THE HERO CYCLE (Abstracted From Joseph Campbell's Hero with a Thousand Faces) The notion of the Hero Cycle is fully developed by Joseph Campbell in what is frequently called his best book ever, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Published in 1949; this text continues to be the most fully developed examination of the Hero as he/she appears throughout the world. Surprising in some senses and reassuring at the same time is the realization that beyond cultures beyond the individual, and beyond the specific event, Heroes the world over have some commonly shared characteristics. No wonder, then, when George Lucas sought to create the story of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader, Lucas turned to the master of myth, Joseph Campbell. And, all the glitz, glamor, and computer graphics aside; Star Wars is a characterization of the progress of the Hero, and as such may help to explain why the film enjoyed such world-wide success. According to Campbell, heroes develop in stages, whether the hero is Native American, African, Welsh, or Chinese, each hero passes through phases that change the adventurer in many sometimes visible and invisible ways. Yet these adventures/changes ultimately returns the hero to his/her starting place-- with the boons or reward of the journey. The following is an abbreviation of what Campbell calls the Hero Cycle. Departure The Call to Adventure: There are several ways the adventure may begin: one may stumble into an adventure, that is, without intending, one may find him/herself in an unfamiliar place and facing an unfamiliar challenge. One might think of such things as one's happening upon a burning
building from wherein are voices calling for help or one happens upon good or bad luck and has to redefine him or herself in some internal way in relation to this being called upon. The Call may come in various forms. In the blunder, comes the call and the caller is known as the herald. That is, a call may be a situation in which one finds oneself rather than an anticipated crisis or calculated risk. Some calls to adventure are more overt, that is one is requested by tribe or community to perform and life-giving or lifesaving task, such as happens in The Little Tailor or Luke Sky Walker in Star Wars. Refusal of the call: Often the call to adventure is refused, put off or denied. Those who refuse the call are frequently trying to hold on to what is familiar to them, trying to keep the world from changing, but are, in the end, left to watch the deflowering of their world-view. But, just as frequently, the call may come again, and again, and again, until purposefully or accidently the adventure is begun or the call goes ultimately unanswered. For those who respond to the call, there is help. Supernatural Aid: For those who have not refused the call, the first encounter of the hero-journey is with a protective figure (often a little old crone or old man) who provides the adventurer with amulets against the dragon forces he is about to pass" (69).Yet, all is not promised, for the adventurer must find a use for the guide or amulets which are both helpful and dangerous and will lead the adventurer into realms until then unforeseen [ ] (77). The amulet and its powers are mystical. For Luke, perhaps his uncle is the herald; the amulet, the Force or the light saber.
Crossing the First Threshold: With guide and talismans, the adventurer encounters the threshold guardians: "the entrance to the zone of magnified power"(77), Crossing this threshold, often portrayed as a doorway, portal, state-of-mind, the adventurer steps out beyond the boundaries of the village, beyond the boundaries of accepted truths; perhaps, beyond Good and Evil (Neitzsche). Beyond the threshold is the New World; the new self. Belly of the Whale: Beyond the threshold, the adventurer is lost, beyond reason, unfamiliar with the tools needed to progress. The adventurer is "swallowed into the unknown, and would appear to have died" (90). At this point in the progress, the adventurer must abandon what was a law of nature, that to acquire knowledge of self one must die in order to be reborn (Sartre, "Existentialism is a Humanism"). Here, the adventure must acquire new insight, the codex or rosettes stone of this new life. Initiation The Road of Trials: This segment of the Hero Cycle is often the most exciting. Here the adventurer encounters the challenges of the journey. Here the adventurer must find uses for the amulets and advice provided by the benefactor (provider of the supernatural aid) encountered prior to the hero's moving toward the threshold or Campbell, notes, the adventurer's promise of success is sometimes more ubiquitous, a pervading sense of goodwill. The challenges of the Road of Trials are enhancements, continuations of the Threshold crossing, that is, while there are surprising obstacles to be overcome and dragons to be slain, the question remains as to whether or not the adventurer will be
able to overcome him or herself. "Meanwhile there will be a multitude of preliminary victories, un-retainable ecstasies, and momentary glimpses of the wonderful land"(109). Meeting with the Goddess: Meeting the Goddess usually comes "when all the barriers and ogres have been overcome" (109). This "mother" goddess encompasses both extremes of woman: the creator and the destroyer: the nubile beauty and the old, menopausal hag. She makes herself visible to the extent of the observer s comprehension. She is the "guide to the sublime acme of sensuous adventure" (116). Campbell goes on to note, "The hero who can take her as she is, without undue commotion but with the kindness and assurance she requires, is potentially the king, the incarnate god, of her created world" (116).The hero must recognize the full, dualistic, self-reflective nature of the mother figure in himself. By incorporating this apprehension into his "self," the hero achieves a balance. This woman never becomes more than the hero, but promises more to the hero who can know her totality. She frees him and is the motivation for the hero's going on, beyond the initiation. Woman as Temptress: The woman as temptress appears after the "mystical marriage of the queen goddess" (120). When the hero realizes his paternal powers, he takes his place as capable of husbanding his mother. There seems to be post-victory depression, lull, and what was once a goal becomes a tormentor. This temptress is in many ways a distraction from The Good. The temptations may represent the hero's uncertainties. These uncertainties are a glitter of misdirection
that serve to keep the hero from reconciliation with the father, with whom the hero now shares the goddess. Atonement with the Father: The hero at some point must make peace with the Father God. As the father is possessor of the secrets to control and learns the secret agonies of God. Once the son knows the secrets of the father, the world is at hand and the hero can become the world redeemer. He will transcend his obsession with the physical world's revulsion and see through to the spiritual- God is Love. Apotheosis: As the hero becomes one with the Father, so the hero must also become one with his other self, his female self, Yin with Yang. In this unification the hero goes beyond self-focused success and reaches out the whole of his society. "[...] the meaning of the bisexual god [...] He is the mystery of the theme of initiation. We are taken from the mother, chewed into fragments and assimilated to the world-annihilating body of the ogre for whom all the precious forms and beings are only the courses of the feast" (162). That is, the hero is both feast and feaster, Father and Mother, the essence of both good and bad; the hero is the creator and the created. Recognition of the fatherly qualities pass on into a recognition that one is the father. The hero is now godlike, temporal and eternal, the bestower and the bestowed. The Ultimate Boon: "A life-transmuting trophy" (193). As the godhead, the hero can bring life changing benefits. This gift, often as not an insight, is the prize of the adventure. It is a
gift for one and all at the same time. It is the gift of life, an awareness of the eternity of things. The Return The Return: "The full round, the norm of the monomyth, requires that the hero shall now begin the labor of bringing the runes of wisdom, the Golden Fleece, or his sleeping princess, back into the kingdom of humanity, where the boon may redound to the renewing of the community, the nation, the planet, or the ten thousand worlds" (193 ). Refusal of the Return: The hero may feel so triumphant where he or she is that returning to his or her origins may cause new fears. So, the hero chooses to remain on the journey. Magic Flight: "... if the trophy has been attained against the opposition of its guardian, or if the hero's wish to return to the world has been resented by the gods or demons, then the last stage of the mythological round become a lively, often comical pursuit [...] [with] marvels of magical obstruction and evasion" (197). Rescue from without: This form of returns occurs when the hero is forced to return by some force outside him or herself. Return Threshold: This is the return through the portal or passage that began the journey, leaving the village and then returning to the village.
Master of Two Worlds: This phase of the hero's journey is evident in the hero's "Freedom to pass back and forth across the world division" (229). Campbell argues the hero does not rest heavily, but, as Nietzsche note... "The Cosmic Dancer does in a single spot, but gaily, lightly, turns and leaps from one position to another" (229). Freedom to Live: The hero is free to live in what world he/she chooses. The hero accepts change and permanence together in the permanence of change.