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The Hero’s Journey Monomyth. Joseph Campbell: The Hero with a Thousand Faces. In 1949, Joseph Campbell began a revolution in anthropology (the study of people and culture) with his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces. Joseph Campbell (1904-1987).
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Joseph Campbell:The Hero with a Thousand Faces In 1949, Joseph Campbell began a revolution in anthropology (the study of people and culture) with his book The Hero With a Thousand Faces.
Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) This book built on the pioneering work of German anthropologist Adolph Bastian (1826-1905), who first proposed the idea that myths from all over the world seem to be built from the same "elementary ideas."
Campbell and Jung Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung (1875-1961) named these elementary ideas "archetypes," which he believed to be the building blocks not only of the unconscious mind, but of a collective unconscious.
According to Jung, just as everyone has two arms and two legs, so too does everyone share common ideasfor stories and the characters who populate the tales.
The Plot of Stories • Jung surmised that stories happen in poems, songs, short stories, novels, plays, and films. • In exploring myths from all cultures, he concluded that there are essentially two universal plots: • A person leaves on an adventure. • A stranger comes to town. Correction: If we ignore point of view, we have only one plot. For the person on the adventure is the stranger who comes to town!
This universal plot will always center around a hero (the person leaving on an adventure), a quest (there is a reason the hero leaves), and a mentor (someone who helps the person learn something along the way).
“…everyone in the world is born with the same basic subconscious model of what a ‘hero’ is, or a ‘mentor’ or a ‘quest.’"
Joseph Campbell and Heroes Campbell argues that all stories are fundamentally the same story, which he named the "Hero's Journey," or the "monomyth."
The Hero’s Journey • Campbell breaks the Hero’s Journey down into three distinct phases: • Departure • Initiation • Return
APOTHEOSISAscension, At-one-ment Miraculous Birth Child Prodigy Exile Meditation, Withdrawal, Refusal Return to SocietyBearing Gifts Adventures and Tests Resurrection/RebirthAscent from Underworld Ritual or ActualDeathDescent into Underworld
1.The Ordinary World Most stories take place in a special world, so you first have to create a contrast by showing him in his mundane, ordinary world. In STAR WARS you see Luke bored to death as a farmboy. Fabulous circumstances surrounding conception, birth, and childhood establish the hero’s pedigree (and often are the result of an earlier monomyth cycle).
2. The Call to Adventure A herald or announcer appears Often it is someone dark, loathly, terrifying, and/or unordinary The call is typically heard someplace remote—for example, in a dark forest, near a great tree, beside a babbling spring, etc. The call promises both treasure and danger. The call requires travel to a distant land, forest, or kingdom somewhere underground, beneath the waves, above the sky, on a secret island, atop a lofty mountain—even into a profound dream state.
The call [is] a … moment, of spiritual passage, which, when complete, amounts to a dying and birth. The familiar life horizon has been outgrown; the old concepts, ideals, and emotional patterns no longer fit; the time for the passing of a threshold is at hand. Campbell says this about the call to adventure:
Remember Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, who called first Bilbo and then Frodo?
3. Refusal of the Call • All true heroes at first refuse the adventure. • The consequences of finally accepting the call: • The person gains self-awareness and control. • The person responds only to the deepest, highest, richest answers to problems faced in life. The consequences of always refusing the call: • The person loses the power of affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved. • According to Campbell, the person’s “flowering world becomes a wastelandof dry stones and his life feels meaningless.”
The refusal is essentially a refusal to give up what one takes to be one’s own interest. Campbell says this about the refusal of the call:
Do you want your life to be this, a wasteland of dry stones?
Stage 4: The Mentor & Amulets Usually [but not always] masculine in form Typically a wizard, hermit, shepherd,or smith—someone peripheral to the community Supplies the amuletsand advice that the hero will require to begin
For those who have not refused the call, the first encounter … is with a protective figure … who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he is about to face. Campbell says this about the mentor:
Stage 5:Crossing The Threshold Sphere of Knowledge Threshold I am so out of here! Great Unknown
The hero goes forward in his adventure until he comes to … the entrance zone of magnified power. Beyond … is darkness, the unknown, and danger. Campbell says this about the crossing of the threshold:
Campbell says, “The hero … is swallowed into the unknown, and would appear to have died.”
Crossing the threshold is a symbolic form of self-annihilation. Stage 6: The hero usually suffers a set back (the belly of the whale). The belly = the true beginning of the adventure, where the rules are different. The hero is to be born again, undergo a metamorphosis, shed his old character for a new one (he is baptized by battle).
Stage 7: The Road of Trials The hero must put aside personal pride, virtue, beauty, and life. He must bow and submit to tests of his worthiness. Dragons must be slain, victories won, barriers passed, ecstasies experienced, etc.--usually in series of threes.
Once having traversed the threshold, the hero … must survive a succession of trials. Campbell says this about the road of trials:
Stage 8: Helpers The hero is often accompanied on the journey by helpers who assist in the series of tests and generally serve as loyal companions. Alternately, the hero may encounter a supernatural helper in the world of adventure who fulfills this function
The Goddess One of the helpers will usually be a symbolic goddess (depicted as youngand/or beautiful). Teaches the hero an important lesson. Does not have to be a goddess[such as the Greek Athena or the Egyptian Isis]. Any strong female or feminine forcemeets the requirements for this stage.
[The goddess] is the incarnation of the promise of perfection …. She … guides [the hero] to burst his fetters. Campbell says this about the the goddess:
Stage 9:The Final Battle All previous steps have prepared and purified the hero for the boon. The hero often gains a prize, or boon, from victory; often the boon is the goalof the adventure--a magical elixir, the holy grail, a golden fleece. Often, part of the final battle involves the hero atoning with his father.
The ease with which the adventure is here accomplished signifies that the hero is a superior man, a born king. Where the usual hero would face a test, the elect encounters no delaying obstacle and makes no mistake. Campbell says this about the final battle:
Atonement with the Father Atonement = at+one+ ment The hero encounters his biologicalfather, a father figure, a strong male presence, or someone or something with incredible power. At first, the “father” represents what the hero despises or disagreeswith. The hero is killed during the encounter--either literally or symbolically--so that a new self (the hero as master) can come into being.
The hero must claim his identity. For the hero to realize his destiny, he must make amends with (or kill) his father (or force that holds him back from fulfilling his destiny). Campbell says this about the atonement with the father:
Eventually, Luke realizes that his father and he share the same potential to be evil. Luke’s final battle is literally saving his father from the dark side of the Force.
When Odysseus and Telemachus reconcile on the shores of Ithaca, both heroes emerge as complete men. Telemachus abandons his hatred for his father and stands as the true Prince of Ithaca; Odysseus’ identity is finally restored. As father and son, they march to meet their final battle in reclaiming their palace from the suitors.
Stage 10:The Road Back I’m back! Hero’s Reentrance The hero's not out of the woods yet. Hero is pursued by the vengeful forces from whom he has stolen the elixir or the treasure. This is the chase as Luke and friends escape from the Death Star, with Princess Leia and the plans that will bring down Darth Vader.
He [must] re-enter his world… where men who are fractions imagine themselves to be complete. Campbell says this about the return of the hero:
Stage 11:The Elixir I am the ONE. 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.
With the elixir, the hero is complete. He has the freedom to pass back and forth across the world division. He has fulfilled his destiny. Campbell says this about the possession of the elixir:
12. Ressurection The Hero-Now-Master The hero emerges from the special world, transformed by his experience. He is transformed into a new being by his experience.
Powerful in insight, calm and free in action, … the hero is the conscious vehicle of the terrible, wonderful Law of the Universe, whether his work be that of butcher, jockey, or king. Campbell says this about Stage 10: master of two worlds:
