Cultural References
In fiction, due to the influence of Merlin, a wise old man is often presented in the form of a wizard or other magician in medieval chivalric romance and modern fantasy literature and films (e.g. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Gandalf, or Albus Dumbledore) See List of magicians in fantasy for more examples.
"Senex" is a name of a wise old character in the novel A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle.
Sir Alan Lascelles used the pen-name "Senex" when writing to The Times in 1950 setting out the so-called Lascelles Principles concerning the monarch's right to refuse a prime minister's request for a general election.
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“The primary function of myth is to validate an existing social order. Myth enshrines conservative social values, raising tradition on a pedestal. It expresses and confirms, rather than explains or questions, the sources of cultural attitudes and values.... Because myth anchors the present in the past it is a sociological charter for a future society which is an exact replica of the present one.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)