Wise old man

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

The wise old man (or "Senex") is an archetype as described by Carl Jung. It is also a classic literary figure, and may be seen as a stock character.[1]

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. He may occasionally appear as an absent-minded professor, losing track of his surroundings because of his thoughts.

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 medieval chivalric romance and modern fantasy, he often appears as a wizard.[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.[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. 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. 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.

Examples

Historical

File:Xi Kang.JPG
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

File:Telemachus and Mentor.JPG
"Telemachus and Mentor" Illustration of Les Aventures de Télémaque by François Fénelon
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

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