Archetype "Hero" - origin theory, features and interesting facts

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

Many of us at least once in our lives have heard the term "archetype", "hero archetype", "sage archetype" and other similar expressions. However, not all of us fully understand what it is. In this article we will try to figure out what archetypes are, what they are and, finally, how the hero archetype manifests itself.

Young's Theory

First, let's talk about what an archetype is. This is a central concept in the theory of the collective unconscious psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung. Archetypes are understood as subconscious ideal collective images. They can be characterized by several main features: firstly, archetypes manifest themselves in all cultures without exception, in every time period. Secondly, they are stable, have clear positive and negative features, have numerous reflections in myths, fairy tales, and in the modern world - in literary and cinematographic works. And thirdly, an important feature of the archetype is that each person reacts to these images deeply and emotionally, they always impress him,cause a positive or negative reaction.

So, these elements of the collective unconscious, which is common to all mankind, manifest themselves in each individual. Depending on which archetypes are most strongly manifested in a person, they set the general structure of his personality, influencing the worldview, the specifics of understanding oneself and other people, the choice of partners, and many other aspects. By the way, the latter is especially closely associated with archetypes, so working with these elements of the unconscious can help correct or even completely change relationships.

Jungian personality structure

Jung considered the structure of the human personality as a whole, consisting of elements: in its center is the "I", that is, consciousness itself. All thoughts and feelings are concentrated in it, which we are clearly and clearly aware of. The so-called “Person” adjoins the “I”, which absorbs experiences and impressions that are not particularly important for us. Consciousness, as it were, displaces them to its periphery. In addition, the designation "Person" also means the social image of a person.

The Unconscious begins with the Shadow. It includes all repressed experiences that directly contradict our attitudes and views (as opposed to those that have moved into the Persona). All our complexes are located in the Shadow, therefore it represents the personal unconscious. The collective unconscious is represented by the animus in the personality of the woman and the anima in the personality of the man. This is the ideal representation of men and women, which is the moststrongly influences the choice of a partner. It is inherited mainly through folklore images.

This is how the personality structure looks like, all parts of which are interconnected and, if necessary, can be skillfully adjusted by the psychotherapist.

Jung Archetypes: Hero

The number of archetypes is not infinite, their set is very limited. Typically, psychologists identify about 30 figures that fit the description of stable images. One of the most famous is the so-called hero archetype, which we will consider in more detail. The animus could be just that.

So, this is one of the central archetypes. The image of the hero permeates the entire world mythology, being the driving force in most of the legends. Having studied them, Jung found out that the hero has a set of qualities traditional for him: first of all, his birth is divine - both or at least one of the parents is a god. Throughout his life, the hero performs great deeds: he fights monsters, frees him from captivity, and performs life-threatening tasks. In principle, his life is always associated with risk and constant stress, it certainly has a period of collapse of all hopes. A frequent plot is a descent into the underworld with a subsequent return. In addition, the hero is accompanied by faithful companions, who can be both male and female.

Jungian hero archetype

This archetype can be identified with the human Ego, which develops slowly and smoothly. The very fact of the appearance of consciousness is close to something magical, divine, which is compared with the birthA hero from divine parents. As he descends into the underworld, he becomes acquainted with his own unconscious. Such a journey requires considerable courage and endurance. This is a difficult and dangerous, but necessary task in order to overcome oneself and grow up. This, according to Jung, is the most important and significant feat of the Hero archetype. Equally hard work is maintaining the integrity of his personality, for which the Hero is forced to fight monsters and perform dangerous tasks. To do this, he needs to be not only courageous, but also persistent, inventive and successful. Such a struggle for oneself usually proceeds in cycles, in which defeats alternate with victories - like the traditional path of the Hero-Warrior archetype.

Animus-Hero

However, as we have already mentioned, the Hero can symbolize not only the Ego, but also the Animus in women. In this case, the Hero usually fights against all sorts of stresses and dangers of everyday life, while always coming out victorious. A woman in this case tends to give preference to men with qualities characteristic of this archetype.

Hero Skin

The Hero is accustomed to a turbulent environment - from the battlefield to the ordinary street, where all sorts of difficulties require immediate decisions, actions and a lot of courage. It is characteristic of him to strive to improve the world in any way possible. However, despite the external unshakable confidence in his strength and rightness, in his soul he fears defeat. The Hero has developed discipline, he is invariably decisive andfocused on the goal. He is a real idealist, he tends to create utopias in his mind and try to embody them in the real world.

The clothes of the Hero archetype will most likely be the most convenient for instant actions, there will be no trace of luxury in it, because his place is a battlefield, not a rich palace. Any excessive comfort is understood by him as a great danger to a person, because it relaxes him and makes him more prone to external and internal weaknesses. Therefore, the clothes of the Hero archetype are functional and often invisible.

We can see similar images in the movies: often the Heroes are wearing armor, chain mail. They have a lot of leather and metal in their appearance. In the archetype of the Hero, the aspect of the warrior is often pronounced, to which such a knightly appearance corresponds.

Heroes are also certain professions associated with saving human lives and considerable risk. For example, these are firefighters, rescuers, the military, as well as professional athletes, for whom it is important to become the first in their field.

When the traits of a Hero begin to manifest in a person, he is ready to accept the challenge, regardless of who he was thrown by. He becomes the archetype of a rebel hero, ready to rebel against the injustice that has filled the world as a whole, and individual negative characters in particular. In addition, the person begins to be more and more ambitious. He seeks to protect the humiliated and offended (or rather, those whom he considers such). As a result, in its most positive manifestation, the Hero is indeed the bearer ofgoodness and light, a noble knight without fear or reproach.

Negative aspect of the Hero

In fact, like other archetypes, a Hero can manifest his full negative potential if the circumstances are right. In the worst cases, he becomes power-hungry, tough and even cruel, incredibly arrogant, suffering from paranoia - the eternal search for enemies. The hero can be considered the same Genghis Khan, who sought to conquer the world and did it at least a third. However, his path was filled with destruction, robbery and violence. The Hero archetype can be divided into several levels, and at the lowest level, the only thing he wants is power, as much power as possible. Therefore, there is a certain trap in the Hero. A person may perceive himself as a noble savior of the world from evil, but the people around him will rightly see him as a villain who actually destroys, and does not save.

Thus, the worst thing for any Hero is to one day find himself in the role of a tyrant, a petty tyrant, who is afraid of all his entourage, who previously idolized him. This is not his only fear - it is also scary for the Hero to understand that he is not strong enough and courageous enough to complete the task assigned to him, to fall under someone else's negative influence and turn out to be an instrument for the fulfillment of other people's bad goals, to become excessively cruel and demanding in relation to the weak, whom must be protected.

But since most often the deep motives of all the actions of the Hero are two ideas - the idea of superpower orthe idea of justice, the risk of slipping into the negative is sometimes very high, since the ideas themselves seem incredibly high and, in fact, unattainable.

The Hero Archetype in Advertising

Advertising is one of the most massive sources of archetypes in the world today. Not surprisingly, many brands promote their products using the Hero archetype. Most often it is used by companies that operate in a competitive environment - accordingly, they need to be aggressive and self-confident in order to sell their product, whatever it may be. The hero is trying to change the world, so this image is suitable for brands that introduce various innovations and solve pressing social problems. The hero helps the weak - the brand, in turn, allows people to discover their talents, become stronger and more self-confident. The hero fights against ubiquitous evil, injustice, greed - the brand, using this archetype, seeks to show that it distances itself from other companies that violate the promised words, behave dishonestly and incompetently. And of course, such brands position themselves as pioneers in their field.

Often this archetype is used by car and sporting goods manufacturers such as Nike or Adidas. In the commercials of these brands, the image of the Hero is clearly seen, which they actually offer to try on for their fans, purchasing one or another product of their production.

Archetypes are used in advertising, in particular, in order to most strongly influence the viewer, since, as already mentioned, archetypesinvariably evoke a strong emotional reaction in any person. It should be noted that this is a very effective method if the advertisers wisely combine the archetypal image and the goals they seek to achieve when inventing an advertising message. To do this, they use not only a direct social image, but also an image, meaning, and even sound. Also, advertising often uses not a single archetype, but a whole archetypal scenario that is typical for the life of many people, and not just for mythology and literature.

The Olympic Games, for example, are also actively promoting the image of the Hero, as well as space exploration programs. Among Jung's other archetypes, the Hero is most suited to their purposes.

Heroes in cinema

Most of the Heroes we can find in movies. As we have already said, it is a spectacular and recognizable image that is immediately able to win the sympathy of the viewer. Most often, this archetype is represented here by male characters, although there are also female ones. One can recall a huge number of actors for whom the role of the Hero has long been the main one: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and many others.

In films, heroes are most often distinguished by their strength, courage and desire to establish justice and peace. Rarely are their images distinguished by special depth and careful study. Here, much more important is the external impression of the Hero as a good guy, fighting the bad guys and certainly defeating them. In massculture has always been in demand for such images, since the Hero archetype instantly resonates with the viewer as one of the most understandable and likable.

Literary Heroes

Now let's say a few words about literature. What are the character archetypes? The Hero, the Wizard, the Mother and many others are widely represented in world literature of various genres. The use of these stable constructions is convenient because in this way the writer creates characters that the reader instantly recognizes. There are far more hero archetypes in literature than in psychology - and indeed, there are many easily recognizable types of characters. Moreover, each writer can create a new type, which in the future will become popular and familiar. The archetypes of the heroes of an office romance and a fantasy story, of course, are very different from each other. But how many recognizable types can be found only in these two genres!

However, there are not only archetypes of heroes. Plot archetypes have been migrating from one work to another for many centuries. The vast majority of literature is written within a small number of limited plots. An example is a journey - the characters go on a long journey or, conversely, return home from afar, a mystery - this plot archetype is used in detective stories, salvation - the main character-victim escapes from a difficult dangerous situation, often with the help of friends. The archetype is also love, opposition, sacrifice - especially frequent plots for novels in the genre of realism.

Of course, in one work it can organicallycombine several archetypes at once. A certain difficulty arises for the author in order not to turn them into worn out plot twists that make the text actually unreadable. Of course, such clichés are echoes of a myth, honed by time, but nevertheless, such techniques are rarely used in intellectual prose. Plot archetypes are more applicable in works of popular culture.

Heroine

A couple of words should be said about the fact that the generally accepted expression of the Hero archetype is a warrior, a man. However, a woman can also successfully be a Hero. The archetype of the female hero is becoming more and more common in modern popular culture: think of Game of Thrones or Xena the Warrior Princess. But perhaps the most famous real embodiment of such an archetype for many was Joan of Arc.

The heroine differs little from the Hero in her characteristics. It also teaches us to persevere through difficult times, to set high goals for ourselves and to achieve them without fail. But perhaps she doesn't tend to see the world as a clear black-and-white division, as is typical of a Hero.

But still traditionally this archetype finds its expression in male images.