Virost The Hero's Journey Analysis

All throughout history, heroes from all types of stories have gone through the same journey. Joseph Campbell researched several stories as well as Greek mythology and created a template that every main character or hero follows in each story. Campbell stated that each hero begins his journey in his normal world until he experiences a call to action, which causes the hero to find a mentor and go through several tests and other setbacks until he faces his biggest fear and eventually finishes his quest and returns home. In the Disney movie Hercules, the main character, for which the film is named, follows the journey laid out by Campbell. Hercules follows this journey from his normal life, which he lives until he is called to action and meets

In the beginning stages of the hero’s journey, we tend to see the main character/hero in their “ordinary world”, so to speak. The older stories will most likely have more typical and obvious characters, plot, and setting as they display elements of the classic version of the monomyth. In modern film specifically, the writers and directors will most likely bend and shape the hero’s journey to fit whatever the audience wants and will relate to. For example, in the

The archetype of the Hero’s Journey holds a prevalent pattern in the works of “Initiation” by Sylvia Plath, “A & P” by John Updike, and “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker. These works all follow the 17 stages of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth which are separated in three stages; separation, initiation, and return. The main characters have different characterizations; however, they all follow the basic structure of the Hero’s journey archetype. There are many similarities and differences between the stages that are shown through many context clues and literary devices in each work. The Hero’s Journey archetype expressed in these literary works follow a similar and direct narrative pattern.

During the course of this World Literature class, several stories have been covered that accurately describe Joseph Campbell's mono-myth, or basic pattern found in narratives from every corner of the world. The Hero's Journey in it's entirety has seventeen stages or steps, but if boiled down can be described in three; the departure, the initiation, and the return (Monomyth Cycle). Each stage has several steps, but the cycle describes the hero starting in his initial state, encountering something to change him, and this his return as a changed person. To further explain this concept, there are a few stories covered in this class that can be used.

An Abundance of Monotony When people are young, they are told fables that influence their childhoods in many ways. However, as they grow older, they begin to explore literature for themselves. What they don’t notice, on the other hand, are the consistent steps in the protagonist's quest. The Hero’s Journey, also known as the Monomyth, is a theory proposed by Professor Joseph Campbell. He stated that most, if not all, stories conform to the same steps.

The stories of heroes are told everywhere; stories of caped men and dashing knights; the poor orphan who used his gift to save the world from the scheming villain, etc. When it comes to the topic of epic heros, most would unhesitatingly agree that heroes are static characters, they were destined for greatness since birth. This is not quite so, as heroes must be dynamic characters. They are made into who they are and they aren’t created from a prophecy or an anomaly that sets them apart from the norm. Heroes, like those around them are shaped by their past and present and are not determined by birth. Still there’s a common belief that the people one idolizes, their heroes, are distant and unreachable; otherworldly even. Some would say that the heroes were always like that, they were born to serve a purpose: to save the world. Humans change all the time but would a hero be the same? It seems to hard to believe that heroes are human too when people hear the grandiose tales of the epic heroes like the crafty Odysseus or mighty King Arthur. The heroes in the “Odyssey” and “The Once and Future King” seem to remain unaltered in their respective stories but that is not so. They are human and they do experience emotions and change throughout life just like any other person.

The hero’s journey has evolved with literature over time, and remains the basis for character development today. So why are there so many stories of the hero in mythology? Campbell answers this question in his interview with Bill Moyers by saying, “Because that’s what’s worth writing about…. A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” (The Power of Myth 151).

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:

Carl Jung suggests that regardless of culture or historical period a part of the human mind contains a collective unconscious shared by all members of the human species, a sort of universal, primal memory. Myth Criticism considers this within its teachings by explaining that all stories follow a universal trend called the Hero Cycle. Within this cycle the hero of the story follows each of the steps to fulfilling his/her task. Along with the Hero Cycle, Myth Criticism explains there are archetypes found in each piece of literature or art that are universal in nature. Overall, it is found that the Myth Criticism base is used frequently as we as humans find solace in the comforts of the Cycle, as it is familiar to us.

     The travel of a hero from an average guy to a hero via the myths defined

The desire for a hero is a universal need, so ingrained into the human experience that this phenomenon has been observed for millenia. Heroes and the myths in which they are contained speak a certain truth about the culture that creates them. Myth gives a palpable shape to the human consciousness, allowing people to work through their questions, concerns, and desires. For example, in classical mythology, the Abduction of Persephone is used to explain the annual cycle of crop growth and harvest and why winter is barren. Another example is that the epic poems The Iliad and The Odyssey arguably mark a shift in the human psyche as we evolved from a species following the will of a higher power to believing that our fate is a product of our own will.

Films have a successful universal story that represents different kinds of people in American society. One may feel you are only average, and not much of an interesting person to even share a story about your life, but, “We live the same stories, whether they involve the search for fulfillment, going after an ideal, achieving a dream, or hunting for a precious treasure” (Seger 334), we all live and share a similar life experience. These hero stories we can relate to breaking down into different categories because everyone is different, however we all have a story that defines us. Myths which are stories that involve people living more than a life of a common folk, but live a more intense life with a destiny that determines the fate of their

Though there have been many millennium that have passed allowing for myth to grow, be lost, destroyed, and recreated there is still not one clear definition of myth. Yes, there have been multiple definitions brought forward by philosophers like Euhemerus and scholars like Walter Burkert, but none of these definitions were ever given the honor of being the concrete definition of myth. The same situation goes for the definition of what a hero is. Many credible intellectuals have offered definitions of what a hero is, but only one prevailed—and even that is up for debate. This is all due to the varying theories on why myth is around created by reputable individuals which may crossover one another, clash, or even be expounded upon as the years

Myths to numerous people, appear to be just stories people tell for entertainment. But for centuries, these myths have been told for centuries and serve a specific type of purpose. There are so many myths in our world today that come from so many cultures and nations, one can only assume how much of an impact it has had on our world. For example, the Greek myths such as the Olympians or Prometheus were prominent myths because they explained the origins of our world. In addition to Greek mythology, we have Egyptian myths where the gods fought each other for power. These myths and legends, although are just stories, Joseph Campbell sees them as a significant part of life.

Furthermore it is crucial to know of Joseph Campbell and his ideas of the monomyth. The late Joseph Campbell was described as an American mythologist having laid the groundwork in both contemporary comparative mythology and comparative religion. Campbell’s work is extensive and intersects many attributes of the human experience. It is distinctly Campbell’s efforts in generating his monomyth concept which interest many today. The monomyth concept recognizes all myth based works as being a ploy on one form or original story. This is due to common patterns incorporated in a vast majority of myth based works inattentive of time and place of origin. This original story incorporates a hero’s call to adventure, his or hers crossing of a threshold, their dealings within a climax and or final battle followed by their return.