The Quest: An Archetype in Various Cultural Myths
by Barry Wright
Essay: The Quest: An Archetype in Various Cultural Myths
Pages: 10
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The Quest Archetype
When examining various cultural myths, one archetype keeps repeating—the image of the quest. This archetype
functions with various different mythologies as a method of learning about the world, both its external features
and what is inside the self. The quest comes from ancient origins and is found in Classical Western culture, but has
been fine tuned through the generations. In its most modern interpretations, there are continuing elements of the
age old myth, where extenuating circumstances or hubris, place the hero in turmoil and needing to find an
answer. Having additional sexual charges, it is clear that through the quest, adulthood is not only reached but
embraced. This answer represents a completeness of being, where the individual is exposed to the whole truth of
the universe, unbiased by cultural fragmentations. Thus, the quest represents a crucial journey to be made in the
search for enlightenment, a fact which is common across cultural borders. Along this journey, mistakes are made
in part through the natural exhibition of hubris in which personal flaws are revealed, and the young figure must
change his or her priorities, beliefs, or behaviors in order to transcend his current state and reach some form of
enlightenment.
The archetype of the quest is an image engrained in numerous cultures around the world. Thus it must be rooted
in our very psychology, stemming from some cognitive need to search for meaning. There is the reappearance of
the constant quest for meaning to the external world and every day events in the work of Carl Jung (Stevens 37).
According to Stevens, “the basic motive of human psychology is the quest for wholeness,” (Stevens 39).
Thus, the quest archetype provides the path to on...
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