[UA] Achetype: The Soldier (War)

[Chris Milne]

On Friday, April 06, 2001 4:07 PM, eti at mb.sympatico.ca 
[SMTP:eti at mb.sympatico.ca] wrote:

> That having been said, I think that the Unkown Soldier isn't so
> much an archetype on its own (it is a consciouly created
> institution, after all), so much as it's an aspect of the
> broader Soldier archetype, or an expression of people's
> appreciation of the archetype.  However, I do think it'd be damn
> cool if, somewhere out there, there's an, no, *the*  Unknown
> Soldier made incarnate by the belief and support of the general
> population...
>
> _____________________
> Erik Isford


Glad to hear it :)
IMUAC, the archetype of War has been through a number of 
"incarnations" (for want of a better word), based on the individual 
currently embodying it in the IC. One of the earliest was the 
Warrior-Hero from Middle Eastern and Greek mythology (eg Achilles). 
That was replaced by the Leader-King of antiquity (eg Leonidas, 
Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar), which lasted the best 
part of the next two millennia, going through some slight changes on 
the way. The last big change came with the First World War, when it 
shifted radically to the Unknown Soldier (the ground having been 
prepared by Napoleon' retreat from Moscow, the American Civil War, 
and the Crimean War).
At least, that's the way I explained "archetypal shift" to my 
players. I think they understood.

Chris Milne
sorry 'bout the dodgy terms, but I'm short on time...

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