It’s interesting how much can be inferred about someone from what they see as their “archetype.” I’m so very amazed every day by how much one’s appearance, aura and style can be better understood by these symbols we hold in the collective unconscious. Not only this, but it seems from experience, as well as observation and talking with others, that we are all given an archetype by those around us. And if we do not fulfill this archetype, we as people do not make sense.
Archetypes are patterns of identification. There are people all around you who may honor you for who you are because they have taken the time to look past these unconscious symbols of identification and truly get to know you. But the reality is an archetype is everything and the very meaning we give to the people around us as they pertain to our own lives.
The idea goes back to the way in which we interact with the collective unconscious. According to Carl Jung, archetypes were the language of the collective unconscious. But the truth is, there would not be any archetypes if these ideas were not universal or existent in us all. They are the faces we all choose to wear and identify with–not the other way around!
Oracle Archetype
The oracle is a name chosen to represent an archetype. Not that my words are god’s gift to man but because that is the archetype with which I identify. Oracles are often depicted as child-like figures with the knowledge of ancient wisdom.
I’ve been mistaken for a kid quite often–which is very much due to appearances. It gets to the point that you just have to accept this as your archetype. Along with a disrespect of this lower caste of people we call “children.” Unworthy of rights or a voice in society–well in the ancient world, some of these lowly children were raised to become oracles and were blessed with the right to keep their innocence. And people would come from all over the world just to listen to them.
Athena Archetype
Athena is the very manifestation of wisdom and truth. She’s the virgin goddess of war. Her appearance in stories such as the Odyssey give further insight into her role as an archetype. She sides with the brave warrior Odysseus who was called to the Trojan War, and after many years, finally makes his return home.
Her sole purpose is to guide Odysseus–she gives him her blessing. Given her “goddess” status, and the fact that her father is Zeus, she wins the favor of those on Mt. Olympus in her attempts to offer the warrior assistance. Because Athena is so involved in her mission to help this weary traveler return home to his wife, Penelope, and grown son, Telemachus, she makes a series of appearances on Earth, in the flesh (but disguised as a humble servant of sorts).
Medusa Archetype
This woman is a hot mess. She has snakes coming out of her head that will bite you, but it’s her gaze that is fatal (well almost–she turns you to stone). Her archetype seems to make sense at face value until you get to know the story behind her becoming rather than her demise.
It’s actually a story of fatal beauty. Medusa wasn’t always this way. Everyone knows about Athena and Medusa as separate entities. But together? Not a good combination.
In a later version, as told by the Roman poet Ovid, Medusa is a beautiful human woman, who is turned into a monster by Athena as punishment after she is raped by Poseidon (woe to mortal women in mythology). Athena transformed Medusa’s beautiful hair to serpents and made her face so terrible to behold that the mere sight of it would turn onlookers to stone.
What the hell was Ovid thinking? Maybe he’s just another bro who doesn’t understand (the usu). Are we supposed to believe that Athena would shame a woman for being a victim? I think the answer to this question lies in thinking of these two players as archetypes rather than actual people. The direct result of Medusa’s misfortune is an inherent punishment bestowed by the goddess of wisdom. That is, the result of this over exposure to the unpleasant truth turns her into a fucking monster.
So much a monster in fact that if you were to look into her eyes, you would be fucked up yourself. You’d no longer be the same person. You’d be a stone person in a cave, and would be content with just that. It’s a curse that’s so potent, all who “look the ugly truth in the eyes” are destroyed by it. Medusa is hiding for a goddamn reason, and every time those assholes come to her cave, they are rattling her cage and basically asking for it. People come to the cave to see Medusa, not the other way around.
She’s not out looking for victims!
Do you really want to pursue more about this Medusa character? Like who in Greek myth has an honest, justified reason to scrutinize someone who is already their own worst enemy? They are just asking to become akin to her projection of eternal torment.
Her story always starts in these objects when her power is possessed, her head severed and turned into a weapon, whether she’s a damsel in distress or a monster. Returning to those startling early images of Medusa, with her bared teeth and frightful snake hair, there’s a narrative here on how transforming her into something benignly ornamental was another level of control.
Take the head and use it for your own purposes (that’s what Perseus did)–it no longer works anyway, so best get some use out of it, as is.
What’s more interesting is how archetypes interact–even in these stories! Basically, Medusa was a source of power in the form of beauty, and she was “the jealous aspiration of many suitors.” But this power was instead transformed into a true horror that could be seen and experienced by all, time and time again.
Some archetypes are meant to transform, and it’s not always for the better; some archetypes just react with one another. In an everyday setting, one of the most blatant facts of life to me has always been that there can only be one of each archetype in a group. The same archetypes are guaranteed to clash. That’s why each of the characters on your favorite TV show are different–no need to further explain it. If you could categorize them into the same “archetype” as the other, then that’s probably not going to end well.
No one is going to watch that shit either!
CC: Adeel Anwer
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https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/qvxwax/medusa-greek-myth-rape-victim-turned-into-a-monster
