Comparing Ancient Literary Themes to Today's "Cliches"

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Quentin Nokov

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The other day my dad and I were discussing ancient literature dating back to the B.C. Era, and the main themes within those stories and how those themes have inspired modern writing. I wanted to backtrack through time and analyze a lot of the ancient, antiquated and medieval literature (as well as any historical documents) and compare the events within those stories to the tropes we use today; i.e. resurrection; the chosen one; prophesies; the evil twin; book of spells; the hidden prince; the wicked queen; good-vs-evil; saving the world and so forth. As a Christian I'm familiar with Biblical stories, which will be my go-to literary works for analysis, but all literary works from all cultures, religions, and eras are welcome to be discussed such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead; The Epic of Gilgamesh; The Epic of Zimri-Lim; The Mahabharata; Greek Mythology; Beowulf etc. It'll be interesting to see how far back we can go to find some of the first documented themes I listed above and other themes that all you intelligent people of Absolute Write will address as well.

One of themes I was considering the other day was the idea of the hidden prince. I had read the book The False Prince by Jennifer Nielsen some number of years ago, and I'll admit I have forgotten a lot of the finer details, but the novel used the idea of a lost prince who returns to his kingdom to find a tyrannical leader sitting on his throne whom he must vanquish.

Aside from Christ who is the Prince of Peace who is to return, vanquish his enemies, and set up his kingdom, I also was considering the story of Joash (or Jehoash) King of Judah. He was the only surviving son of King Ahaziah after his grandmother Athaliah ordered the massacre of the entire royal family and thus became Queen. Joash, however, was saved by his aunt when he was only a year old and she hid him in the Temple for six years. His brother-in-law Jehoiada Priest to the God of Israel, plotted a coup against Athaliah; had her killed, and establish Joash on the throne.

So in the Biblical Story, which you can find starting in 2 Kings 11, has several common themes:


  • An evil queen who wants the throne for herself.
  • A massacre.
  • A baby prince is saved.
  • The prince is hidden, and assumed dead by his enemies.
  • Baby prince comes of age and is revealed as the rightful heir to the throne. /surprise plot twist!/
  • Military coup against the evil queen.
  • Evil queen dies.
  • Prince takes his rightful place on the throne.
  • Rules righteously and does good for his people

We typically end stories with the whole 'happily ever after'. Joash did do what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoida the priest. . .but, after his brother-in-law died, Joash got bad advice and led Israel to destruction. Just the above bullet points sounds like a lot of stories I've read or have watched. Add in the theme of fulfilling prophesy and being the chosen one, and I could just as easily be talking about Star Wars or Harry Potter.

I've got other examples up my sleeve, but I want to see what other ancient, antiquated, or medieval stories contain these types of themes and other common themes I haven't mentioned. Whether these tropes are from the Epic of Gilgamesh, stories from the Koran, historical events or battles, I would love to see how far back we can go and compare today's 'cliches' with stories of old.

Although, as KellyAssauer said:

I don't think they have [become cliches]. . . we all know the story, it's the telling of the story we want to hear.
 
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Siri Kirpal

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Odysseus in the Odyssey had to vanquish a bunch of suitors for his wife's hand once he (finally) returned home.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

AW Admin

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See the work of Vladimir Propp as well as the motif index.

See also comparative mythology and the "international myths."

What you're talking about are literary tropes, themes, motifs and commonplaces (konoi topoi).

These are not the same as clichés.

There's a lot of work on this already; it's the bread-and-butter of literary analysis.
 
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MaeZe

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It would be fascinating to compare the themes in the old Aboriginal stories with African stories to see how they evolved differently. If I was younger and had anthropologist skills, that would be a non-fiction path worth taking.
 

blacbird

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You are being overspecific about "ancient literary themes". Literary themes, ancient to modern, consist of things like guilt, revenge, jealousy, greed, fear, honor . . . And you'll find those themes echoing through literature from Gilgamesh to The DaVinci Code. The only issue is whether your story handles any of those themes well, or badly.

caw
 

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MaeZe

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Those are fascinating, Lisa. I love looking at underlying premises.

King County library doesn't have that resource but I put a hold on this one to learn more:

The Storyteller's Sourcebook
A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children, 1983-1999
MacDonald, Margaret Read, 1940-
Book - 2001


And since I'm now curious, I'm getting this one too:

Wise Women of the Dreamtime
Aboriginal Tales of the Ancestral Powers
 

AW Admin

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Those are fascinating, Lisa. I love looking at underlying premises.

King County library doesn't have that resource but I put a hold on this one to learn more:

The Storyteller's Sourcebook
A Subject, Title, and Motif Index to Folklore Collections for Children, 1983-1999
MacDonald, Margaret Read, 1940-
Book - 2001


And since I'm now curious, I'm getting this one too:

Wise Women of the Dreamtime
Aboriginal Tales of the Ancestral Powers

One of the links I posted has public domain copies. This is a PDF of the Stith Thompson index.
 

Roxxsmom

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Twins show up a lot in mythology and literature, in spite of (or perhaps because of) its being pretty rare for both to survive in good shape back in the old days.

I think there's a difference between beloved tropes (and themes) versus cliches, though. With cliches, it's not just that this plot device has been seen a lot in the past, it's that they are handled in lazy or shallow ways.

*I see AW Administrator has explained this much better than I can. There are a lot of familiar story elements that readers instinctively recognize and find either compelling or alienating (or simply boring). Even if they don't have the words to describe how these common devices are being used, readers know when it works for them and when it doesn't.
 
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Roxxsmom

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>.>

yeah I totally wrote a twin book and should probably feel bad but I kind of love cliches and incorporate absolutely loads of them. :D

The problem is, whenever one of those threads starts (they show up frequently in the SFF forum) about which tropes have become cliches, or which tropes do you hate the most etc., pretty much anything anyone could conceive of writing ends up being included. I know better, but the results are still sometimes paralyzing. They lead me to second-guess pretty much any idea I have that I find compelling, because I fear a bunch of people will categorically hate it.
 

lonestarlibrarian

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In Mythology class in undergrad, we talked a lot about Joseph Campbell and the Hero's Journey.

Heros-Journey.png


We also talked about the effects of hubris in Bible stories and mythology. On the Bible side, Sodom & Gomorrah, Nebudchadnezzar, the fallen angels; on the mythological side, Icarus, Arachne, Cassiopeia, etc.
 
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