Final answer:
Archetypes were coined by Carl Jung, who considered them part of the collective unconscious, reflecting universal human experiences. These are now considered as a blend of biological predispositions and cultural influences rather than being purely biologically based.
Step-by-step explanation:
The concept of archetypes was coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist. He believed these universal character patterns were embedded in what he termed the collective unconscious. Archetypes, according to Jung, are similar to instinctual responses in animals, yet their biological basis has been challenged. Critics assert there's no evidence that these are genetically based, contrasting recent discoveries that symbolic information like archetypes are not present on the genome. Contemporary research proposes that archetypes are rather reflections of linguistic or cultural characteristics.
Any character or narrative can be an archetype, serving as an original model. For instance, the trickster figure, like Coyote or Brer Rabbit, and the femme fatale, such as Pandora, are archetypal characters in different mythologies. Similarly, the apple in the Garden of Eden is an object-based archetype, and Odysseus's voyage is a narrative-based one. Jung's theory underpins that common experiences like birth, death, and striving for mastery are embodied in these archetypes, suggesting that as much as these themes can be common across cultures, their specific expressions are shaped by environmental and cultural influences.