Heros Journey Archetype

1
Heros Journey Archetype

• Separation (from the known)
• The Call
• The Threshold (with guardians, helpers, and
  mentor)
  
• Initiation and Transformation
• The Challenges
• The Abyss
• The Transformation
• The Revelation
• The Atonement
• The Return (to the known world)
• The Return (with a Gift)
• http//www.yourheroicjourney.com/Journey.shtml

2
Archetypal Characters Who Help the Hero

• The Mentor The Threshold Guardian The Herald
  The Shapeshifter The Shadow The Trickster
  
• http//www.members.optusnet.com.au/mgoodin19/arch
  type.htm
  

3
The Epic of Gilgamesh

• This selection begins with the story of a dream
  told to Gilgamesh by his friend Enkiidu. After
  Enkidu dreams about death, he sickens and dies.
  Gilgamesh, grieving for his friend and afraid of
  his own mortality, begins a quest to Utnapishtim.
  Because Utnapishtim is immortal, Gilgamesh hopes
  to learn from him the secret of eternal life. On
  his quest, Gilgamesh encounters several figures
  who test him before he can proceed lions,
  scorpion people, the god Shamash, the goddess
  Siduri, and Urshanabi the ferryman. Urshanabi
  brings Gilgamesh to Utnapishtim, who tells how he
  survived a great flood and became immortal.
  Utnapishtim then tests Gilgamesh to see if he is
  worthy of immortality. Gilgamesh must remain
  awake for a week, but he falls asleep and fails
  the test. Utnapishtim then sends Gilgamesh home
  with a consolation prize knowledge of where to
  find a magic plant to make the old young again.
  Gilgamesh finds the plant but loses it when it is
  stolen by a serpent. Gilgamesh then returns with
  Urshanabi to Uruk.

4
Ramayana

• Rama is waging a fierce battle against the
  ten-headed demon Ravana because Ravana has
  abducted Sita, Ramas wife. The gods send Rama a
  special chariot, and the battle takes place in
  the sky. When Ravana is unable to destroy Rama
  with arrows and trickery, he unsuccessfully tries
  to enlist supernatural forces. Rama then cuts
  off Ravanas heads, but they all grow back. At
  last Rama kills Ravana with a special weapon, the
  Brahmasthra, aimed at his heart. As the demon
  lies dead, Rama praises what Ravana might have
  been, had he not been evil.

5
The Aeneid

• After many years of fighting, the Greeks appeared
  to have sailed away from Troy, leaving behind a
  huge wooden horse as an offering to the gods.
  This horse, however, is filled with warriors in
  hiding. The Trojans do not know what to do with
  the wooden horse. Laocoon warns them to destroy
  it, but after he and his two sons are strangled
  by sea serpents, the Trojans bring the wooden
  horse inside the city. That night, a Greek spy
  lets out the hidden warriors, who open the city
  gates to their comrades. The Greeks set fire to
  Troy and slaughter its citizens. Pyrrhus, a
  Greek warrior, slays Priam, the king of Troy.
  Enraged at his murder, Aeneas considers killing
  Helen of Troy, whom he holds responsible for the
  war. His mother, the goddess Venus, stops him,
  however, and tells him to protect his own family.
  When Aeneas arrives home, his father at first
  refuses to flee from Troy, but omens induce him
  to change his mind. During the flight from Troy,
  Aeneas wife, Creusa, becomes separated from the
  rest of the family. Aeneas searches in vain for
  her until he sees her ghost, who bids him
  farewell. He then rejoins his family and
  prepares to lead the Trojan refugees to exile.

6
The Iliad

• In Book 1 Achilles and Agamemnon become involved
  in a bitter argument over the issue of war
  prizes. Agamemnon gets his way and takes Briseis
  away from Achilles, but Achilles announces that
  he will pull out of the war. In the excerpt from
  book 6, the Trojan hero Hector says farewell to
  his wife and son. Book 22 describes the battle
  between Achilles and Hector, which ends in
  Hectors death. In Book 24, Hectors father,
  Priam, sneaks into Achilles camp. The Trojan
  king begs Achilles to return the body of Hector,
  and Achilles does so.

7
The Odyssey

• It has been ten years since the Trojan War, and
  Odysseus is held prisoner by Calypso. Odysseus
  knows that he must return home to see his wife
  and son. Meanwhile, Odysseus wife must deal
  with suitors who, believing Odysseus is dead,
  have taken over her home and who expect her to
  choose one of them as her husband. The story
  follows Odysseus and his crew through many
  trials the Cyclops, Circe, the lotus eaters,
  the Sirens, the underworld, and Scylla. Odysseus
  is the lone survivor when he returns to Ithaca.
  Once home, Odysseus sees his son for the first
  time in twenty years, and he learns of the
  suitors and their disrespect. Odysseus disguises
  himself as a beggar and goes home, killing the
  suitors and reuniting with Penelope, his wife.

8
The Second Voyage of Sindbad the Sailor

• Following his desire for travel and adventure,
  Sindbad embarks on a commercial sea voyage.
  While exploring an island, he falls asleep, and
  his ship leaves him. Soon he discovers that the
  island is the home of a giant bird called a roc.
  By hitching a ride tied to one of the rocs
  talons, Sindbad escapes from the island, only to
  find himself in a mountain-locked valley filled
  with precious stones and giant snakes. Taking
  advantage of an ingenious method used to retrieve
  gems from the valley, Sindbad ties himself to a
  sheeps carcass and is airlifted once again by a
  giant bird, this time to safety. On his way
  home, Sindbad visits another island where he
  witnesses more marvels.

9
Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali

• Sogolon Djata (also called Sundita), the son of
  king Nare Maghan, has not learned to walk as
  other children his age have. It seems unlikely
  that he will become great, as was foretold. He
  and his mother, Sogolon Kedjou, are constantly
  mocked by the kings first wife, Sassouma. After
  the king dies, Sassouma banishes them to the back
  yard and installs her own son on the throne. One
  day, Sassouma insults Sogolon Kedjou when she
  asks to have some baobab leaves for cooking. In
  response to his mothers rage, Sogolon Djata
  decides that he will walk that day and bring his
  mother a whole baobab tree. He does so as a
  crowd watched, and thereafter becomes popular and
  respected.

10
The Song of Roland

• Oliver, who is Rolands companion in arms, climbs
  a hill to scout the enemy, observing a countless
  number of Saracens. Returning to the Franks, he
  advises Roland to summon King Charles for
  reinforcements by blowing an oliphant, or horn.
  Roland refuses, fearing a loss of reputation if
  he were to call for help. During the terrible
  battle, Roland, Oliver, Archbishop Turpin, and
  the other French nobles fight valiantly, killing
  thousands of Saracens. Still the Saracens
  eventually prevail. Urged by the Archbishop,
  Roland prepares to blow the oliphant, this time
  to summon King Charles to avenge the slain
  French. Roland blows with superhuman force,
  bursting his blood vessels, and then falls into a
  faint. A Saracen then tries to steal Rolands
  sword. Roland revives, kills the thief, and
  tries to smash his sword, but it will not break.
  Lying on his sword and oliphant, Roland dies.
  His soul ascends to heaven.