The Big Question:

 Heroes are all around us. We find them in literature and in the real world.  At the heart of many of the world's most enduring myths and legends is a hero, a man or woman who triumphs over obstacles.  Heroes are not all-powerful and immortal beings. Instead they represent the best of what it means to be human, demonstrating great strength, courage, wisdom, cleverness, or devotion. Introduction

 In studying myths and legends from around the world, scholars have identified a pattern that appears over and over again—the story of the universal hero.  The writer Joseph Campbell has shown that these stories generally end with the hero gaining new knowledge or abilities.  Often an element of miracle or mystery surrounds the birth of such heroes.

 Their true identity may be unknown; they may be the child of a virgin; or they may possess special powers or be demigods.  Many hero myths focus on a quest—a difficult task or journey that must be undertaken to achieve a goal or earn a reward such as the hand of a loved one. Leaving the everyday world, the hero follows a path filled with challenges and adventures, perhaps involving magic or the supernatural.  A hero may even enter the underworld and confront death itself.

 Heroes must use strength, wits, or both to defeat enemies, monsters, or demons, although some are aided by luck or by a protective deity or magician.  Sometimes heroes have to give up something precious to move forward in the quest. In the end the hero returns home enriched with powers, wisdom, treasure, or perhaps a mate won in the course of the quest.

 The hero's quest may be seen as a symbol of the journey of self-discovery that anyone can make, the quest to overcome inner monsters and achieve self-understanding.  Though quests form the basis of many myths and legends, not all heroes follow the quest pattern entirely or even in part.

One universal story… American philosopher Joseph Campbell stated there is but one universal story. This is called the Hero’s Journey.

The hero's journey is a pattern that can be found in myths, stories, and legends from a range of cultures and time periods. From ancient Greece to modern Hollywood and anywhere beyond or in between, the hero's journey is an important archetype (or basic original pattern) from which many stories have been derived. Ancient hero's journeys (such as The Odyssey by the Greek poet Homer or the legends of King Arthur) were not composed with an awareness of the pattern. The hero's journey is largely the product of the scholarship of Joseph Campbell, who studied myths, stories, and religions from all over the world to find their common elements.

More modern hero's journeys (such as the Star Wars saga or The Lion King) were created with an awareness of the pattern and have been criticized for following the pattern too closely. Regardless, understanding the basic components of the hero's journey is important because so many stories use it as a foundation.

YouTube clip 2

 Although the individual steps of the Hero’s Journey may differ slightly between scholars. The identified pattern that appears over and over again—the story of the universal hero remains constant. Campbell felt that common themes and archetypes in human mythology and sacred stories represented something innate and common in all humans- that the similarities between the challenges and risks that we all face transcend the differences between us.  We will be focusing on the 10 steps of the journey outlined in the next slide.

YouTube clip 3