“The usual hero adventure begins with someone from whom something has been taken, or who feels there is something lacking in the normal experience available or permitted to the members of society. The person then takes off on a series of adventures beyond the ordinary, either to recover what has been lost or to discover some life-giving elixir. It’s usually a cycle, a coming and a returning.”[1]
Joseph Cambpell (1904-1987) was an American writer and teacher. He is known for his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”. In his study of the „hero myth,“ Campbell explains that heroic journeys follow a similar pattern in myths from all cultures (the monomyth). The book describes the main stages, challenges, and outcomes that make up this universal hero’s journey.[2]
Monomyth
“In narratology and comparative mythology, the hero’s quest or hero’s journey, also known as the monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed.”[3]
Hero’s Journey
The hero’s journey is a storytelling structure that describes the typical stages heroes experience in myths, legends, and stories from various cultures. As mentioned before, it was first introduced by Joseph Campbell in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, this journey outlines a pattern that mirrors universal struggles and growth, often highlighting themes of self-discovery, transformation, and victory.[4]
The 3 Main Stages of the Hero’s Journey
“The standard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is a magnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage: separation — initiation — return: which might be named the nuclear unit of the monomyth.”[5]
The hero’s journey is separated into 3 stages, these are departure, initiation, and return. In the first stage, the departure (also called call to adventure), the hero departs from the world he knows. The hero must leave the safety of his world, the known “conventional world”, and enter the unknown, a “special world” that is foreign. In the second stage, the initiation, the hero must face a series of trials. The journey is not safe, as he is tested in battle, skill, and conflict, where he may not succeed but must press on. In this stage he will meet enemies, allies, and mentors with supernatural aid. In the last stage, the return, the hero returns home, he has had an internal transformation through the experience of events. [6]
Campbells Hero Journey Arc
“The stages of the hero’s journey are the common sequence of events that occurred in the monomyth motif.”[7]
Campbell’s model is divided into seventeen stages. These seventeen stages are divided in the three phases mentioned before.
- The call to adventure (Departure)
- Refusal of the call (Departure)
- Supernatural aid (Departure)
- The crossing of the first threshold (Departure)
- The belly of the whale (Departure)
- The road of trials (Initiation)
- The meting with the goddess (Initiation)
- Woman as the temptress (Initiation)
- Atonement with the father (Initiation)
- Apothesis (Initiation)
- The ultimate boon (Initiation)
- Refusal of the return (Return)
- The magical Flight (Return)
- Resue from without (Return)
- The crossing of the return threshold (Return)
- Master of the worlds (Return)
- Freedom to live (Return) [8]
These stages can be found globally in the myths and legends throughout recorded history.[9]
The Modified 12 Stages of the Hero’s Journey
Compard the Campbell’s model with 17 stages, Christopher Vogler created a model with 12 stages. It is a model which simplifies Campbell’s hero journey arc.
The stages are:
- Ordinary world
- Call to adventure
- Refusal of the call
- Meeting the mentor
- Cross the first threshold
- Test, allies, enemies
- Approach to the inmost cave
- Ordeal
- Reward
- The road back
- Resurrection
- Return with the elixir [10]
Conclusion
In summary, Joseph Campbell’s „The Hero with a Thousand Faces“ outlines a universal journey shared by heroes in myths worldwide. Known as the „hero’s journey“ or „monomyth,“ this structure involves three main phases: departure, initiation, and return. In these stages, the hero faces challenges, gains wisdom, and returns transformed. Campbell’s 17-step journey has been adapted into a simpler 12-step model by Christopher Vogler. Both versions show that the hero’s journey reflects universal themes of growth and self-discovery, illustrating how stories help people understand and navigate their own life challenges.
Bibliography
Books:
Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. United States: New World Library, 2008.
Web:
Baugh, Nathan. “The Psychology of the Hero’s Journey: Going Beyond the 12-step Process to Talk About Archetypes, Rites of Passage, and Conflict.” Medium, Accessed November 8, 2024 https://medium.com/@nathan.baugh/the-psychology-of-the-heros-journey-0bda883de114.
Bronziten, Dan. “The Hero’s Journey – Mythic Structure of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth.” Movie Outline. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.movieoutline.com/articles/the-hero-journey-mythic-structure-of-joseph-campbell-monomyth.html.
JCF. “About Joseph Campbell.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-biography.
JCF. “Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-heros-journey.
Jeffrey, Scott. “A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.” Scott Jeffrey (blog), October 1, 2024. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://scottjeffrey.com/heros-journey-steps/.
Rovatti, Matteo. “THE HERO WITH a THOUSAND FACES — Monomyth and the Hero’s Journey — Animator Notebook,” Animator Notebook, May 25, 2024, accessed November 8, 2024, https://www.animatornotebook.com/learn/the-hero-with-a-thousand-faces.
The Heroine Journeys Project. “Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey Arc,” October 22, 2019. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://heroinejourneys.com/joseph-campbells-heros-journey-arc/.
UC Berkley. “Monomyth: Hero’s Journey Project | ORIAS.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/monomyth-heros-journey-project.
Wikipedia contributors. “Hero’s Journey.” Wikipedia, October 20, 2024. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hero%27s_journey&oldid=1252231656.
[1] Baugh, Nathan. “The Psychology of the Hero’s Journey: Going Beyond the 12-step Process to Talk About Archetypes, Rites of Passage, and Conflict.” Medium, Accessed November 8, 2024 https://medium.com/@nathan.baugh/the-psychology-of-the-heros-journey-0bda883de114.
[2] JCF. “About Joseph Campbell.” Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.jcf.org/learn/joseph-campbell-biography.
[3] Wikipedia contributors. “Hero’s Journey.” Wikipedia, October 20, 2024. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hero%27s_journey&oldid=1252231656.
[4] Jeffrey, Scott. “A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.” Scott Jeffrey (blog), October 1, 2024. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://scottjeffrey.com/heros-journey-steps/.
[5] Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. (United States: New World Library, 2008), 28.
[6] Jeffrey, “A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.”
[7] Jeffrey, “A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.”
[8] The Heroine Journeys Project. “Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey Arc,” October 22, 2019. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://heroinejourneys.com/joseph-campbells-heros-journey-arc/.
[9] Jeffrey, “A Practical Guide to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.”
[10] Bronziten, Dan. “The Hero’s Journey – Mythic Structure of Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth.” Movie Outline. Accessed November 8, 2024. https://www.movieoutline.com/articles/the-hero-journey-mythic-structure-of-joseph-campbell-monomyth.html.
