Archetypes appear in nearly every mythology ever created. Each system of belief
exists in the same environments as the others, and it is reasonable to assume
that people want answers to roughly the same unanswerable questions. In less
scientifically enlightened times it might be "what is thunder?", or "why does
it not rain enough sometimes, and too much at others?". Later it became matters
of explaining issues of faith, or the "big" questions of "why are we here?" and
"what is it that makes us human?".
Carl Jung wrote quite a deal on this subject, as have numerous cultural
anthropologists, and gentles like Campbell. Archetypes are almost inescapable
in fiction, because they are markers for sets of symbols that give the text
meaning, context and rationale. O'Neil's book, "The Individuated Hobbit: Jung
and the archetypes of middle earth" is a slightly awkward attempt at addresing
these issues, in a very 70-s way.
:)
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www.geocities.com.gwynforlwyd
Life is just like an analogy.
