WHISL

Dingle/Erickson/Gravelle

The Heroic Cycle Revisited

You’ve probably heard about the heroic cycle before. But here’s a quick refresher:

  • The “discovery” is largely credited to the American theologian and mythologist Joseph Campbell (1904-1987).
  • When stories about heroes (typically among the absolute oldest) are compared across the world, certain similarities, or archetypes, become evident.
  • Archetypes are like subconscious ideas that all humans share.
  • Part of our “psychic inheritance,” similar to physical trait inheritance (like brown eyes), humans are born with subconscious set of ideas that help us to live.
  • Common archetypes: the wise old man/woman, the shadow (like Batman…part of our subconscious that really wants to do something, but our conscious minds and society say no), the “manimal,” the joker, the innocent, et cetera.
  • The hero is one of these archetypes, and the journey of the hero is the m
  • One possible explanation for why these stories exist so similarly in these many cultures is that the hero story, or monomyth, is that it articulates the anxiety we all have about growing up, growing old, and dying.
  • Hero stories could also be explanations that every human’s finally come to terms with his or her own mortality.

The elements of the heroic journey are below, but please note that not every step is exactly in the same order or even present in all hero stories:

element / description / In Joe Dirt, Inception, Batman, Legally Blonde, Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, 127 Hours, The Lord of the Rings, Shrek, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Star Wars, The Matrix, or Snakes on a Plane (just kidding) / In Gilgamesh
The background / Our hero is found restless, itching for something new.
The call to adventure / Something (usually unpleasant) causes our hero to wish to travel.
The refusal of the call / The hero waffles. He or she does not want to go on this journey.
The supernatural aid / Early in the adventure, the hero is given some sort of weapon, trinket, or amulet to help him on his or her journey.
Crossing the first threshold / Typically symbolized by a gate of some sort, our hero crosses into a world unfamiliar to him or her.
The belly of the whale / Frequently symbolized by a dark, womb-like place, our hero finds himself or herself terrified. He or she is confronting the inner beast.
The Road of trials / Our hero is tested, both physically and psychologically.
The meeting with the goddess / Our hero meets with a member of the opposite sex who tempts the hero away from his or her journey. This period is marked by periods of sleep.
The atonement with the father / Our hero meets (or re-meets) with someone who used to be superior. Now, however, the hero is an equal (or even a superior).
The apotheosis / The hero becomes god-like and does something that reality tells us he or she should not.
The ultimate boon/elixir / The hero finds what he or she sought through the journey.
The refusal of the return/elixir theft / This boon, or elixir is stolen, often causing the hero to reevaluate his or her journey. Furthermore, the hero does not want to return to his or her former place.
The magic flight / The hero climbs aboard some sort of vehicle. If the gods wish the hero to return quickly, it happens. If not, the gods make the return journey a real pain in the butt.
The rescue from without / Our hero is not alone- someone he or she has met along the way helps the hero out of some jam.
Crossing the return threshold / Our hero crosses back into the world he or she was familiar with. Typically, the hero passes through a gate of some sort.
The master of two worlds / Our hero has now conquered his or her innermost fears and has gone on his or her journey. He or she can now pass between the two worlds.
Freedom to live / Our hero now can live content.