Assignment #5 The Hero's Journey

The Hero’s Journey – A More Detailed View

Special Birth: The hero often has a special childbirth or childhood. Both

Gautama Sakyamuni who was transformed into the Buddha, and Jesus

Christ were born of virgin women, for example.

Call to Adventure: Destiny calls the hero – The adventure may be

voluntary or forced upon the hero. It may even be accidental or not

noticed: the hero may suddenly find himself in the midst of an unexpected

quest.

The adventure can begin in an active or

passive way. When Theseus arrived in Athens,

he voluntarily started the adventure and chose his own course of action.

Odysseus, on the other hand, wasn’t looking for another

adventure to begin; the gods made that choice for him. He also was

passive about the course of the adventure, having to endure the winds of Poseidon blowing him

across the seas like a piece on a chessboard.

Refusal of the Call: Occasionally the hero of the myth refuses the call. He may do this because he

thinks he’s acting in his own interest – perhaps things should remain the way they are. The refusal

shows that the psyche sees the change implied by the quest as a kind of death and resists it. Refusal

can often result in a paralysis or enchantment. Campbell cites the story of Daphne running from

Apollo as an example. Running in fear, she calls to her father to take away the beauty that cased

Apollo to chase her. In response, she is turned into a tree.

Supernatural Aid: “protective figure” – when the hero finally faces the challenge, he prepares himself

with the provisions and weapons needed for his quest. In this stage, he often encounters a

protective figure who will provide him with the means necessary to succeed.

Crossing the First Threshold: “Unknown zone” – With the aid of a supernatural guide who

represents his destiny, the hero sets out on his adventure. He reaches the gates of an unknown

zone, where he encounters a threshold guardian who represents the limits of his current life.

Sometimes this guardian assists the hero, while at others, he is deceitful and dangerous. The

guardian represents the risky challenge of an adventure into the unknown.

Belly of the Whale Experience: “The hero is

swallowed up” – in the course of his adventure,

the hero may disappear, be magically transported,

or even die. The hero is swallowed up because

he does not successfully conciliate the guardian of

the threshold; it appears that he has died. This

stage of the journey reminds us that crossing the

threshold is a form of death; the hero is swallowed

up, and disappears, into another world, or into the

inside of an animal.

The Road of Trials – “a series of tasks” – Campbell characterizes this as a “favorite phase of the

myth adventure.” Indeed the trials of the hero may be extensive, occupying the majority of his

adventures. One by one, the hero completes a series of tasks. The tasks function as tests or ordeals

to show the hero’s worthiness. Campbell describes the trials of the hero as symbolic of psychological

dangers associated with overcoming the real problems of our lives.

Variables (Change from story to story. Any given story may have only one or may have several of

these):

1. Meeting with “Woman” (the goddess)

2. Sacred Marriage

3. Meeting with the Temptress

The hero meets a goddess, who can be good or evil. To unite with her, the hero must ignore

the temptations of human life, break the bonds of humanity to see beyond that which his

human senses experience and win the boon of love “which is life itself enjoyed as the

encasement of eternity.”

Jung emphasized the importance of the woman the hero encountered during his adventures:

they represent the anima, or the female part of a man’s psyche. This archetypical figure is

essential to the development of a complete and mature personality. Campbell’s analysis

incorporates two aspect s of Jung’s anima: the hero with a thousand faces encounters the

goddess, and the temptress.

4. Father At-One-Ment

(Atonement)

The mythical father figure

represents the initiatory priest

who allows only the prepared

hero to pass into the transformed

world. His role is to test the hero

to ascertain his worthiness. Like

the guardian of the gate, he has

both an evil and a benign aspect.

He must be stern in testing the

hero, but becomes loving once the hero has proven himself

worthy. The father figure does not have to be the hero’s actual

father, or even a human villain.

5. Theft of the Elixir (only occurs if those who have the boon don’t want the hero to have it)

Sometimes the “boon” the hero has to acquire in his quest must be stolen because those who

have it don’t want to give it up.

Apotheosis: “Illumination” – In many stories, the hero comes to understand that the spiritual side of

human existence is as real as the physical part. This understanding may grow as the hero pursues

his quest, or it may come as a sudden change in his view of the world.

Through his adventure, the hero achieves illumination and understanding; he is

raised to a godlike stature, often by communication with a higher figure which

may be male, or female, or androgynous. Campbell suggests that the hero

outgrows mere mortality, and is no longer blinded by his senses’ misinterpretation

of the true nature of things. In this stage he meets a spiritual guide and becomes

awakened, an enlightened one, able to see through the shell of his existence and

the true reality beyond.

The Ultimate Boon: At the end of the adventure, the hero gains possession of

an object which symbolizes the Truth experienced in the apotheosis. Because

the adventure of the hero is in fact internal, the ultimate boon obtained by the

hero actually symbolizes the universal force or power found within him. It is

possession of the final blessed gift which will benefit the hero’s community upon

his return. Again, this is symbolic and does not have to be an actual object.

Call to Return: According to Campbell, the true hero figure must return to his people and bring to

them the “boon” he has earned. This may be a special ritual or ceremony, a period of peace and

prosperity, or an insight into the real truths of mankind’s existence which the hero will try to teach to

his people. This return gives the hero an opportunity to apply his new understanding of the world. He

may live an ordinary life with great wisdom or continue his magical adventures with a new inner

power.

Special Childhood

Call to Adventure (sometimes the

call is refused)

If the call is refused, something happens

to make the hero accept the call.

Freedom to Live

Master of Two Worlds

Crossing of the First Threshold Threshold of Adventure

Known/Physical World

Belly of the Whale Experience

Unknown/Spiritual World The Road of Tests/Trials

Call to Return (sometimes

a refusal to return)

Ultimate Boon (represents

knowledge gained)

Apotheosis

Coming to Knowledge

Variables (story may have one or

several of these)

1. Meeting with “Woman” 2. Sacred Marriage 3. Meeting with the Temptress 4. Father At-One-Ment

(Atonement) 5. Theft of the Elixir