Monomyth

//Introduction//
 * Joseph Campbell's Monomyth (Hero Cycle):**

In Joseph Campbell’s, //Hero with a Thousand Faces//, he describes the basic pattern a hero would take on a journey. His theory of a hero is also called the Monomyth. In his first stage, //Call to Adventure//, a hero is called on a quest or is awakened by one (Campbell 51). The //Supernatural Aid// is there to be a protective figure helping them along the way (69). As the hero continues his journey, he gets some //Helpers// and //Threshold Guardians//. They are there when there is a “zone of magnified power” (77). When he meets the //Threshold// of his journey, they know that they are about to face the unknown. Continuing Campbell’s explanation of the Hero’s Journey, the hero is faced with //Challenges and Temptations//. These can both be physical and psychological. It can also pull the hero away from the journey. The greatest challenge is when the hero meets the //Abyss//. This is when the hero must face his/her greatest fear, and face the unknown alone. At the end of the //Abyss//, the hero goes through a //Transformation//. The hero also receives //Gifts from a Goddess// to help them in their journey or for them to achieve in the journey. When this occurs, the hero has a new part of them reborn. The Hero accepts this new self as //Atonement//. The last stage of the journey is the //Return//. This is when the hero goes back to everyday life; which marks the end of the Hero’s Journey.

Works Cited:

Campbell, Joseph. // The Hero with a Thousand Faces. // Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1968. Print. Rowling, J. K. // Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets //. New York: Arthur A. Levine, 1999. Print. Rowling, J. K. // Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone //. New York: Scholastic, 1999. Print.