Mythological Hero And Trickster Importance

Mythological Hero and Trickster Importance

Hero and Trickster characters play prominent roles in numerous stories from diverse cultures. They are archetypes which may be analyzed to provide insight into and compare modern and ancient cultures. They mutually serve as a means to teach something. When looking at these characters and their journey’s evidence of a culture’s values and ethics can be seen. The characteristics and actions of both heroes and tricksters are significant to a culture.

The trickster is a source of life lessons throughout the copious myths that exist, from behaviors to morals. The character filling this role is generally neither virtuous or evil and shows duality in human nature. They are primarily perplexing and abnormal,

For instance, Dionysus, a god of fervent inspiration, insanity, and ecstasy. In Heracles and Dionysus, it states, “After traveling through Thrace and the whole of India, where he set up pillars, he arrived in Thebes, where he forced the women to desert their houses and abandon themselves to Bacchic frenzy on Mount Cithairon (604). Like other tricksters, he is an outsider but also serves as an outlet to express the desires that are in opposition with the ethical code upheld in society. In modern American culture, an example of a trickster is, The Joker an anarchic counterpart to Batman’s struggle for order exhibits more than a few features of the trickster model. He is mysterious, unpredictable and has a significant fixation with gags and pranks that are sometimes innocuous, sometimes lethal. The Joker’s actions are chaotic and exhibit what today’s modern culture finds unethical, such as murder, damaging property, and having no ties to family or the community. He shows no feeling of liability to others, lacks empathy, and follows his own whims despite its repercussions on others. These behaviors demonstrate the greed and selfishness that are a motivating part of the trickster character and the views a culture has on them.

Overall hero and trickster archetypes portray the different values, and ethics cultures have, and share with others. Common ones being, the devotion to duty, the gods, family, and honesty. They also show similarities between the values of past and present cultures. They are teachers that reflect how cultures were shaped. Tricksters and heroes have served vital roles for their respective cultures and continued to do so to this