The Hero’s Journey

Hero Myths Hero Myths contain the goals and virtues of an entire nation or culture; they are conveyed through the quest and adventures of a legendary figure who is stronger, smarter, and more courageous than most other people. With few exceptions, mythological heroes are usually male Heroes often have an obscure, mysterious, or partially divine origin Heroes are neither fools nor are they invincible Heroes are called upon to make a journey or to follow a goal or quest The hero’s way is not always direct or clear to him

The Hero’s Quest

Stories of the Hunt Earliest narrative: Cave Paintings of Lascaux - 17,000 years old. Representations of numerous animal scenes, and interactions between animals and humans. Tools: an understanding of causality. Awareness of cause and effect relationships inspires a search for meaning in everyday life.

From Meaning to Myth Story: the search for answers to ultimate questions: why do we die? Our brains are hardwired for belief: we see effects and seek the causes. Myths are sacred stories that express the beliefs and values of a particular culture. The oldest surviving written myth is the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (4,000 years old).

The Hero’s Quest The hero undertakes some long journey during which he must perform impossible tasks, battle with monsters, solve unanswerable riddles, and overcome insurmountable obstacles in order to save the kingdom, marry the princess, or regain what has been stolen or lost. Many quest tales supply friends, servants, or disciples as company for the hero The hero has a guide or guides What the hero seeks is usually no more than a symbol of what he really finds

The Hero’s Initiation The hero undergoes a series of excruciating ordeals in passing from ignorance and immaturity to social and spiritual adulthood, that is, achieving maturity and becoming a full-fledged member of his social group The initiation consists of (1) separation, (2) transformation, and (3) return The hero descends into darkness (literally and figuratively) and is not the same after re-emerging from that darkness

Crossing the Threshold The Heroic Journey Birth/Home Call to Adventure Elixir Helpers/Amulet Crossing the Threshold Return Tests Flight Helpers Climax/Final Battle

Birth Fabulous circumstances surrounding conception, birth, and childhood establish the hero's background and often constitute their own myth.

Call to Adventure The hero is called to adventure by some external event or messenger. The hero may accept the call willingly or reluctantly.

The Call to Adventure Crisis – Signals a change from the known Hero returns to familiar occupations but finds them unfruitful, then a series of signs of increasing force become visible (Campbell 56). Herald – Carrier of the power of destiny, appears and marks a new period for the hero Call – Hero must leave the known and enter the unknown. The hero is summoned to a fateful, unknown region full of danger and treasure.

Refusal of the Call “Refusal to give up what one takes to be one’s own interest” (Campbell 60). The Hero refuses to answer or even recognize the call because of fear, obligation, a sense of inadequacy, etc… The stories sometimes end here if the hero never turns back to answer the call. (e.g. Apollo – Daphne, King Minos)

Supernatural Aid When Hero begins journey, usually the first person or thing he/she meets is a supernatural helper The Supernatural helper is a guide or magical helper and gives the hero some kind of knowledge or items that will help in his/her quest.

The Crossing of the First Threshold Hero comes to boundary between known world and the unknown and steps into the unknown True beginning of the adventure

Crossing the Threshold: Hero Moves from Ordinary World to the Unknown Alice

Stages of the Hero’s Journey The Innermost Cave Seizing the Sword Re-emergence/ Rebirth Crossing the Threshold

Crossing the Threshold The journey begins in the ordinary world;

Crossing the Threshold The hero is called to adventure by some external event or messenger. The hero may accept the call willingly or reluctantly, consciously or accidentally. The initial step is a ‘Call to Adventure’ where the heroic figure is made aware of a place beyond the world he has known his whole life. A herald is encountered that gives the hero a reason to rethink what he (or she) "knows." This herald usually provides some direction to enter into the adventure and may remain with the hero as a guide. Often, the hero at first balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears – fear of the unknown.  The hero may refuse the adventure or deny the ability to move beyond the status quo. The heralded event may even be ignored – All of these constitute a ‘Refusal of the Call.’ The initial step is a ‘Call to Adventure’ where the heroic figure is made aware of a place beyond the world he has known his whole life. A herald is encountered that gives the hero a reason to rethink what he (or she) "knows." This herald usually provides some direction to enter into the adventure and may remain with the hero as a guide. Often, the hero at first balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears – fear of the unknown.  The hero may refuse the adventure or deny the ability to move beyond the status quo. The heralded event may even be ignored – All of these constitute a ‘Refusal of the Call.’ The initial step is a ‘Call to Adventure’ where the heroic figure is made aware of a place beyond the world he has known his whole life. A herald is encountered that gives the hero a reason to rethink what he (or she) "knows." This herald usually provides some direction to enter into the adventure and may remain with the hero as a guide. Often, the hero at first balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears – fear of the unknown.  The hero may refuse the adventure or deny the ability to move beyond the status quo. The heralded event may even be ignored – All of these constitute a ‘Refusal of the Call.’ The initial step is a ‘Call to Adventure’ where the heroic figure is made aware of a place beyond the world he has known his whole life. A herald is encountered that gives the hero a reason to rethink what he (or she) "knows." This herald usually provides some direction to enter into the adventure and may remain with the hero as a guide. Often, the hero at first balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears – fear of the unknown.  The hero may refuse the adventure or deny the ability to move beyond the status quo. The heralded event may even be ignored – All of these constitute a ‘Refusal of the Call.’ The initial step is a ‘Call to Adventure’ where the heroic figure is made aware of a place beyond the world he has known his whole life. A herald is encountered that gives the hero a reason to rethink what he (or she) "knows." This herald usually provides some direction to enter into the adventure and may remain with the hero as a guide. Often, the hero at first balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears – fear of the unknown.  The hero may refuse the adventure or deny the ability to move beyond the status quo. The heralded event may even be ignored – All of these constitute a ‘Refusal of the Call.’ 18

Good Examples of the Hero’s Quest as Portrayed in modern culture Field of Dreams: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHTsQ9qePrQ The Matrix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM5yepZ21pI

Helpers/Amulet During the early stages of the journey, the hero will often receive aid from a protective figure. This supernatural helper can take a wide variety of forms, such as a wizard, and old man, a dwarf, a crone, or a fairy godmother. The helper commonly gives the hero a protective amulet or weapon for the journey.

Crossing the Threshold Upon reaching the threshold of adventure, the hero must undergo some sort of ordeal in order to pass from the everyday world into the world of adventure. This trial may be as painless as entering a dark cave or as violent as being swallowed up by a whale. The important feature is the contrast between the familiar world of light and the dark, unknown world of adventure.

The Road of Trials This is the series of trials and tribulations in which the hero must go through to be come the hero These trials end up forever changing the hero

The Meeting with the Goddess Once the hero survives the road of trials, the hero experiences some sort of great love This can be romantic love or this can be a feeling of warmth from Family It also can be a divine love

The Temptation During the adventure, the hero undergoes some form of temptation, to attempt to cause the hero to stray from his/her path

Atonement This is the center part of the Journey In this step, the hero must face the figure holding the ultimate power in his/her life

Apotheosis Once the hero finishes the atonement step, the hero experiences a deification. During this deification, the hero goes through a oneness with the universe. In some cases, it is like being in heaven but in other cases it is a rest period before beginning the return.

The Crossing of the First Threshold Hero comes to boundary between known world and the unknown and steps into the unknown True beginning of the adventure

Tests The hero travels through the dream-like world of adventure where he must undergo a series of tests. These trials are often violent encounters with monsters, sorcerers, warriors, or forces of nature. Each successful test further proves the hero's ability and advances the journey toward its climax.

Helpers The hero is often accompanied on the journey by a helper who assists in the series of tests and generally serves as a loyal companion. Alternately, the hero may encounter a supernatural helper in the world of adventure who fulfills this function.

The Belly of the Whale The hero is plunged into some sort of dark or frightening unknown after crossing the threshold Represents the final separation between the hero and known world Hero goes through metamorphosis – Passage through the threshold is a form of self-annihilation – upon crossing the threshold the hero sheds “secular self”(Campbell 92).

The Innermost Cave: The Dark Moment of Truth This is the critical moment in the hero’s journey in which there is often a final battle with a monster, wizard or warrior, which facilitates the particular resolution of the adventure. Sometimes it’s a final victory over a nemesis and sometimes just over self The hero touches bottom, appearing to die and be born again Approach to the Inmost Cave is like the second act turning point of the Three Act structure. The hero must now face the greatest test and must be fully committed to meeting the challenge they were given in the Call to Adventure. 32

The Innermost Cave

The Innermost Cave: Obstacles

The Final Confrontation: The Innermost Cave

Seizing the Sword Finds it in the innermost cave Often an inner quality that the hero didn’t know he had Sometimes the boon is knowledge and experience.

Climax/Final Battle This is the critical moment in the hero's journey in which there is often a final battle with a monster, wizard, or warrior which facilitates the particular resolution of the adventure.

Click on the picture to watch this scene from the movie. Seizing the Sword Click on the picture to watch this scene from the movie.

Re-Emergence and Rebirth: The Road Back The hero again crosses the threshold of adventure and returns to the everyday world of daylight. The return usually takes the form of an awakening, rebirth, resurrection, or a simple emergence from a cave or forest. Resurrection is the final proof and accomplishment of the mission in the Call to Adventure. The hero is now master of his/her world. 39

Re-Emergence and Rebirth: The Road Back

Re-Emergence and Rebirth: The Road Back

From Joseph Campbell: The Hero with a Thousand Faces The mythological hero, setting forth from his common day hut or castle, is lured, carried away, or else voluntarily proceeds, to the threshold of adventure. There he encounters a shadow presence that guards the passage. The hero may defeat or conciliate this power and go alive into the kingdom of the dark (brother-battle, dragon-battle; offering, charm), or be slain by the opponent and descend in death (dismemberment, crucifixion). Beyond the threshold, then, the hero journeys through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate forces, some of which severely threaten him (tests), some of which give magical aid (helpers). When he arrives at the nadir of the mythological round, he undergoes a supreme ordeal and gains his reward. The triumph may be represented as the hero's sexual union with the goddess-mother of the world (sacred marriage), his recognition by the father-creator (father atonement), his own divinization (apotheosis), or again—if the powers have remained unfriendly to him—his theft of the boon he came to gain (bride-theft, fire-theft); intrinsically it is an expansion of consciousness and therewith of being (illumination, transfiguration, freedom). The final work is that of the return. If the powers have blessed the hero, he now sets forth under their protection (emissary); if not, he flees and is pursued (transformation flight, obstacle flight). At the return threshold the transcendental powers must remain behind; the hero re-emerges from the kingdom of dread (return resurrection). The boon that he brings restores the world (elixir).  

The Hero’s Journey in Movies Click on the picture for a film clip I am your father. Final Battle

The Ultimate Boon In this step, the hero receives the goal of the quest.

Flight After accomplishing the mission, the hero must return to the threshold of adventure and prepare for a return to the everyday world. If the hero has angered the opposing forces by stealing the elixir or killing a powerful monster, the return may take the form of a hasty flight. If the hero has been given the elixir freely, the flight may be a benign stage of the journey

Return The hero again crosses the threshold of adventure and returns to the everyday world of daylight. The return usually takes the form of an awakening, rebirth, resurrection, or a simple emergence from a cave or forest. Sometimes the hero is pulled out of the adventure world by a force from the daylight world.

Elixir The object, knowledge, or blessing that the hero acquired during the adventure is now put to use in the everyday world. Often it has a restorative or healing function, but it also serves to define the hero's role in the society.

The Hero With a Thousand Faces, p. 30 Home “ A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder; fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won; the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” Joseph Campbell The Hero With a Thousand Faces, p. 30

Who is a Hero? Person able to battle past his personal and local limitations Goes on journey to become “reborn” or transcendent and then returns to share knowledge with others.

The Monomyth The journey that all heroes go through in one form or another (archetypal) Basic structure – Separation – Hero leaves known society or world Initiation – Hero enters world of supernatural wonder where wins a decisive victory Return – Hero returns to former society or world and bestows some kind of gift onto fellow man (Campbell 30).

The Return

Home Refusal of the Return After attaining all of the wonders of the world and experiencing what heaven is like, why would the hero want to go back to normal life?

The Magic Flight Sometimes the hero needs to steal the boon away and make an audacious escape This can be just as dangerous and exciting as the beginning of the adventure

Rescue from Without Just like at the beginning of the adventure when the hero may have needed help to set out on the journey, the hero may need some help from a magical being to return back to normal life.

The Crossing of the Return Threshold At this point, the hero returns back to the place where the adventure began The hero must remember what he/she learned during the quest and how to use it to benefit others

Master of the Two Worlds In this step, the hero realizes that he/she must balance the spirit of the adventure with normal life After balancing these two things, the hero becomes content

Freedom to Live Now that the hero survived the adventure and balanced both spiritual and physical beings, the hero loses the fear of death and can go back to living normal life

Works Consulted Campbell, Joseph. The Hero of A Thousand Faces. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University, 1968. Warren, Liz. “Summary of the steps of the Hero’s Journey.” 1999. –N/A- March 6-7, 2003 http://dommy.com/az2nzau/show/qoln/steps.pdf Warren, Liz. “The Hero’s Journey, Summary of the Steps.” 11/19/1999. MCLI. March 6-7, 2003 http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/smc/journey/ref/summary.html