English 10 / Unit 3: Character Development and Archetypes
3.7 Characters Across World Literature
Notes
Comparing characters from different cultures shows both shared human patterns and cultural differences.
- Odysseus (Greece): clever, proud, longs for home; his metis (cunning) defines him.
- Sun Wukong, the Monkey King (China, Journey to the West): a rebellious trickster who learns discipline.
- Sundiata (Mali): an epic hero who overcomes a childhood disability to found an empire.
- Gilgamesh (Mesopotamia): a proud king who learns mortality.
- When comparing, ask: What does each culture value in its heroes? Strength, wit, loyalty, humility?
Practice
Odysseus and Sun Wukong are both known mainly for their:
Both rely on wit and cunning.
Sundiata's story of overcoming a childhood disability to become a great ruler most clearly fits which archetypal pattern?
He begins weak and rises to greatness.
A student compares heroes from three cultures and finds that two value humility and one values pride. The best next step is to:
Comparisons should explain what similarities and differences reveal.
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