Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey

Introduction to Fantasy

The Hero’s Journey

• Like myth, fantasy usually exhibits a common structure when it presents its “big ideas” about love, gods, and heroism• Joseph Campbell identified a pattern common to virtually all

mythology in the world (not to mention folktales, fairy tales, and a good bit of TV as well)• He called his pattern the “monomyth,” though other critics prefer the

term “the hero’s journey”

The Pattern

• Campbell listed 17 stages in his hero’s journey, but really there are three key parts:

1. The Departure2. The Initiation3. The Return

The Departure (Home)

• Hero starts off at home• He (or she) gets called to an

adventure, which he initially refuses• Generally something

supernatural jumpstarts the hero’s quest, and the hero departs on the journey

Alan Lee, 1993

The Initiation (Away)

• Cut off from his home, the hero undergoes a number of trials and temptations• Often the hero dies (at least

metaphorically, sometimes physically)• However, the hero returns to

life, is victorious, and wins some sort of prize

Alan Lee

The Return (Home)

• The hero returns home, usually armed with new powers or knowledge about the world (and very often a sizeable treasure)• However, the return home is

generally bittersweet: while “home” remains the same, the hero has typically been changed in ways that prevent him or her from returning to his or her former life• Note how the pattern of home,

away, home is tied to settingJohn Howe, 1995

Some of our important historical myths and how they fit the pattern...

Inanna (Ishtar), Sumerian, 4000 BC Osiris, Egypt, c. 2500 BC

Some of our important historical myths and how they fit the pattern...

Odysseus (Ulysses), Greece, c. 700 BC

These versions might be more familiar

The Matrix, 1999 Finding Nemo, 2003 Harry Potter, 1997-2011

And these…

The Wheel of Time series The Black Cauldron The Dragon Lance Series

And who could forget...

• George Lucas directly cited Joseph Campbell in relation to the making of Star Wars: “It was very eerie because in reading [Campbell], I began to realize that my first draft of Star Wars was following classical motifs”

Why Campbell?• We discuss Campbell so much because his description

of the pattern of myths (both ancient and contemporary) shows us how much mythos has permeated our culture.• We use and reuse the same stories (written in the

same structure) to aid in our cultural self-determination.• Think about how myth has permeated your own

experience with story-telling. For starters, think of the plot of your favourite film, and note how it confirms or alters the “monomyth” (home-away-home pattern).

Images:

• Slide 3 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Heroesjourney.svg/220px-Heroesjourney.svg.png

• Slide 4 http://www.filmlervekitaplar.com/wp-content/gallery/hobbit-alan-lee/alan-lee-the-hobbit-7.jpg• Slide 5 http://alan-lee.narod.ru/Images/lee-hobbit_12.jpg• Slide 6 http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51NYRNAPETL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg• Slide 7 https://goddessinspired.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/inanna-descent.jpg; http://lpsmythologywiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/isis-osiris2-small.jpg/271074244/isis-osiris2-small.jpg• Slide 8 http://myhero.com/images/guest/g233154/hero69233/g233154_u82827_odysseus.jpg;• Slide 9 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/zh/c/c1/The_Matrix_Poster.jpg;

http://assets.fontsinuse.com/static/use-media-items/17/16315/full-1028x1500/52b02a86/Finding%20Nemo%20(2003)%202.jpeg?resolution=0; http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/7300000/Haarry-Potter-SouthPark-harry-potter-7334960-385-386.jpg

• Slide 10 https://thewornbookmark.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/228665.jpg; http://www.isfdb.org/wiki/images/5/52/The_Black_Cauldron-Dell-198109.jpg; http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/58/DragonsofAutumnTwilight_1984original.jpg

• Slide 11 http://7-themes.com/6810783-star-wars-logo.html