Wise old man
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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The wise old man (also called sage 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. Historically, an expert was referred to as a sage. The individual was usually a profound philosopher distinguished for wisdom and sound judgment.
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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 literature, he is often presented as a wizard. He can also or instead be featured as a hermit. This character type often explained to the knights or heroes — particularly those searching for the Holy Grail — the significiance of their encounters.
In storytelling, the character of the wise old man is commonly killed or in some other way removed for a time, in order 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 in judgment is what led to his enchantment and imprisonment.
Examples
Historical
- Solon of Athens
- Chilon of Sparta
- Thales of Miletus
- Bias of Priene
- Cleobulus of Lindos
- Pittacus of Mitylene
- Periander of Corinth
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
The Rabbis, or Sages of Talmudic lore (Judaism)
- Yohanan ben Zakkai
- Hillel I
- Shammai
- others
Others:
- Benjamin Franklin, at least at the time of the American Revolution and afterwards, shows much of the character of a "wise old man".
Mythology
- Mentor, in Greek mythology
- Merlin from the Matter of Britain and the legends of King Arthur
- Nestor from Iliad
- Tiresias from the Odyssey, Oedipus Rex, and other Greek myths
- Utnapishtim from the Epic of Gilgamesh
Literature
- Oogruk, in Gary Paulsen's novel Dogsong
- Zhuge Liang from Romance of the Three Kingdoms
- Aslan from C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia
- Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars.
- Wizards and other magicians: As noted above, due to the influence of Merlin (and later Gandalf and Shazam), a wise old man is often presented in the form of a wizard or other magician in medieval chivalric romance and modern fantasy literature (i.e. Albus Dumbledore) (See List of magicians in fantasy for examples.)
See also
- Elderly martial arts master
- Jungian psychology
- Masonic
- Hermit
- Magicians in fantasy
- Magic Negro
- Senex stultus
