MORE ARCHER

In a previous post, I breifly mentioned a similarity between the god Apollo and FX's animated charcter Archer. This post's purpose is to do Archer justice and dig deeper into his mythological connections.

For those who haven't seen Archer (shame on you), here's what Wikipedia says:

"Set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) in New York City, suave master spy Sterling Archer deals with global espionage; a domineering, hypersexual, late middle-aged mother/boss, Malory Archer; his ex-girlfriend, Agent Lana Kane; her ISIS accountant boyfriend (later ex) Cyril Figgis; and a less-than-masculine code name—"Duchess".

Archer is considered the world's most dangerous secret agent. He appears to command his small world almost effortlessly (being wealthy, manipulative, and a womanizer often seen with hookers or random women). He's tall, dark, and handsome with a youthful (wreckless and spoiled) demeanor. He is "equally likely to kill a room full of enemy agents as he is to accidentally cause international disaster".

Apollo, the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle, is the "Delphian", the "Far Shooter", the "Archer" (connection: Archer's name). He represents a youthful, commanding, effortless divinity beyond our reach (connection: Archer's personality, youthfulness). He is associated with medicine and healing, but also seen as a god who could bring illness and plague (connection: Archer's ability to save or accidentally cause disaster).

There's also a slight connection with their mothers: Archer's mother, Malory, is seen to have given birth to Archer in a bar while escaping American enemies (she was a top secret agent in her prime as well). There is some sense of illegitimacy and Malory is seen as an outsider during the time of her son's birth. In Apollo's case, his mother, Leto concieved with Zeus. Leto stuggles to find a place to give birth. Once she has given birth, her role in Greek mythology is completed. Malory's role isn't remotely close to being over, but, despite being Archer's boss, he seems to only see her as his mother; there are few signs of any professional relationship between the two.

Perhaps I've taken this too far, perhaps these connections have been stretched too thinly... I just really like Archer.