The Hero’s Journey [the monomyth ]

1. The Hero’s Journey[the monomyth] Joseph Campbell is credited with the “original” idea … there are several different versions/variations at this point, however (even though they pretty much all stole from Campbell!)

2. Here’s What You Are Responsible for Learning, Knowing and being able to Apply: • #1. Ordinary World … the status quo. • HERO is an “average Joe” (so that the audience can relate to him) ~ the hero starts small with problems to overcome; leads a fairly ordinary, even mundane (boring!) life. • Examples: • Luke Skywalker: farm-boy who lives with his aunt & uncle but dreams of joining the rebellion. • KatnissEverdeen: 16 year-old supporting her family & trying to go to school at the same time. • Beatrice Prior: 16 year old who doesn’t agree with her parents’ way of living & wants something different • Indiana Jones: college professor or archeology • Harry Potter: 12 year-old orphan living with awful aunt, uncle & cousin

3. #2. Call to Adventure • The hero starts off in whatever mundane world he or she lives in but then receives some information that acts as a call to head–off into the “unknown.” Often, an archetypal character, often referred to as the “HERALD,” is the one who delivers this “call” to the hero, but, sometimes, the herald may simply be an object or event (such as Katniss’ sister being chosen in the reaping in The Hunger Games). • #3. Refusal of the Call • Quite often, after receiving the call to adventure, the hero refuses to heed it. The hero’s refusal may stem from any number of things: a sense of duty, obligation, fear, insecurity, feelings of inferiority or inadequacy, etc. (Luke Skywalker, for example, feels obligated to stay home and help with his aunt & uncle’s farm.)

4. #4. Meeting the Mentor [“Assistance” or “Supernatural Aid”] The hero, after committing to the quest – consciously or unconsciously – his mentor (or guide or “magical helper”) appears or becomes known. Sometimes, the mentor might also be the “herald;” occassionally, the hero may receive a special or magical object (King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur, Harry Potter’s magic wand and Luke Skywalker’s light-saber would all be examples of special objects) & sometimes (remember: there are no hard & fast rules for this) the mentor is the object (think: books, scrolls or treasure maps!) Examples: Merlin, Haymitch, Obi-wan Kenobi.

5. #5. Crossing the Threshold [“Departure”] • This is the point where the hero actually crosses into the “field of adventure.” They leave the “known world” that they are familiar & comfortable with and venture into an unknown world where rules & limits are unknown. Joseph Campbell refers to “the belly of the whale” here, indicating that this is where the hero fully separates from his or her known world (and self) and shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis or transformation.

6. #6. Road of Trials [tests, allies & enemies] • This stage is a series of tests, tasks or ordeals that the hero must undergo to begin their transformation. They need to figure out who their allies are – who can be trusted – and who their enemies are – who can’t be trusted. One of the videos says the hero needs to figure out “what can be eaten and what might eat me.” The hero often fails at least one of these tests, if not more, and tests often occur in multiples of 3 (one of the magic literary numbers!) Completing these “tests” is what will ultimately prove the hero worthy of other stages like “Reward” & “Return.” *This is also the stage where the hero may encounter “the feminine” or “meet with the goddess.” This meeting often forces the hero to experience an all-powerful, all-encompassing & unconditional love… often very “motherly” in nature, but not always.

7. #7. Temptation [“approach the inmost cave”] • This is the stage where the hero may give-in to various temptations, often material-in-nature, but not always (it might be physical: either comfort or lust), that may lead the hero to temporarily abandon their quest, or they may be led astray. The key is that they go “off the path” for a bit and lose sight of their true quest, their real purpose. • Examples: Han Solo takes the reward money in Star Wars; Harry Potter is tempted by the Mirror of Erised (notice it’s “desire” spelled backwards!) as a false answer to his desires in HP and the Philosopher’s Stone

8. #8. The Ordeal [crisis, apostasis, apotheosis, death] • This stage can be a tricky one & it requires a little creative thinking or understanding at times… basically, the character goes through something like death or death, itself, and then awakens, revives or is resurrected. Wikipedia summarizes this stage as “a period of rest, peace & fulfillment before the hero begins the return.” This stage happens in order for the hero to move-on to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion, happiness or understanding (mormonmatters.org). • Examples: Snow White’s poison-apple-induced sleep or Neo’s death in The Matrix.

9. #9. Reward [“The Ultimate Boon,” Treasure] • This stage is the ultimate goal of the quest. It’s what the hero went on his or her journey to get or find in the first place. All the previous stages lead up to this one, preparing the hero for this step, sometimes even “purifying” him or her so that they are “worthy” of receiving it. In many heroes’ journeys, the reward is “something transcendent, like the elixer of life, itself, or something that supplies immortality,” (http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth) although this is found more often in older stories… more modern ones tend to lead towards something really, really valuable (and I don’t necessarily mean monetarily valuable) or important. But, it might simply being knowledge or some type of self-realization, too.

10. #10. The Return [“The Road Back” or “Crossing the Return Threshold”] • Basically, the hero comes back changed in some fundamental way. Campbell included 3 additional stages prior to the return, but all are really just challenges faced while trying to return: 1) “Refusal of the Return” ~ sometimes having found their “bliss” somewhere else, the hero simply doesn’t really want to go back to the ordinary world; 2) “Magic Flight” ~ at times the hero must escape with the reward and it can be just as dangerous and adventurous as the first part of his journey; and 3) “Rescue from Without” ~ simply: sometimes the hero needs help getting out of the special world and back into the ordinary, especially if injured, wounded or severely weakened by the experience. Again, the hero comes back to his or her ordinary world at this stage with varying degrees of difficulty.

11. #11. New Life [“Master of 2 Worlds” or “Resurrection”] • For a human hero, this means achieving a balance between the material and spiritual worlds; the hero is now more comfortable, competent & content now that they have conquered the challenges of both worlds (inner & outer, known & unknown, material & spiritual, ordinary & special). Basically, the hero has found balance and contentedness… a certain kind of inner peace that didn’t exist before they went on their quest or journey.

12. #12. Freedom to Live [“Return with the Elixir”] • Mastering his challenges and conquering his foes and fears leads the hero to live free from the fear of death (it doesn’t make him immortal, he just no longer afraid to die), which allows him to allows him the freedom to truly live while neither worrying about the future or regretting the past.

13. *important note about stages/formula from http://thewritersjourney.com/hero’s_journey.htm : • Warning: “As with any formula, there are pitfalls to be avoided. Following the guidelines of myth too rigidly can lead to stiff, unnatural structure, and there is the danger of being too obvious. The hero myth is a skeleton that should be masked with the details of the individual story, and the structure should not call attention to itself. The order of the hero’s stages as given here is only one of many variations – the stages can be deleted, added to, and drastically re-shuffled without losing any of their power.” • “The values of the myth are what’s important. The images of the basic version – young heroes seeking magic swords from old wizards, fighting evil dragons in deep caves, etc. – are just symbols and can be changed to suit [the individual story].” • “The myth is easily translated to contemporary [modern] [stories] by substituting modern equivalents for the symbolic figures and props of the hero story. The Wise Old Man [archetype] may be a real… wizard…teacher, doctor… parent, grandfather, etc. Modern heroes may not be going into caves and labyrinths to fight mythical beasts, but they do enter [their] innermost cave by going into space, to the bottom of the sea, into their own minds, or into the depths of a modern city.” • “The myth can be used to tell the simplest comic book or the most sophisticated drama. It grows and matures as new experiments are tried within its basic framework. Changing the sex and ages of the basic characters only makes it more interesting and allows for ever more complex webs of understanding to be spun among them. The essential characters can be combined or divided into several figures to show different aspects of the same idea. The myth is infinitely flexible, capable of endless variation without sacrificing any of its magic, and it will outlive us all.

14. Joseph Campbell’s traditional stages…

15. Another version:

16. Yet another version:

17. Clockwise this time:

18. Stolen from a video:

19. Again… the same, but different…

20. A little different take on it…

21. A different & perhaps better way of looking at it (for some):

22. Character Archetypes in The Hero’s Journey: • 1. The Hero… just an “average Joe” so the audience can relate to him/her… they start small w/problems and gain power and wisdom along their journey in order to overcome those problems. • 2. The Herald… changes the course of the story, setting the hero on his journey… sometimes might be an object or event as opposed to a person/character. • 3. The Mentor… a wise presence that guides the hero and gives advice. • 4. Threshold Guardians… stop the hero from progressing on his journey… by defeating them, the hero proves his worth. • 5. The Trickster … creates mischief and often provides comic relief…sometimes is a “sidekick.”

23. More Character Archetypes: • 6. The Shape-shifter… a character that changes roles during the story, sometimes even several different times… but can be creatures like vampires & werewolves, too. • 7. The Shadow … the main enemy. The ultimate evil ~ everything the hero has learned and trained for is so that he can overcome and defeat the Shadow. • Some other fairly typical characters: • *Allies • *Goddess-figures (very motherly) • *Father-figures • *Gentle Giants • *Comic Pairs or Duos

24. Sources: • TheWritersJourney.com • http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero’s_journey.htm Wikepedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth MormonMatters.org http://mormonmatter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/monomyth.jpg

25. Some Archetypes from Campbell’s Hero’s Journey • SOME CAMPBELL’S HERO MYTH ARCHETYPES • The Young Man/Woman From the Provinces: Raised by strangers (not parents). Later returns to his home and heritage where he now feels like a stranger who can now see new problems & new solutions (Tarzan, Dorothy) • Loyal Retainers: Servants who are heroic themselves. Their duty is to protect the hero and reflect the nobility of the hero (Sam in Lord of the Rings, Watson to Sherlock Holmes, R2D2 & C3PO at times) • Hunting Group of Companions: Loyal companions willing to face any number of perils (Robin Hood and his merry men, the knights of the round table, the band of allies in Lord of the Rings) • Friendly Beast: Shows nature is on the side of the hero. (Toto, Lassie, Trigger) • Innate Wisdom vs. Educated Stupidity: Some characters exhibit wisdom & understanding of situations instinctively as opposed to those supposedly in charge. (Scarecrow vs. The Wizard in The Wizard of OZ) • The Task: The hero must perform some nearly superhuman deed (Arthur pulls Excalibur form the stone, Frodo must save Middle Earth, Dorothy must kill the Witch, Luke must destroy the Death Star) • The Outcast: A figure who is banished from a social group for some crime (real or imagined) • The Ritual: Ceremonies the hero experiences that will mark his rite of passage into another state. • Battle Between Good and Evil: Mankind shows eternal optimism in the continual portrayal of good triumphing over evil despite great odds

26. Websites & video links: • > www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhk4N9A0oCA • > www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAY60dY-irY (not the greatest) • > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth • > http://www.thewritersjourney.com/hero's_journey.htm • > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZxs_jGN7Pg • > http://vimeo.com/57994722 • > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SB_Q1gFsvIw (poor quality) • > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGV1BvnyvGo • > http://vimeo.com/31320550 (in film, no narration but very good) • > http://ed.ted.com/lessons/what-makes-a-hero-matthew-winkler • > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZxs_jGN7Pg (Star Wars, Harry Potter & The Wizard of Oz) • > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwKeOpAZHac (Star Wars) • > http://www.mythologyteacher.com/The-Hero%27s-Journey.php (no videos, just cool info.) • > http://vimeo.com/19459828 (vimeo ~ good) • > http://mythsdreamssymbols.com/herojourney.html (Moyers’ site ~ better quality) • > http://www.teachertube.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=130348 (teacher tube ~ Star Wars ~ lots of George Lucas) • > http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2013/06/28/the-heros-journey-as-explained-by-glove-and-boots-video/ • (the Glove & Boots archetypes non-youtube) • > http://www.slideshare.net/danroam/heros-danroam (a kind of cool one w/legos… more about character types than the story elements) • > http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-the-season/0ap2000000058247/The-NFL-Season-The-hero-s-journey