Book excerpt: Among the plethora of heroes of different significance (religious, artistic, political, etc.), national archetypes stand out because they represent the outstanding traits of their fellow citizens and at the same time serve as role models for them. How these archetypes are formed in some countries, and what their specific features are, constitutes the starting point for this study. The book then enters a second phase with the narration of their jobs as literary heroes, culminating in a reflection on the possible effects that the archetype may have on the behaviour of workers and employers in the respective country. After the analysis of the five main European countries, the book undertakes a comparative study of other non-European archetypes, where the profiles are quite different.