The Fall from Grace or Paradise Lost archetype explores humanity's transition from an ideal, primordial state to the flawed, mortal condition we experience. These narratives grapple with fundamental questions: Why do we suffer? Why do we die? Why is life difficult? How did we lose our original perfection?
This pattern appears in diverse forms: the Biblical expulsion from Eden after eating the forbidden fruit; Pandora opening the jar that released suffering into the world; the Greek Golden Age giving way to the Age of Iron; Lucifer's prideful rebellion and fall from heaven; the Norse transition from primordial harmony to a world requiring constant vigilance; indigenous Australian stories of the Dreamtime's end. These myths serve as etiological narratives explaining human limitations, mortality, suffering, and the loss of direct divine communion. They transform existential anxiety into narrative meaning, suggesting that our current condition resulted from choice, disobedience, curiosity, or cosmic necessity rather than meaningless chance.