The Archetypal Hero What Do Luke Skywalker, Simba, King Arthur, Moses, and William Wallace all have in common?

Jung and Campbell n Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell developed the idea of the archetype –Archetype: A recurring pattern of images, situations, or symbols found in the mythology, religion, art, and dreams of cultures around the world Joseph Campbell Carl Jung

Archetypal Hero Traits n Unusual Circumstances of Birth n Leaves Family and Lives With Others n Traumatic Event Leads to Quest (The Call to Adventure) n Special Weapon n Supernatural Help n Journey and Unhealable Wound (Crossing of the First Threshold) n Proves Himself on Quest (The Road of Trials) n Woman As the Temptress n Atonement With Father or Ultimate Boon n Spiritual Apotheosis

Unusual Birth n Often in danger or born into royalty –Luke w/ aunt and uncle –Simba born a prince –Moses put in basket –King Arthur in danger from Uther Pendragon’s rivals

Leaves Family n Raised away from his people –Luke w/ aunt and uncle –Simba w/ Timon and Poobah –King Arthur w/ Merlin –William Wallace with uncle –Moses w/ Pharaoh’s daughter

Traumatic Event or The Call to Adventure n A hero’s life is changed forever –Luke’s aunt and uncle’s death –Wallace’s wife is killed –Arthur pulls sword from stone –Simba fights Nala –Yahweh appears to Moses

Traumatic Event or The Call to Adventure Cont. n The call to adventure is the point in a person’s life when they are first given notice that everything is going to change, whether they know it or not. n “This first stage of the mythological journey-which we have designated the ‘call to adventure’—signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown” (Campbell 58).

Supernatural Help n Once the hero has committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or becomes known. n “The first encounter of the hero-journey is with a protective figure (Campbell 69) n "What such a figure represents is the benign, protecting power of destiny. The fantasy is a reassurance - promise that the peace of Paradise…is not to be lost (71).

Special Weapon n Only the hero can wield his weapon –Luke’s light saber –Arthur’s Excalibur –Moses’ staff –Wallace’s sword –Simba’s... claws?

Supernatural Help n Hero often has spiritual guidance –Luke hears Obi- Wan Kenobi –Arthur has Merlin –Yahweh guides Moses –Wallace dreams of his dead father –Simba sees Mufasa in the sky and has Rafiki help him

Journey & Unhealable Wound (The Crossing of the First Threshold) n Hero descends into a hell-like area and suffers wounding from encounter w/ evil –Symbolically goes where normal humans can’t and finds truth about self

Journey & Unhealable Wound (The Crossing of the First Threshold) n The point where the person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known. n "The adventure is always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil of the known into the unknown; the powers that watch at the boundary are dangerous; to deal with them is risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage the danger fades" (82).

Proves Himself (The Road of Trials) n Hero performs feats while on Quest –Luke blows up Death Star, leads rebellion –Arthur leads battles –Moses perform miracles –Simba contemplates his life –Wallace leads his men against British

Proves Himself (The Road of Trials) n The road of trials is a series of tests, tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests, which often occur in threes. n “Once having traversed the threshold, the hero moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials. This is a favorite phase of the myth-adventure. It has produced a world literature of miraculous tests and ordeals. The hero is covertly aided by the advice, amulets, and secret agents of the supernatural helper whom he met before his entrance into this region” (97).

More on Proves Himself (The Road of Trials n Often the Road takes the hero into an abyss of sorts n They must face this greatest challenge alone n They will return, resurrected with a changed view of life

Woman As Temptress n At one level, this step is about those temptations that may lead the hero to abandon or stray from his or her quest n Woman is a metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since the hero- knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual journey.

The Ultimate Boon n The ultimate boon is the achievement of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey to get. n “…the names and forms of the deities who everywhere embody, dispense, and represent it come and go”(181).

Atonement With Father n Hero either redeems father’s evil deeds or reconciles with father over wrongs done by the hero

Apotheosis n Hero is rewarded spiritually at the end of his life

Apotheosis n To apotheosize is to deify. When someone dies a physical death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love, compassion and bliss. This is a god-like state; the person is in heaven and beyond all strife. n A more mundane way of looking at this step is that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment for the hero

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Some of the information for this presentation taken from: "The Hero's Journey." Comp., Alan Levine. 15 Aug Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction. 30 Oct The Hero's Journey web site was designed as a project to support the Storytelling Institute at South Mountain Community College and has been used by several mythology and folklore classes Storytelling InstituteSouth Mountain Community College Storytelling InstituteSouth Mountain Community College

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