Jesus Fulfills The Rank-Raglan Mythotype
Comparing the God Of Christianity To Grecco-Roman Heroes
The hero, villain, or mentor are all examples of archetypes. However, there’s also an archetype defined for mythological figures. It’s typically called The Rank Raglan Mythotype and it was first established in 12 points by Otto Rank, then improved into a 22-point system by Lord Raglan.
The criteria are listed by Monmouth College as follows:
“1. Hero's mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king, and
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather to kill him but
7. he is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster -parents in a far country.
9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
13. And becomes king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill,
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchers.”1
When applying this system to classical figures we see how effective the system is. Oedipus gets 21 points, Romulus gets 18, and Theseus 20.2 What’s fascinating though, is what occurs when you apply this system to Jesus Christ of Nazareth3.
Hero's mother is a royal virgin
The fact that Christians believe Jesus was born of a virgin is pretty obvious. In The Nicene Creed, he is said to be ex Maria Virgine (Of the Virgin Mary).
What’s less apparent is that Mary is part of a royal line. However,, it is true that she and Joseph, as per the Gospel accounts, are said to come from the Davidic line.4
His father is a king, and
There are two ways to approach this. Firstly, Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, is also part of the Davidic line4.
Further, God the Father is often called a King in verses such as Psalms 10:16, Psalms 44:4, Isaiah 33:22, and many other verses.
Often a near relative of his mother, but
As Suan Winters explains, Joseph and Mary were the children of Jacob and Heli who were brothers. This makes Joseph and Mary cousins.5
The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
The fact Jesus was conceived in a way that allowed Mary to stay a virgin fulfills this one
He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
Another easy one. He’s called Filium Dei Unigenitum (the only begotten son of God) in the Nicene Creed. He’s called the son of God in the 4 gospels (Mark 1:1, Matthew 4:3, Luke 1:35, and John 10:36), Acts (Acts 8:37), Romans (Romans 1:4), 1 Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:9), and many other books of the New Testament.
At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather to kill him but
This is fulfilled by Herod’s attempt on Jesus' life.
he is spirited away, and
This occurs when Jesus goes to Egypt
Reared by foster -parents in a far country
Unless one counts Joseph as a foster parent this, Jesus doesn’t fulfill this criteria.
We are told nothing of his childhood, but
We do hear some about the young Jesus. That being said, it's not much. In fact, early Christians clearly felt a lack of information about the childhood of Jesus which can be seen by the writing of The Infancy Gospel Of Thomas, a non-canonical text about Jesus’ younger years.
On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future Kingdom
Modern Christians would argue that everything is God's kingdom making this hard to rule on. It should be noted that it’s likely that the historical Jesus saw Israel as his future kingdom, so Matthew describing his return to Egypt can be seen as a fulfillment of criteria 10. However, that requires leaving the scope established in footnote 3. Therefore, we’ll ignore this criterion
After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beast,
This occurs when Satan tries to tempt Jesus in the wilderness (Luke 4)
He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor and
Jesus is never married. Nor do we see a popular mythic view where he is married (likely due to the celibacy of early Christians). The most we see is some non-canonical texts alluding to a love with Mary Magdalene and one kiss in The Gospel Of Philip but she’s not a princess, nor a common view.
And becomes king
Although some might object to the word “Becomes”, Christians do see Christ as king, ask Candace Owens6
For a time he reigns uneventfully and
This could be seen as Jesus’ ministry.
Prescribes laws, but
Although he doesn’t give hard laws, he gives ethical teachings comparable to laws in places like the Sermon on the Mound.
Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
He does lose favor with his Jewish subjects. It’s also important to note that he seems to think he loses favor with God in Matthew when he says
“And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46 KJV)
Is driven from the throne and city, after which
This occurs when he is crucified.
He meets with a mysterious death
Although there are mysterious aspects surrounding the death of Jesus, the death itself isn’t mysterious.
Often at the top of a hill,
He is said to have been crucified on Golgotha, a skull-shaped hill.7
His children, if any, do not succeed him.
He fulfills this. Criteria 12 shows why.
His body is not buried, but nevertheless
Although there has been significant doubt raised against the burial of Jesus, it is believed he was buried.
He has one or more holy sepulchers
He does, with the Church of The Holy Sepulcher being the most famous of them all.
The final score Jesus gets is 17/21, tying Jesus with Heracles, beating heroes like Jason. Clearly, Jesus resembles the classical heroes. One can see here proof of some level of influence on the formation of the Jesus character. This also shows a wider lesson about the importance of understanding cultural influence. Even the retelling of a real historical figure inevitably has aspects of the surrounding culture grafted onto it.
Monmouth College. “Lord’ Raglan’s Hero Pattern.” Department.monm.edu, Monmouth College, department.monm.edu/classics/coursearchivetjs/clas230/MythDocuments/HeroPattern/default.htm. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Segal, Robert A. In Quest of the Hero. Princeton University Press ; Princeton, N.J, 1990.
Now’s a good time to note that this system has nothing to do with the historicity of a figure. A real person can score high, and a mythical character can score low. This system only evaluates how similar the conception of a figure is to the conception of other mythical figures. For this reason, this article won’t explore if events like Jesus walking on water actually happened, just whether Christians believed Jesus walked on water.
Henry, Matthew. “Who Was the Virgin Mary? What Do We Know of the Mother of Jesus?” Christianity.com, 5 Apr. 2019, www.christianity.com/jesus/birth-of-jesus/mary-and-joseph/what-do-we-know-about-mary.html. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Winters, Susan. Mary and Joseph. Dec. 2006, www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2006/12/mary-and-joseph?lang=eng. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Chaffey, Tim. “Is It Antisemitic to Say “Christ Is King”?” Tim Chaffey, 1 Apr. 2024, midwestapologetics.org/blog/?p=2195. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
“Where Was Jesus Crucified? Location of Golgotha.” Christianity.com, 20 Feb. 2024, www.christianity.com/wiki/jesus-christ/golgotha-the-location-and-meaning-of-jesus-crucifixion-at-calvary.html. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.