Many of us have heard the term “archetype”, “archetype of a hero”, “archetype of a sage” and other similar expressions at least once in our lives. 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 archetype of a hero manifests itself.
Jung's Theory
First, let's talk about what an archetype is. This is a central concept in the theory of collective unconscious psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung. Archetypes are understood as subconscious ideal collective images. They can be characterized by several basic features: firstly, archetypes manifest themselves in all cultures, without exception, in each 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 cinematic works. And thirdly, an important sign 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 person. Depending on which archetypes are manifested most strongly in a person, they determine the general structure of his personality, influencing the worldview, the specifics of understanding himself 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 to correct or even completely change the relationship.
Jung's personality structure
Jung considered the structure of the human person 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 clearly and clearly recognize. The so-called "Person" adjoins the "I", which incorporates experiences and impressions that are not especially important for us. Consciousness, as it were, crowds them out to its periphery. In addition, the designation "Person" also means the social image of a person.
The unconscious begins with Shadow. It includes all repressed experiences that directly contradict our attitudes and views (as opposed to those that have moved to the Person). All our complexes are in the Shadow, therefore, it is a personal unconscious. The collective unconscious is represented by Animus in the personality of a woman and Anima in the personality of a man. This is an ideal idea of men and women, which most influences the choice of partner. It is inherited mainly through folklore images.
Thus, the structure of the personality looks, all parts of which are interconnected and, if necessary, can be skillfully adjusted by the psychotherapist.
Jung's Archetypes: Hero
The number of archetypes is not infinite, their set is very limited. Psychologists usually distinguish about 30 figures that fit the description of stable images. One of the most famous is the so-called archetype of the hero, which we will consider in more detail. Animus may be just that.
So, this is one of the central archetypes. The image of the hero permeates all of world mythology, being the driving force in most legends. Having examined them, Jung found out that the hero has a set of traditional qualities for him: first of all, his birth is divine - both or at least one of his parents is a god. Throughout his life, the hero performs great deeds: he fights against monsters, frees him from captivity, and performs life-threatening tasks. In principle, his life is always associated with risk and constant stress, in it there is certainly a period of the 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, which can be either male or female.
Jung's 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 birth of the Hero from divine parents. When 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. According to Jung, this is the most important and significant feat of the Hero archetype. No less hard work is to preserve 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 - as well as the traditional path of the Hero-Warrior archetype.
Animus Hero
However, as we already mentioned, the Hero can symbolize not only the Ego, but also the Animus in women. In this case, the Hero usually fights with all kinds of stresses and dangers of everyday life, while always stepping out as the winner. In this case, a woman is inclined to give preference to men with qualities characteristic of this archetype.
Hero Image
For the Hero, a turbulent situation is usual - from the battlefield to the usual street, where all sorts of difficulties require immediate decisions, actions and considerable courage. For him, the desire to improve the world in any way possible is characteristic. However, despite the outward unwavering confidence in his strength and rightness, in his heart he fears defeat. The Hero has developed discipline, he is invariably decisive and focused on the goal. He is a real idealist, it is typical for him to create utopias in his mind and try to embody them in the real world.
The clothes of the Hero archetype are most likely to be as convenient as possible for instant actions, there will be no trace of luxury in it, because its place is a battlefield, not a rich palace. He understands any excessive comfort as a great danger to a person, because he relaxes him and makes him more susceptible to external and internal weaknesses. Therefore, the clothes of the archetype of the Hero are functional and often invisible.
We can see similar images in cinema: often on Heroes armor, chain mail are put on. In their appearance there is a lot of leather and metal. In the archetype of the Hero, the aspect of the warrior is often pronounced, which corresponds to a similar knightly appearance.
Heroes are also certain professions associated with saving human lives and considerable risk. For example, these are firefighters, rescuers, military, as well as professional athletes, for whom it is important to be the first in their field.
When the features of the Hero begin to appear in a person, he is ready to accept the challenge, regardless of who he was thrown. 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, a 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 his most positive manifestation, the Hero is indeed a bearer of good and light, a noble knight without fear and reproach.
The negative aspect of the Hero
In fact, like other archetypes, the Hero can show all its negative potential, if there are appropriate circumstances. In the worst cases, he becomes power-hungry, tough and even cruel, incredibly arrogant, paranoid - an eternal search for enemies. The hero of 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 archetype of the Hero can be divided into several levels, and at the lowest of them the only thing he wants is power, as much power as possible. Therefore, the Hero has a certain trap. A person may perceive himself as a noble savior of the world from evil, but those around him will rightly see in him a villain who actually destroys, but does not save.
Thus, the worst thing for any Hero is one day to find himself in the role of a tyrant, a tyrant, who is afraid of all his entourage, who previously idolized him. This is not his only fear - it’s also scary for the Hero to understand that he is not strong enough and courageous to fulfill the tasks assigned to him, to fall under someone’s negative influence and prove to be an instrument for fulfilling other people's evil goals, to become excessively cruel and demanding in relation to the weak, whom must be protected.
But since most often the underlying motives of all the actions of the Hero are two ideas - the idea of superpower or the idea of justice, the risk of falling into negative is sometimes very high, since the ideas themselves seem incredibly high and essentially unattainable.
Archetype of the Hero in advertising
Advertising is one of the most popular sources of archetypes in the modern world. It is not surprising that many brands promote their products using the archetype of the Hero. Most often it is used by companies that work in a competitive environment - accordingly, they need to be aggressive and 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 reveal their talents, become more powerful and confident. The hero fights with the omnipresent evil, injustice, greed - the brand, using this archetype, seeks to show that he distances himself 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 sports car manufacturers - for example, Nike or Adidas. In the commercials of these brands, the image of the Hero is clearly traced, which they actually offer to try on for their fans, acquiring 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, archetypes invariably cause a strong emotional reaction in any person. It should be noted that this is a very effective method if the creators of advertising intelligently combine the archetypal image and goals that they seek to achieve when inventing an advertising message. For this, they use not only a direct social image, but also an image, meaning and even sound. Also often used in advertising is not the only archetype, but the whole archetypal scenario, which is typical for the lives of many people, and not only 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 the other archetypes of Jung, the Hero is most suitable for their purposes.
Heroes in the cinema
The greatest number of Heroes we can find in the movies. As we have already said, it is a spectacular and recognizable way that can immediately win the sympathy of the viewer. Most often, this archetype is represented here by male characters, although female characters are also found. You can recall a huge number of actors for whom the role of the Hero has long been the main: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jackie Chan, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and many others.
In films, heroes most often stand out for their strength, courage and desire to establish justice and peace. Rarely do their images differ in particular depth and careful study. Here, much more important is the outward impression of the Hero as a good guy, fighting the bad and certainly defeating them. Such images have always been in demand in popular culture, since the archetype of the Hero instantly resonates with the viewer as one of the most understandable and attractive.
Literary Heroes
Now let's say a few words about literature. What are the archetypes of characters? Hero, Wizard, Mother and many others are widely represented in the world literature of various genres. The use of these stable constructions is convenient, since in this way the writer creates characters that the reader will instantly recognize. There are significantly more archetypes of heroes 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 the service novel and the fantastic novel, 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. Story archetypes have been migrating from one work to another for many centuries. The vast majority of literature is written in the framework of a small number of limited subjects. An example is a trip - the heroes go on a long journey or, conversely, return home from afar, a riddle - this plot archetype is used in detective stories, salvation - the main character-victim is saved from a difficult dangerous situation, often with the help of friends. The archetype is also love, confrontation, sacrifice - especially frequent stories for novels in the genre of realism.
Of course, several archetypes can be organically combined in one work at once. A certain difficulty arises in the author in order not to turn them into jammed plot twists that make the text virtually unsuitable for reading. Of course, such cliches are echoes of a myth honed by time, but nevertheless, such techniques are rarely used in intellectual prose. Story archetypes are more applicable in works of mass culture.
Heroine
A few words should be said that the generally accepted expression of the archetype of the Hero is a warrior, a man. However, a hero can also be a woman. The archetype of a female hero is becoming more and more widespread in modern mass culture: recall at least the Game of Thrones or Xena - the Queen of Warriors. But, probably, the most famous real embodiment of such an archetype for many was Joan of Arc.
The heroine in its characteristics differs little from the hero. She also teaches us to persistently endure difficult times, to set high goals and to achieve them without fail. But perhaps she is not inclined to see in the world a clear division into black and white, as is characteristic of the Hero.
But still, traditionally, this archetype finds expression in male images.