Epic Hero's Journey

Nature is the playground for every human. It is essential that we include nature in our lives; it keeps us on our correct path. However, if we dismiss ourselves from nature, we begin to stray from our correct path. We become engulfed in the distractions from the modern world . The only approach to appropriate this quandary is to break our pervicacious ways and return to peaceful serenity known as nature.

As time goes on and new generations come about, many of the ideals of former generations seem to become irrelevant. Scott LaBarge, a professor of philosophy, elaborates on this idea and others in his essay. “Why Heroes Are Important” is LaBarge’s pursuit to persuade others of his idea of heroes in today’s society. He claims that many of our youth do not know what a proper hero is and that former generations should be educating them. LaBarge begins his persuasion by describing his personal experience and credibility; then, he briefly describes the history of heroes to tie in his opinion on the definition; finally, he uses Aristotle’s idea of Kairos to explain how his opinion proves true according to current events.

Throughout humankind, many heroes have impacted world’s history. Some are true stories while some have become legends. These storied are retold over and over due to the hero, which shows a common

Aspects such as abnormality, the visits to the supernatural world, and greater knowledge gain than original expected of the epic hero archetype guide the reader through this story. Leading them to realize that without understanding the dangers of something irreversible mistakes may be made and yet at the same time wisdom allows for innovation and progress to

Life is a precious gift, as you only get one chance to become your best self. In life everyone has hopes and dreams to find their calling to potentially make a difference in the world. In literature we are presented with an abundance of epic hero stories, referring to fictional or non-fictional characters that have made a difference in their world. These characters grant the reader with entertaining stories pertaining to historical or fictional events that reflect the hero’s journey to making a triumphant change. Joseph Campbell’s theory that every hero has a similar journey to becoming their best self commences with a call to an adventure. The call to adventure is the first and most important step in Joseph Campbell’s hero monomyth, “A hero with a Thousand Faces.”

The first stage of the Hero’s Journey is The Ordinary World. In this stage, the hero is introduced in such a way that viewers sympathize with him or her. Something is not working

A Closer Look A tale of a hero is truly thrilling. They take on the risk of their unseen journey, with challenges, and transformations, in hopes of return. The life of a hero is exhilarating. Each story provides different incite, meaning, and purpose, but yet every hero’s journey manages to apply the same concepts.

Though few literary templates have been able to stand the test of time, the Hero’s Journey, or “monomyth”, has the distinction of being present in the literature and mythology of almost every single culture that has possessed written language. The term “monomyth” was coined by Joseph Campbell, an American mythological research, in his book entitled The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Since his groundbreaking analysis and compilation, thousands of writers, directors, and producers have applied the basic elements of the monomyth to their own media. One of the most successful applications of the monomyth to a non-literary medium are the Star Wars films, originally created by George Lucas. The most recent addition to the Star Wars saga was released

The hero’s journey can be found in ancient stories from thousands of years ago as well as present-day stories that may hit the big screen. The hero experiences a chain of events that gives he or she, typically a male, a title of “the hero”. The hero's journey begins with either an inner longing to go on a quest, or an exterior call that requires the hero’s help outside of the ordinary world. Heroes may, at first, refuse the call, or may respond to the call immediately. However, there is usually some resistance to the call because of the potential danger he or she could face from the unknown world. In most cases, a guide or a supernatural aid will direct the hero on the journey. In the hero's journey, one may encounter a threshold

As a result, these two characters together are able to seek reassurance from each other for a short period of time. Due to interpersonal influences and society's norms, the characters conform, and

There are many times in the writings and lives of the people of the world that ideas or themes can be linked to myths and the various components of myths whether it be intentional or not. The James Joyce novel, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is one of such writings, this novel employs multiple concepts and ideas that pertain to myths that can be attributed to the thinking of American mythologist Joseph Campbell. The reader can see a link of Campbell’s concept of the hero’s journey throughout the Joyce novel. Stephen Dedalus begins his hero’s journey when he experiences his call to adventure when he is attending Belvedere after he learns that his father can no longer afford to send him back to Clongowes, the night of the Whitsuntide play Stephen truly

However, since the hero is part of society, the journey is also one of personal development. On a more psychological level, one could suggest that the hero’s quest is symbolic of all personal conflict. Conflict begins when a problem arises that must be dealt with. Most people, at first, refuse to come to terms with whatever this problem may be, and attempt to ignore it. With enough mental determination and/or aid from an outside source, however, one can bring themselves to cross the first threshold, and begin their journey into the heart of the problem. For example, victims of rape or other types of abuse must face what is haunting them in order for it to be exorcised properly.

The Hero’s journey, or in its more correct terminology the Monomyth is an object from the area of comparative mythology. Its definition in the most basic of forms, it is a pattern or outline that is used in storytelling, usually the myth. This pattern is found in many famous pieces from all around the world. In the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces from 1949 by author Joseph Campbell, this pattern is described in detail. Campbell describes that numerous myths from different times and areas of the world seem to share an identical structure in their storytelling. He summarized this with a well-known quote found at the intro of his book:

hero's journey is not solely “applicable to fiction but also to the journeys that everyone goes

The journey, the hero, the triumph, and the defeat are all elements that some of literatures greatest works have encaptured, such as: the Ramayana, The Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Mahabharata. Each of these texts depicts a hero or protagonist that is unique to their culture and although each of these heroes embark on a different journey with different purposes and goals in mind, they all display a variety of features that people of then and now can relate to. It becomes transparent that each of the journeys these heroes undertake are a lot like that of the lives of people today.