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A wise old man: "Philosopher in Meditation" by Rembrandt
A wise old man: "Philosopher in Meditation" by Rembrandt

The wise old man (or "Senex") is an archetype as described by Carl Jung. Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (July 15 1606 &ndash October 4 1669 was a Dutch painter and etcher. Senex is Latin for old man. In Ancient Rome the title of Senex was only awarded to elderly men with families who had good standing in their village An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer It is also a classic literary figure, and may be seen as a stock character. Literature is the Art of written works Literally translated the word means "acquaintance with letters" (from Latin littera letter A stock character is one which relies heavily on cultural types or names for his or her personality manner of speech and other characteristics [1]

Contents

Traits

This type of character is typically represented as a kind and wise, older father-type figure who uses personal knowledge of people and the world to help tell stories and offer guidance that, in a mystical way, may impress upon his audience a sense of who they are and who they might become, thereby acting as a mentor. MENTOR / The National Mentoring Partnership is an advocate and resource for Mentoring in the United States. He may occasionally appear as an absent-minded professor, losing track of his surroundings because of his thoughts. The absent-minded professor is a Stock character of popular fiction usually portrayed as an Academic with important information but whose focus on their learning

The wise old man is often seen to be in some way "foreign", that is, from a different culture, nation, or occasionally, even a different time, than those he advises. In extreme cases, he may be a liminal being, such as Merlin, who was only half human. In Speculative fiction and loosely applied in Mythology, a liminal being is a fantasy character that combines two distinct states of simultaneous existence within The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network ( MERLIN) is an Interferometer array of Radio telescopes spread across England and the In medieval chivalric romance and modern fantasy, he often appears as a wizard. As a Literary genre of High culture, romance or chivalric romance refers to a style of heroic Prose and verse Narrative Fantasy is a Genre that uses magic and other Supernatural forms as a primary element of plot, theme, and/or setting A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic [2] In the same works, he can also feature as a hermit, who often explained to the knights — particularly those searching for the Holy Grail — the significiance of their encounters. A hermit (from the Greek ἔρημος erēmos, signifying " Desert " "uninhabited" hence "desert-dweller" adjective "eremitic" According to Christian mythology, the Holy Grail was the dish plate or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper, said to possess miraculous powers [3]

In storytelling, the character of the wise old man is commonly killed or in some other way removed for a time to allow the hero to develop on his/her own.

Terminology

Jung dubbed this character as a senex. Senex is Latin for old man. In Ancient Rome the title of Senex was only awarded to elderly men with families who had good standing in their village This is Latin for old man in general, and in fact, two stock characters of the stage are the senex iratus, an old man who irrationally objects to the love between the younger characters, and the senex amans, an old man foolishly in love with a woman too young for him. The senex iratus or heavy father figure is a comic Archetype character who belongs to the Alazon or impostor group in Theater, manifesting himself through A senex amans (from Latin "aged lover" "amorous old man" is a Stock character of classical Greek and Roman Comedy, Medieval literature Jung's senex, unlike these characters, has grown old graciously. His wisdom is not only in his increased knowledge and judgment, but his knowing that younger people have taken on the role of hero, and that his position has changed to one of mentor.

Merlin fell from the role of senex to senex amans when he fell in love with Nimue; this lapse from judgment is what led to his being enchanted and imprisoned. The Lady of the Lake is the name of several related characters who play integral parts in the Arthurian legend.

Examples

Historical

Xi Kang
Xi Kang

Seven Sages of Greece

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove

The Rabbis, or Sages of Talmudic lore (Judaism)

Other "wise old men"

Mythology

"Telemachus and Mentor" Illustration of Les Aventures de Télémaque by François Fénelon
"Telemachus and Mentor" Illustration of Les Aventures de Télémaque by François Fénelon
Merlin instructing a young knight, from The Idylls of the King
Merlin instructing a young knight, from The Idylls of the King

Literature

Fantasy literature

Comics

Television and film

Science fiction

Animation

Computer and video games

References

  1. ^ Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, p 151, ISBN 0-691-01298-9
  2. ^ Northrop Frye, Anatomy of Criticism, p 195, ISBN 0-691-01298-9
  3. ^ Penelope Reed Doob, The Idea of the Labyrinth: from Classical Antiquity through the Middle Ages, p 179-81, ISBN 0-8014-8000-0
  4. ^ Josepha Sherman, Once upon a Galaxy p 80 ISBN 0-87483-387-6

See also

External links

This article provides a list of characters who appear in the 2008 Wii Video game No More Heroes. This is a list of characters from the ''Star Fox'' series of Video games listed in the order in which they were introduced to the series The is a successful Video game franchise owned by Nintendo. The original game was a forward-scrolling 3D Sci-Fi Rail shooter. Herman Northrop Frye, CC, MA (Oxon, DD, DLitt, FRSC ( July 14, 1912 &ndash January 23, 1991 Herman Northrop Frye 's Anatomy of Criticism Four Essays (Princeton University Press 1957 attempts to formulate an overall view of the scope theory principles The elderly martial arts master is a Stock character in Martial arts films. Analytical psychology (or Jungian psychology) refers to the school of Psychology originating from the ideas of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, and then advanced A hermit (from the Greek ἔρημος erēmos, signifying " Desert " "uninhabited" hence "desert-dweller" adjective "eremitic" A magician, wizard, sorcerer or a person known under one of many other possible terms in fiction is someone who uses or practices magic The magical negro (sometimes called the mystical negro or magic negro) is a term generally used to describe a supporting often mystical Stock character
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