Hero's Journey

Hero’s journey “The Hero’s Journey” redirects here. For other uses, see is too broad or general to be of much usefulness in com- The Hero’s Journey (disambiguation). parative mythology. Others say that the hero’s journey is In narratology and comparative mythology, the mono- only a part of the Monomyth. The other part is a sort of different form, or color, of the hero’s journey. Call to 1 Terminology Adventure Supernatural Return aid (Gift of Threshold Campbell borrowed the word monomyth from Joyce’s the Goddess) KNOWN Guardian(s) Threshold Finnegans Wake (1939). Campbell was a notable scholar UNKNOWN (beginning of transformation) of James Joyce's work and with A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944) co-authored the seminal anal- The Helper ysis of Joyce’s final novel.[3] Campbell’s singular the Atonement Mentor monomyth implies that the “hero’s journey” is the ul- Hero's timate narrative archetype, but the term monomyth has Journey occasionally been used more generally, as a term for a mythological archetype or a supposed mytheme that re- Transformation occurs throughout the world’s cultures.[4] Omry Ronen Helper Abyss referred to Vyacheslav Ivanov's treatment of Dionysus as death & rebirth an “avatar of Christ” (1904) as “Ivanov’s monomyth”.[5] The phrase “the hero’s journey”, used in reference to Campbell’s monomyth, first entered into popular dis- The twelve stages of the hero’s journey monomyth following the summary by Christopher Vogler (originally compiled in 1985 as course through two documentaries. The first, released in a Disney studio memo): 1. The Ordinary World, 2. The Call to 1987, The Hero’s Journey: The World of Joseph Camp- Adventure, 3. Refusal of the Call, 4. Meeting with the Mentor, 5. bell, was accompanied by a 1990 companion book, The Crossing the Threshold to the “special world”, 6. Tests, Allies and Hero’s Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work Enemies, 7. Approach to the Innermost Cave, 8. The Ordeal, 9. (with Phil Cousineau and Stuart Brown, eds.). The sec- Reward, 10. The Road Back, 11. The Resurrection, 12. Return ond was Bill Moyers's series of seminal interviews with with the Elixir. Campbell, released in 1988 as the documentary (and companion book) The Power of Myth. Cousineau in the myth, or the hero’s journey, is the common template of introduction to the revised edition of The Hero’s Journey a broad category of tales that involve a hero who goes on wrote “the monomyth is in effect a metamyth, a philo- an adventure, and in a decisive crisis wins a victory, and sophical reading of the unity of mankind’s spiritual his- then comes home changed or transformed.[1] tory, the Story behind the story”.[6] The concept was introduced by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), who described the basic narrative pattern as follows: 2 Summary A hero ventures forth from the world of Campbell describes 17 stages of the monomyth. Not all common day into a region of supernatural won- monomyths necessarily contain all 17 stages explicitly; der: fabulous forces are there encountered and some myths may focus on only one of the stages, while a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back others may deal with the stages in a somewhat differ- from this mysterious adventure with the power ent order. In the terminology of Claude Lévi-Strauss, the to bestow boons on his fellow man.[2] stages are the individual mythemes which are “bundled” or assembled into the structure of the monomyth.[7] Campbell and other scholars, such as Erich Neumann, de- The 17 stages may be organized in a number of ways, scribe narratives of Gautama Buddha, Moses, and Christ including division into three “acts” or sections: in terms of the monomyth. Critics argue that the concept I. Departure (also Separation), 1 2 3 CAMPBELL’S SEVENTEEN STAGES II. Initiation (sometimes subdivided into IIA. Descent and 3.1.1 The Call to Adventure IIB. Initiation) and III. Return. The hero begins in a situation of normality from which some information is received that acts as a call to head In the Departure part of the narrative, the hero or off into the unknown. protagonist lives in the ordinary world and receives a call to go on an adventure. The hero is reluctant to follow the Campbell: "... a forest, a kingdom underground, be- call, but is helped by a mentor figure. neath the waves, or above the sky, a secret island, lofty mountaintop, or profound dream state; but it is al- The Initiation section begins with the hero then traversing ways a place of strangely fluid and polymorphous beings, the threshold to the unknown or “special world”, where he unimaginable torments, super human deeds, and impos- faces tasks or trials, either alone or with the assistance of sible delight. The hero can go forth of his own volition to helpers. accomplish the adventure, as did Theseus when he arrived The hero eventually reaches “the innermost cave” or the in his father’s city, Athens, and heard the horrible history central crisis of his adventure, where he must undergo of the Minotaur; or he may be carried or sent abroad by “the ordeal” where he overcomes the main obstacle or en- some benign or malignant agent as was Odysseus, driven emy, undergoing "apotheosis" and gaining his reward (a about the Mediterranean by the winds of the angered god, treasure or "elixir"). Poseidon. The adventure may begin as a mere blunder... The hero must then return to the ordinary world with his or still again, one may be only casually strolling when reward. He may be pursued by the guardians of the spe- some passing phenomenon catches the wandering eye and cial world, or he may be reluctant to return, and may be lures one away from the frequented paths of man. Exam- rescued or forced to return by intervention from the out- ples might be multiplied, ad infinitum, from every corner side. of the world.” In the Return section, the hero again traverses the threshold between the worlds, returning to the ordinary world 3.1.2 Refusal of the Call with the treasure or elixir he gained, which he may now use for the benefit of his fellow man. The hero himself is Often when the call is given, the future hero first refuses transformed by the adventure and gains wisdom or spiri- to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or obliga- tual power over both worlds. tion, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her Campbell’s approach has been very widely received in current circumstances. narratology, mythography and psychotherapy, especially since the 1980s, and a number of variant summaries of Campbell: “Refusal of the summons converts the ad- the basic structure have been published. The general venture into its negative. Walled in boredom, hard work, structure of Campbell’s exposition has been noted before or 'culture,' the subject loses the power of significant af- and described in similar terms in comparative mythol- firmative action and becomes a victim to be saved. His ogy of the 19th and early 20th century, notably by Rus- flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones and sian folkorist Vladimir Propp who divided the structure his life feels meaningless—even though, like King Mi- of Russian folk tales into 31 “functions”.[8] nos, he may through titanic effort succeed in building an empire or renown. Whatever house he builds, it will be The pattern is closely followed in many of the world’s a house of death: a labyrinth of cyclopean walls to hide spiritual narratives, in shamanism, initiation rites, from him his minotaur. All he can do is create new prob- mystery religions (descent to the underworld), and in the lems for himself and await the gradual approach of his mythologies of the world’s major religious or spiritual disintegration.” systems, including the stories of Gautama Buddha, Moses or Jesus. 3.1.3 Supernatural Aid 3 Campbell’s seventeen stages Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his guide and magical helper appears or becomes known. More often than not, this supernatural Main article: The Hero with a Thousand Faces mentor will present the hero with one or more talismans or artifacts that will aid him later in his quest. The following is a more detailed account of Campbell’s Campbell: “For those who have not refused the call, the original 1949 exposition of the monomyth in 17 stages. first encounter of the hero journey is with a protective figure (often a little old crone or old man) who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he 3.1 Departure is about to pass. What such a figure represents is the benign, protecting power of destiny. The fantasy is a 3.2 Initiation 3 reassurance—promise that the peace of Paradise, which ward, to be born again. The disappearance corresponds was known first within the mother womb, is not to be lost; to the passing of a worshipper into a temple—where he is that it supports the present and stands in the future as well to be quickened by the recollection of who and what he is, as in the past (is omega as well as alpha); that though om- namely dust and ashes unless immortal. The temple inte- nipotence may seem to be endangered by the threshold rior, the belly of the whale, and the heavenly land beyond, passages and life awakenings, protective power is always above, and below the confines of the world, are one and and ever present within or just behind the unfamiliar fea- the same.

Load more