Jung’s collective

unconscious and
mythology.
Do myths reflect the collective
unconscious?
Archetypes
To make the point
clearer...
...let’s take a closer look at
the hero archetype!
 What is
the hero
archetype
?
Good Question.
 “The [hero is] the mana
personality. He represents the
ego, and is often engaged in
fighting the shadow,
in the form of dragons and
other monsters.”
-Dr. C. George Boeree,
Shippensburg University
Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
 Let’s take the examples of

Spiderman and Hercules.

 Spiderman
First appeared as a comic character in 1962.
First cartoon in 1967.
Blockbuster film released in 2002.

• Protects
• Saves
• Fights evil, both
in the form of
physical

monsters...
• ...and evils in his own
personality.
 Hercules
Hero from ancient Greek mythology

• Saves
• Protects
• Fights evil,
mostly dangerous,
malevolent monsters
 Well hey!

They both match Jung’s

Hero archetype
characteristics pretty
well, don’t they?
This suggests that...
The archetypes expressed in
ancient mythology and
modern popular
storytelling are very similar.
 archetypes are part of
If

mythology, which is in turn a

reflection of the collective unconscious...
Does this mean that the collective unconscious

storytelling, from
is present in all

ancient mythology to the modern

myths?
Seems so.
If you still have trouble
understanding...
Then make sure you aren’t here:

And try again. :)