The Seven Basic Plots - Christopher Booker [450]
God becomes man
If we look at the story of Jesus in terms of its underlying archetypes, we can do so under three related headings. First, there is what may be called the `Christ myth, those elements in the story which are of familiar mythic dimension. Second, there is what his actions and teachings represent in terms of archetypal psychology. Thirdly, there is the way in which all this was interpreted by his followers after his death.
The `mythic' element in the story of Christ's life itself centres on three chief episodes. Easily the most important of these are the events surrounding each end of his life, his birth and death. But between them comes the curiously revealing episode which shows his temptations by `the Devil'.
1. The Birth
With Jesus's birth we are at once on familiar archetypal ground. Like other mythic heroes before him, such as Perseus and Hercules, the sons of Zeus, he is born the son of a divine father and a human mother. He is therefore half-god, half-mortal. In the imagery associated with his birth, what we see coming into the world is that archetypal redeeming figure, the Eternal Child: that image of defenceless innocence symbolising the renewal of life which evokes one of the deepest archetypal responses we know.
At a still deeper archetypal level, the image of Christ's nativity is that conveyed by Rembrandt in his painting of the scene in the National Gallery. The infant Jesus in his cradle is softly illuminated while everything else in the picture is almost invisible in surrounding darkness. Christ is represented as the `treasure in the cave, the source of light shining in the darkness of the world.
Another crucial feature of the symbolism of the birth is the way it takes place `below the line Above the line, the Emperor Augustus himself, representing the ruling consciousness at the very pinnacle of earthly power, has decreed a census or rollcall of everyone in the Roman empire. Below the line, in faraway Palestine, an insignificant couple, Joseph and Mary, are thus forced to travel from their village to register in Bethlehem, where so many others are doing the same that they are pushed even further beyond the social pale, in being forced to find shelter in a mere stable for animals. The only people who recognise the cosmic significance of what is going on are a group of humble shepherds: until later they are joined by `wise men from the East, from that Mesopotamian civilisation which finds spiritual guidance in the movement of heavenly bodies, and who represent that `higher consciousness' which recognises it is `below the line' that truth is to be found.
A final archetypal element is the determined effort by King Herod shortly after Jesus's birth to have him killed. Again, as in the myths of Zeus, Perseus, Hercules, Romulus and others, we recognise the pattern whereby the life of the new-born hero is threatened by the dark power. The `Dark King' is attempting to stifle the `Light King: But in a `thrilling escape from death, the baby is carried by his parents to safety in Egypt. He thus fulfils yet another recurring ingredient in the `hero archetype': that which dictates that the hero destined to become king, like Theseus, Oedipus and others, should spend time in his youth exiled from his homeland.
2. The temptations: ego versus Self
The hero grows up to manhood in normal fashion, marked out only by the episode when, in his early teens, he astonishes the elders in his local synagogue by the authority with which he expounds the scriptures. But then, when he is finally ready to reveal his message to the world, comes the second `mythic' passage in the story, the dream-like episode when goes out alone into the wilderness to be put to the test by the Devil. He is offered three temptations: that he should use his divine power to turn stones into bread; that he should throw himself off the temple roof, so that he can demonstrate his power