Monomyth
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- This article is about the literary concept. For the game, see Hero's Journey (game).
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The monomyth (often referred to as the hero's journey) is a description of a basic pattern found in many myths from around the world. This universal pattern was described by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).[1] A noted scholar of novelist James Joyce, Campbell borrowed the term monomyth from Joyce's Finnegan's Wake. This article is about modern uses and interpretations of Campbell's insights and analysis about the "hero's journey."
Campbell's work has been consciously applied by a wide variety of modern writers and artists, for example, in creating screenplays for movies. The best known is perhaps George Lucas, who has acknowledged a debt to Campbell regarding both the original Star Wars trilogy and its prequels.
In addition, leaders in the men's movement, notably Robert Bly and Michael J. Meade, have used Campbell's insight as a guide for personal spiritual growth.
Campbell's insight was that important myths from around the world which have survived for thousands of years, all share a fundamental structure. This fundamental structure contains a number of stages, which include (1) a call to adventure, which the hero has to accept or decline, (2) a road of trials, regarding which the hero succeeds or fails, (3) achieving the goal or "boon," which often results in important self-knowledge, (4) a return to the ordinary world, again as to which the hero can succeed or fail, and finally, (5) application of the boon in which what the hero has gained can be used to improve the world.
In a well-known quote from the introduction to The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell wrote:
| A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.[2] |
The classic examples of the monomyth relied upon by Campbell and other scholars include the Buddha, Moses, and Christ stories, although Campbell cites many other classic myths from many cultures which rely upon this basic structure.
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[edit] Summary of the monomyth
In the monomyth, the hero starts in the ordinary world, and receives a call to enter an unusual world of strange powers and events. If the hero accepts the call to enter this strange world, the hero must face tasks and trials, and may have to face these trials alone, or may have assistance. At its most intense, the hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help earned along the journey. If the hero survives, the hero may achieve a great gift or "boon." The hero must then decide whether to return to the ordinary world with this boon. If the hero does decide to return, the hero often faces challenges on the return journey. If the hero is successful in returning, the boon or gift may be used to improve the world. The stories of Osiris, Prometheus, Moses, Buddha, and Christ, for example, follow this structure very closely.
Campbell describes some seventeen stages or steps along this journey. Very few myths contain all seventeen stages — some myths contain many of the stages, while others contain only a few; some myths may have as a focus only one of the stages, while other myths may deal with the stages in a somewhat different order. These seventeen stages may be organized in a number of ways, including division into three sections: Departure (sometimes called Separation), Initiation and Return. "Departure" deals with the hero venturing forth on the quest; "Initiation" deals with the hero's various adventures along the way; and "Return" deals with the hero's return home with knowledge and powers acquired on the journey.
[edit] Use of the monomyth by modern artists
The monomyth has influenced a number of artists, musicians, poets, and filmmakers, including Bob Dylan and George Lucas. Mickey Hart, Bob Weir and Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead had long noted Campbell's influence and agreed to participate in a seminar with him in 1986 entitled From Ritual to Rapture.[3]
[edit] George Lucas and Star Wars
George Lucas's deliberate use of Campbell's theory of the monomyth in the making of the Star Wars movies is well-documented. In addition to the extensive discussion between Campbell and Bill Moyers broadcast in 1988 on PBS as The Power of Myth (Filmed at "Skywalker Ranch"), on Campbell's influence on the Star Wars films, Lucas, himself, gave an extensive interview for the biography Joseph Campbell: A Fire in the Mind (Larsen and Larsen, 2002, pages 541-543) on this topic. In this interview, Lucas states that in the early 1970's after completing his early film, American Graffiti, "it came to me that there really was no modern use of mythology...so that's when I started doing more strenuous research on fairy tales, folklore and mythology, and I started reading Joe's books. Before that I hadn't read any of Joe's books.... It was very eerie because in reading The Hero with A Thousand Faces I began to realize that my first draft of Star Wars was following classical motifs"(p.541).
Twelve years after the making of The Power of Myth, Moyers and Lucas met again for the 1999 interview, the Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas & Bill Moyers, to further discuss the impact of Campbell's work on Lucas' films [3]. In addition, the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution sponsored an exhibit during the late 1990s called Star Wars: The Magic of Myth which discussed the ways in which Campbell's work shaped the Star Wars films [4]. A companion guide of the same name was published in 1997.
[edit] Chris Vogler, The Writer's Journey, and Hollywood films
Christopher Vogler, a Hollywood film producer and writer, created a now-legendary 7-page company memo, A Practical Guide to The Hero With a Thousand Faces[5], based on Campbell's work which inspired films such as Disney's 1994 film, The Lion King. Vogler's memo was later developed into the late 1990s book, The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, which became the basis for a number of successful Hollywood films and is believed to have been used in the development of the Matrix series.
[edit] Modern applications of the monomyth
Each of the seventeen stages of the monomyth (below) can be found in popular works, including movie series such as the Star Wars movies and The Matrix movies.
[edit] Departure (or Separation)
[edit] The Call to Adventure
The quest begins with the hero receiving a call to action, such as a threat to the peace of the community, or the hero in a state of neurotic anguish or the hero simply falls into or blunders into the quest. The quest is often announced to the hero by another character who acts as a "herald". The herald is often represented by a benign forest creature (frog, rabbit, deer) or a chthonic creature (serpent, spider).
Modern applications: In Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, the hero, begins the story in frustration over being unable to leave home. The heralds are the two droids who carry a message from Princess Leia. In The Matrix, the call comes in the form of Morpheus and his followers who encourage the hero, Neo, to question reality. Morpheus literally calls Neo using a cell phone.
Classic examples: Sometimes the call to adventure happens of the character's own volition. In the story of the Minotaur, Theseus learns the tale of the beast and the terrible sacrifice to appease it, which sets him on a quest to destroy it. In Herman Hesse's book Siddhartha the main character, Siddhartha, becomes weary of his way of life and decides he must venture away from his accustomed life in order to attain spiritual enlightenment. Most Buddhist myths describe the Buddha as becoming bored with his royal life and venturing into the world. Other times, the hero is plunged into adventure by unforeseen events. In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus is caught in the terrible winds of the angered god Poseidon and sent off to a distant lands.
[edit] Refusal of the Call
In some stories, the hero initially refuses the call to adventure. When this happens, the hero may suffer somehow, and may eventually chooses the quest, or may continue to decline the call.
Modern applications: In Star Wars, Luke is refused adventure by his uncle, a man who seeks to protect Luke from the inevitable dangers of fate. As a result, Luke's family is killed by stormtroopers. In The Matrix, Neo refuses to take the window washing scaffold to escape and is captured by the Agents.
Classic examples: Myth and history are rife with examples of what happens to those who refuse the call too long or do not take it seriously. A Persian city was turned to stone, inhabitants and all, for refusing the call of Allah. Daphne was pursued by the Greek god Apollo (a herald), but refused his advances at all costs. She prayed to her father, Peneus, to take away her beauty to be rid of Apollo; Peneus turned the nymph into a tree, the only semblance left of her past self being her beauty. In Judeo-Christian mythology, Lot's wife is turned into a pillar of salt for looking back with longing to her old life when she had been summoned forth from her city by Jehovah. One of the clearest references to the refusal and its consequences comes in the voice of Jehovah in Proverbs 1:24-27 and 32:
- Because I have called, and ye refused ... I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. ... For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
[edit] Supernatural Aid/The Meeting with the Mentor
Along the way, the hero often encounters a mentor, often a wise older person, who gives the hero advice or other assistance, such as an amulet or a weapon.
Modern applications: In Star Wars, Luke encounters the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi who presents Luke with a lightsaber and teaches him the Force.
[edit] The Crossing of the First Threshold
The hero must eventually cross into an unknown world, where the hero will face trials and tasks on the journey. Before this can occur, however, the hero must cross the threshold between the home world and the new world of adventure. Often this involves facing a "threshold guardian".
Modern applications: In Star Wars, the threshold is Mos Eisley, a spaceport that acts as a doorway between Luke's home planet and the wider universe; Luke must avoid capture by the threshold guardians, the imperial stormtroopers. In The Matrix, Neo must choose the red pill to leave the Matrix and enter the real world.
[edit] The Belly of the Whale
Having passed the threshold guardian, the hero is in a strange and unknown world where the main part of the adventure takes place, perhaps discovering the true purpose of the journey. This stage is often an ambiguous place of dream-like forms and experiences. A name for this stage of the monomyth, 'belly of the whale', is based upon the story of Jonah.
Modern applications: In Star Wars, it is the Death Star, in which Luke is engulfed and in which he learns how to be a hero. In The Matrix, Neo finds himself waking up in a bio-electric cell where he is one of the humans being harvested by the machines.
[edit] Initiation
[edit] The Road of Trials
Once in the other world, the hero is challenged with mental and physical obstacles that must be overcome. Often these take the form of tests or tasks, by which the hero acquires skills and proves his or her worth.
Modern applications: In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke undergoes his training with Yoda. In The Matrix, Neo starts his kung fu training and has to "free his mind".
[edit] The Meeting with the Goddess
After overcoming the Road of Trials, the hero often encounters a goddess-like woman: beautiful, queenlike, or motherly. The hero faces the goddess and in doing so, faces his anima. By uniting with the goddess, he becomes a whole person, reconciling his feminine nature with his masculine nature.[4]
Modern applications: In The Matrix, Neo confronts the Oracle. In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo takes Trinity as a lover.
[edit] Woman as Temptress, or Temptation From the True Path
In some Hero's Quests, the hero will encounter the goddess, but before he can unite with her, he must prove his worthiness by overcoming the temptation of the Woman as Temptress.
Modern applications: In The Matrix Reloaded, Persephone attempts to seduce Neo. Interestingly, in Star Wars, there is tension between Luke and Han Solo over their love for Princess Leia -- this is resolved in Episode VI, Return of the Jedi when Luke finds out that Leia is actually his sister. Luke is also tempted by the dark side itself, as demonstrated by his vision in the cave on Dagobah. In this way, George Lucas broke away from the Campbellian model and put the Woman as Temptress into the Road of Trials category.[5]
Classic example: In The Odyssey, the temptress is the nymph Calypso.
[edit] Atonement with the Father
The hero may encounter a father-like figure of patriarchal authority. "Father" and "son" are often pitted against each other for mastery of the universe. To understand the father, and ultimately himself, the hero must reconcile with this ultimate authority figure.
Modern applications: In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke confronts Darth Vader and learns that he is his father; in Return of the Jedi, he is reconciled with the reformed Vader. In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo meets The Architect, a program who identifies himself as the father of the Matrix.
[edit] Apotheosis
The Hero's ego is disintegrated in a breakthrough expansion of consciousness. Quite frequently the hero's idea of reality is changed; the hero may find an ability to do new things or to see a larger point of view, allowing the hero to sacrifice self.
Modern applications: In The Empire Strikes Back, Luke sacrifices himself rather than turn to the dark side. In The Matrix, Neo decides to face off against Agent Smith resulting in his eventual initiation as The One. In The Matrix Reloaded, Neo destroys several Sentinels in the real world using only his mind. In The Matrix Revolutions, Neo realises that machine life is as valid as human life and decides to give his own life in order to reconcile the worlds of man and machine.
[edit] The Ultimate Boon
Having reconciled with the father and achieved personal enlightenment, the hero's psychological forces are again balanced. The hero's new found knowledge, or 'boon,' also has potential to benefit society.
Modern applications: At the end of The Return of the Jedi, Luke has made peace with his father, and recognizes that he has saved him from the Dark Side.
Classic example: In the Christ story, Jesus is resurrected, defeating death.
[edit] Return
[edit] Refusal of the Return
Having found bliss and enlightenment in the other world, the hero may not want to return to the ordinary world with the boon.
[edit] The Magic Flight
A mad dash may be made by the hero to return with the prize.
Modern application: In The Matrix Revolutions, Neo takes a ship to the Machine City.
Classic examples: In many fairy tales and folktales, it is literally a magic flight, with the hero or heroine transforming objects to stop the pursuit (The Master Maid, The Water Nixie) or transforming himself and any companions to hide themselves (Farmer Weathersky or Foundling-Bird).
[edit] Rescue from Without
The hero may need to be rescued from without by forces from the ordinary world.
Modern application: In The Return of the Jedi, Luke is unable to destroy the Emperor, and must rely on his redeemed father.
[edit] The Crossing of the Return Threshold
Before the hero can return to the ordinary world, the hero must again confront a threshold guardian. The first threshold was a symbolic death; this is now a symbolic rebirth.
Modern application: In The Matrix Revolutions, Neo again confronts Smith. In Return of the Jedi, Luke again confronts Darth Vader, this is the culmination of the plot. Luke faces Vader and uses the talents that have been building throughout the story to overcome his enemy.
[edit] Master of Two Worlds
Once the final threshold is crossed, the hero is now free to move back and forth between the two worlds at will. The hero has mastered the conflicting forces.
Modern application: In Return of the Jedi, Luke becomes a Jedi. He has mastered the force and defeated the one true temptation, the Dark Side.
Classic example: In the Christ story, Jesus is able to return to the ordinary world after resurrection.
[edit] Freedom to Live
With the journey now complete, the hero has found true freedom, and can turn to helping or teaching humanity.
Modern application: In "The Return of the Jedi" Luke has overcome the Empire and his rebellion is free to live and thrive, the ending scene establishes the peace established by Luke's victory.
[edit] Use of the monomyth by the men's movement
Poet Robert Bly, Michael J. Meade, and others involved in the men's movement have applied and expanded the concept of the hero's journey and the monomyth as a metaphor for personal spiritual and psychological growth, particularly in the mythopoetic men's movement.
Characteristic of the mythopoetic men's movement is a tendency to retell fairy tales and engage in their exegesis as a tool for personal insight. Using frequent references to archetypes as drawn from Jungian analytical psychology, the movement focuses on issues of gender role, gender identity and wellness for modern men. Advocates would often engage in storytelling with music, these acts being seen as a modern extension to a form of "new age shamanism" popularized by Michael Harner at approximately the same time.
Among its most famous advocates were the poet Robert Bly, whose book Iron John: A Book About Men was a best-seller, being an exegesis of the fairy tale "Iron John" by the Brothers Grimm.
The mythopoetic men's movement spawned a variety of groups and workshops, led by authors such as Bly and Robert L. Moore. Some serious academic work came out of this movement, including the creation of various magazines and non-profit organizations, such as the Mankind Project.
[edit] Criticism
Thoughtless use of monomyth structure is often blamed for lack of originality and clichés in popular culture, especially big-budget Hollywood films. In addition to the popularity of Campbell-influenced guides such as The Writer's Journey, the influential book Screenplay by Syd Field also proposed an ideal three-act structure, which is easily compatible with modern screenwriters' attempts to craft a monomyth. However, since the peak popularity of cinematic monomyth narratives in the 1990s, some would-be blockbuster movies that have been seen as conscious attempts to follow the structure have met with indifference from critics and often disappointing performance at the box office, as in the case of Cinderella Man and George Lucas' three Stars Wars prequels.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Monomyth website accessed November 28, 2006.
- ^ Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949. p. 30.
- ^ ([1]
- ^ This can also be a negative encounter when the goddess is replaced by The Temptress (see next section). Campbell cites the lure of the woman, leading the hero astray (the hero is assumed to be male). Other cultural mythologists broaden this to include all temptation, and sometimes lump this stage in with the Road of Trials.
- ^ There is some debate as to whether this is truly a universal feature of myths, or a specific example of a broader category of "temptation away from the true path". Although most of Campbell's book uses examples from many cultures, his chapter on "Woman As the Temptress" draws examples exclusively from Judeo-Christian stories. See [2]. Some examples of temptations which do not cast woman as the villain are Satan tempting Christ (and similarly, various saints), and the seductive 'Dark Side' in the Star Wars series.
[edit] References
- Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1949.
- --with Henry Morton Robinson. A skeleton key to Finnegans Wake. 1944.
- Joyce, James. Finnegans wake. 1939.
- MacKey-Kallis, Susan. The hero and the perennial journey home in American film. University of Pennsylvania Press (2001). ISBN 0812217683
- Vogler, Christopher. The writer's journey: mythic structure for writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1998.
- Voytilla, Stuart and Vogler, Christopher. Myth & the Movies: Discovering the myth structure of 50 unforgettable films. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 1999. ISBN 0941188663
[edit] Books based upon interviews with Campbell
- The hero's journey: Joseph Campbell on his life and work. Edited and with an Introduction by Phil Cousineau. Forward by Stuart L. Brown, Executive Editor. New York: Harper and Row, 1990.
- The power of myth (with Bill Moyers and Betty Sue Flowers, ed.), 1988
[edit] DVD/Discography
- Joseph Campbell and the power of myth (1988)
- The hero's journey: The world of Joseph Campbell (1987)
