictions of Christian Hell?
Some people might argue that the concept of Hell derived from ancient Sumer’s Sheol, a dark underground “pit” similar to the Greek Underworld

21. Another Journey to Hell and Back:
People symbolically dead
Don’t truly live
Trapped with no escape
No knowledge of outside world
David and Jennifer are like Odysseus

22. What archetype do the Sirens present?
John William Waterhouse, Odysseus and the Sirens (1891)

23. Temptress Archetype: The Sirens
Temptress figures—females who seduce or sleep with men in order to cause them harm
Sirens:
Women with bird’s bodies
Enchanting voices
Lure sailors to the rocky cliffs
Metaphor for the power of women?
Metaphor for women who seduce men and keep them from home?

24. Temptress Figures in The Odyssey
The Sirens
Calypso
Circe
Nausicaa
Helen
Right: Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus (1891) by J. W. Waterhouse
Obviously, not all of these women are monsters. Some, like Nausicaa, are quite innocent, but she still presents a temptation for Odysseus. She is clearly interested in him and she presents another obstacle that could keep him from returning home.
Notice that in this painting we are looking up at Circe and she is looking down at Odysseus (in the mirror) and us
She is highly sexualized and powerful—sitting on a throne with lions on its arms

25. Other archetypes?

26. The Archetypes The Mentor (“to guide”)
The Mentor provides motivation, insight, training, guidance
Has traveled the road before
May provide the hero with magical gifts
May be an Inner Mentor like a code of honor or justice

27. The Archetypes The Threshold Guardian (“to test”)
Protects the Special World and its secrets from the Hero
Provides Tests which the Hero must pass to prove commitment and worth
May be characters, objects, or forces

28. The Archetypes The Herald (“to warn and challenge”)
Issues challenges or announces the coming of significant change
Often appears at the beginning of the Journey

29. The Archetypes The Shapeshifter (“to question and deceive”)
Misleads the Hero by hiding a character’s intentions and loyalties
Presence causes doubts and questions in the Hero’s mind
Creates suspense

30. The Archetypes The Shadow (“to destroy”)
Represents our darkest or rejected desires
Symbolizes our greatest fears and phobias
May not be all bad
May be another character or something lurking within the Hero that must be accepted or purged

31. The Archetypes The Trickster (“to disrupt”)
Disrupts the “status quo”, turning the Ordinary World into chaos
Uses laughter to help the Hero see the absurdity of a situation
Often is the Hero’s sidekick

32. JOSEPH CAMPBELL’S HERO JOURNEY
A Review

33. Campbell’s Heroic Archetype
We have already discussed this, but it is one example of an archetype.

34. The Hero’s Journey A hero’s journey can be divided into steps.
The journey is a single process and an individual adventure towards growth and transformation.
The sequence of elements and the duration of the experiences will vary from one person to another.
Remember that the journey is a process of separation, transformation, and return.
Each stage must be completed successfully if the hero-candidate is to become Heroic.

35. The Hero Journey (Review)
Separation or Departure (from the known)
-The Call to Adventure
-Refusal of the Call
-Supernatural Aid
-Crossing the First Threshold
Initiation and Transformation
-The Road of Trials
-Meeting with the Goddess
-Atonement with the Father
-Apotheosis
-Ultimate Boon
The Return (to the known world)
-The Refusal of the Return
-Rescue from Without
-Magic Flight
-Crossing of the Return Threshold
-Master of Two Worlds
-Freedom to Live