Remember in high school when you had to read Homer’s Odyssey? Your teacher probably bored you with discussions of archetypes, heroes, and a whole lot of crazy Greek gods, goddesses, and weird offspring and creatures like Charybdis. Maybe if you had a really cool teacher and you got to watch Star Wars as a treat, only to be tricked into discussing how it’s just like the Odyssey with all those archetypes and heroes and plot arcs and weird creatures like Jawas. Maybe years later, when you watched (or re-watched) The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, you realized that your teacher wasn’t crazy after all, and the story of Luke maps pretty closely to the travails of Odysseus (aka Ulysses). You couldn’t really relate to poor Odysseus, but Luke and Jedi powers, now that’s a different matter. Add a light saber, Jedi mind tricks, and characters we can all relate to and suddenly the story is rejuvenated for new generations.

Behold, the power of mythology! Every generation has its own touchpoints, stories that inspire, encourage, ground, and inform us. Reality TV can’t offer the same power as a well-crafted story, which brings us to Battlestar Galactica (modern series, not classic). This isn’t just about science fiction, or outer space, or robots, it’s about humans in a crisis and how we rise (or fail) in the face of challenges. The archetypes and plot arcs from classical mythology are all there, but we can see ourselves in the faults and courage of Starbuck, the iron will and heart of Admiral Adama, the intelligence and hubris of the Cylons, the pride and shame of Baltar. Their lives are our lives, only a little cooler because they live in space on a big ship and have a woman president who used to be a teacher.

I know, I know, you’re thinking that I’m just a lit geek who gets wrapped up in science fiction stories. And that’s certainly true. But think about it, what stories inspire you? What novels, movies, and TV series speak to the very thread of your life, of your humanity and place in the world? Great writers employ the same archetypes with different stories and characters, all to the same end. Success, longing, failure, hope, risk, betrayal, redemption, these tropes play out in all the stories we watch or read. Battlestar Galactica brings all this and more to bear, combining drama with comedy, fantasy with realism.

But really, why does this matter? I believe that without mythologies, without stories, without narrative, we cease to be humans. We need — and crave — stories to tell us about our hopes and dreams, to show us how we can be, to provide us with heroes and role models. Without that thread of narrative, what are we? What tales do we tell ourselves and our children? Can you really imagine a future where we recount tales of the latest reality TV show to our kids as a bedtime story? Or will Cinderella endure?

As Battlestar Galactica nears its end, I grow a little sad. I love these characters, this story, this mythology that has been built out of a goofy show from my childhood. But I’m thankful that I had it at all, that it reminded me of my own humanity, and that a new mythology has been woven for us all to share for generations to come.

What mythologies speak to you? How does storytelling play a role your life?

Tagged as archetypes, Battlestar Galactica, Inspiration, mythology, storytelling, television + Categorized as Ideas & Theories, Inspiration