2.2.6: Heroic Journey--Joseph Campbell

Heroic Journey theory describes the universal pattern present in many heroic world myths: the call to adventure, the refusal of the call, supernatural aid, the crossing of the first threshold, the belly of the whale, the road of trials, the meeting with the goddess, the woman as temptress, the atonement with the father, apotheosis, the capture of the boon/knowledge, the refusal of the return, the magic flight, the rescue from without, the crossing of the return threshold, master of two worlds and the freedom to live.

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): The Hero’s Journey, by Joseph Campbell, traces the steps most commonly observed throughout world myth involving a heroic trial. While every step might not be reflected in an individual tale, Campbell notes that the ones recognized are a catalog of invitations that may occur. (CC BY, Wikimedia)

Perhaps more than any other mythographer, students are sincerely drawn to mythology after being introduced to the work of Joseph Campbell, for which teachers of mythology are grateful, and a bit cautious. These students are often dismayed that the school of thought has limited applications in the study of myth. Like many of the theories we’ve examined, this one works well for specific types of myths, particularly heroic epics.

Campbell’s popularity is largely due to the resonance of the pattern in Classical Myths, such as the adventures of Perseus, Theseus, and Heracles, in addition to the sole heroine, Psyche. It’s further seen in modern myths such as The Lord of the Rings series, Star Trek, the Star Wars series, The Princess Bride and the Harry Potter series. Readers may identify a commonality in these examples, for they are pop-culture comfort food, as evidenced by our ability to recall and recite lines of dialogue from each that return us to a magical moment in our individual experience. Campbell believes the persistence of the pattern, and our desire to fall in love with it anew with each new encounter is that the plots awaken templates embedded within our subconscious, what Jung called the “collective unconscious,” or sets of stories we are all born with. Robert Ellwood writes, “For [Campbell] a myth seemed to be a rather disembodied, timeless story of eternal human significance. It might happen to come from here or there, but in the final analysis all myths are equal and interchangeable” (130).

Campbell’s research is undeniably impressive; drawn from credible sources, such as Carl Jung who provided the psychological source for Campbell’s use of archetypes, and James Joyce who coined the term “monomyth” (Campbell 30n), it builds upon the theories of narratology and comparative mythology to establish the stages of the heroic journey.

While many of the recognizable heroic journey myths will reflect some of the seventeen recognized stages, it’s rare to find all in one story. Even George Lucas, who used The Hero With a Thousand Faces as the template for his Star Wars saga, selectively culled stages from his scripts to create the plot structure and character development needed for the narrative arc.

Advice for Student Writers

The limitations of this theory fall into two clear categories: not all myths reflect a heroic journey; and students who apply the theory in their analyses often only identify the stages of the journey as reflected in their chosen myth without providing meaningful analysis. Even Campbell offered numerous examples of the stages based upon his wealth of research into world myths and to demonstrate the evolution of the hero’s character through the vehicle of the journey. The best student essays will consult Campbell’s original works, including Creative Mythology: the Masks of God and The Hero With a Thousand Faces, rather than shortcuts. The latter of the two seminal works is particularly engaging.