Trickster Archetype Essay

They can be heroes and villains, full of wisdom or foolishness, malicious and in some instances benign. Such characters are at times lovable and also hateful in some cases, at times they are friendly but they may turn wild as well. Sometimes they appear to be awkward, clumsy and crazy, though most often they have incredible survival traits (Hyde, 12). Even as much as most of the tricksters were perceived as gods, tricksters in the Greek culture would be gods of chaos, bewildering short-lived heroes or master manipulators who applied cruel schemes and made sadistic choices. They could also be anti-heroes who make up for strength deficiency or heroism through deliberate manipulation, treacherous planning or just through a plain cheating. His body reached the banks of Styx River, where he found underworld queen, Persephone and tried also to trick her to release him back to the living in order to punish his wife.

Another trickster in Greek Mythology is Hermes whom many perceived him as a harmless Greek god. He was small, youthful and with no noticeable likelihood that he would rule over. However, with him, a recurrent theme of flight is noticed. He is said to have wings on both sides of his head. The Greeks see Hermes as an agent of change to their society. His appearance often becomes a threat to the status quo. His fingers were termed as notoriously itchy due to his habit of stealing, for instance, Hermes stole cattle belonging to Apollo, Poseidon's trident, arrows belonging to Artemis and the girdle of Aphrodite at different instances (Brown & Oliver, 73). Included in the Greek mythology is also another trickster known as Prometheus who is linked with the provision of fire to the humans, particularly Greeks.