History has a way of repeating itself, or so they say.

It is one reason the study of the past is held

in such high reverence. Historians and scholars view the past as a prism, through which to predict our
future. This is because, human societies have an almost cyclical nature. It seems however, that not just
our history repeats itself, but the stories we tell as well.
Take for instance, Greek myths compared to more contemporary religious and secular figures
and stories. There is a pattern here which shapes the description and direction which our heroes will
follow. One of the reasons mythological stories are so fascinating is because they along with many of
our modern-day heroes (think the Avengers, Batman, etc..) follow this pattern and ensure the continuity
and familiarity that has drawn people in for thousands of years. These Greek myths may be ancient, but
their formatting helps ensure that they are relevant. The monomyth as Jason Campbell calls the
model which these stories almost conform to, still pull at our heart strings and speak to us in a similar
way that they spoke to those ancient Greeks.
One of the first mass produced comic books, Superman (created by Jerry Seigel and Joe
Shuster) also uses the model of the monomyth and thus bears striking resemblances to the ancient
Greek myths. Although the comics have been around for around 60 years, recently there was a reboot
and a new movie was released. The title of this film was Man of Steel, and while much of the
inspiration for the creation of Superman was from the story of Moses, it must be said that all of these
stories are connected and similar in so many ways.
Man of Steel starts out on the foreign planet of Krypton. Here, the father of Superman, Jor-El, is
introduced and we learn bout some of the problems the planet is struggling with. The planet is falling
apart and Jor-El and his wife send their child away in a one person ship to Earth. Here Kal-El, or Clark
as he is named on earth, grows up and struggles with the superhuman abilities which he manifests on
earth. After seeing his adopted father die because he refused to let Clark use his powers to save him,
Superman (Clark), goes through an existential crisis and wanders the world trying to figure out the
meaning to his life. Eventually some aliens, who just so happened to be from the world of Krypton
arrive and try to change Earth into a new Krypton. This would destroy Earth as it is known and all the
people would be unable to live there, so Clark takes on the mantle of Superman, fights the bad guys,
and saves the world!

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The pattern of the monomyth is constantly repeated throughout this story and many ancient
Greek myths. Most heroes, come from an uncomfortable home where something is just not right.
Eventually there is a call to action or adventure which will start them on their quest. Usually there is a
fear of change or a denial of their situation. They then meet a mentor, and after that cross the threshold
where there is no turning back. After that they test their allies and enemies and figure out their own
capabilities as well as those around them. There is approach and preparation for the severe test, in
which after there is the actual ordeal. If the hero survives there is an actual reward and then they
(hopefully) get to live their life in peace.
The first part of the monomyth, this uncomfortable home situation is shown throughout Greek
mythology. In the story of Heracles, he is constantly plagued by the goddess Hera. He is the illegitimate
son of Zeus and so she seeks to torment him, eventually driving him into a fit of rage where he kills his
wife. In the story of Perseus, after his mother and him had washed up on the shores of an island, his
mother is plagued by the attentions of the King. She however, did not want these attentions and did not
want to marry him. The king himself pressed himself and his authority on all who lived on the island.
For Jason, he is forced into exile as a young boy after his thrown is usurped. His mother worried that he
would be seen as a threat, so she sends him away to receive tutelage from Chiron.
For Superman however, he is living on a world which is literally going to blow up. In the movie
the Kryptonians had mined the world of all of its natural resources. This made the planet unstable and it
had reached a point of no return. There was also the matter of an attempted coup right at the beginning
of the movie as a General named Zod attempted to gain control of Krypton. For Superman's early life
on earth as well he experienced the situation of an uncomfortable home. He was manifesting amazing
powers, such as x ray vision, super speed, and super strength. For a young child this was very difficult
to deal with because he both had no idea what was going on, and was kind of forced to isolate himself
by his parents so he did not let anyone know of his secret.
During the call to action phase, Heracles wants to remove the blood guilt of murdering his wife,
so he travels to the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. She tells him to remove this guilt, he must serve
Eurystheus for twelve years and perform the labors of his choosing. For Perseus, the King Polydectes

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demanded a horse from every man on the island. Perseus boasts that he could just as easily get the head
of a Gorgon and his call of action is to do just that! Jason returned to his kingdom to reclaim his throne,
where the King Pelias agrees to abdicate, if Jason can get the Golden Fleece. Jason then sets on the
quest to do so.
Superman's call to action was because of the death of his adopted father. His earth parents felt
very strongly that he should not show anyone his powers, because they were worried of how the world
would view him. During a tornado, his adopted father got caught in it, but Clark could have saved him.
However due to the fact that people would have seen him use his powers his father insisted that he
remain put. Afterwards his mother tells him of the ship they found him in and that he is an alien. This
sets Clark on a journey to explore the world and learn more about himself.
Throughout these stories as well there is always some form of supernatural aid. Heracles
receives multiple instances of aid. Athena helps him to shoot down the Stymphalian birds by giving
him an instrument. Helius, the sun, gives him a golden cup which enables him to sail upon the river of
the Ocean out West and obtain the cattle of Geryon. Finally Hermes and Athena help to get him to the
underworld to perform his last labor. Perseus receives help from Hermes and Athena as well. They give
him a sickle and a polished shield. The sickle is for chopping off the head of Medusa, and the shield is
so he can see her without looking directly at her. Anyone who does that would turn to stone. Later he
receives a cap of invisibility, a pair of winged sandals, and a wallet from the Nymphs of the North.
Jason receives help from Athena in the shape of a talking piece of wood. She helps to build the ship
called the Argo which will take him and his crew (the Argonauts) on their quest.
Superman receives supernatural aid from the consciousness of his biological father. During his
exploration of the earth after the death of his adopted father, he gets to a military base in the Artic
where they have discovered a large alien ship trapped in ice. Clark gets into the ship and eventually has
a meeting which the consciousness of his father which had been stored on a drive that Clark had. Jor-El
(his father) explains what happened to Krypton, what was available on the ship, and encouraged him to
do good in the world. He also gave him a suit which represented hope on their home world, and would
protect him.

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Eventually there is a moment when the prep is over and this is crossing the first threshold.
Heracles reaches that as he is given his first labor to slay the Nemean lion. Perseus crosses the
threshold when he flies to the lands of the Gorgons and has all his gear with him to attempt the slaying
of Medusa. When the Argo is built Jason and the Argonauts cross their threshold. For Superman it
arrived with the coming of General Zod's forces to Earth. At first they welcome him and are incredibly
excited to see a surviving member of their race. After they reveal their plans to terraform the earth
however, Superman reacts in a way they were not hoping. Basically they wanted to change the
atmosphere of Earth to resemble that of Krypton so they could rebuild their world. This would result in
the death of everyone on Earth and everything Clark came to know and love. He decided he needed to
fight them and this was his moment.
There are moments throughout each story where the heroes meet some sort of god(dess) or
prophet(ess) for assistance. For Heracles that moment was at the oracle of Delphi who told him how to
remove his blood guilt. Perseus met the Graiai who told him how to get to the Nymphs of the North.
For Jason he met the blind prophet King named Philneus. Superman's meeting with his prophet was
during the talk with his father's consciousness, when he told him his hopes that he would protect his
new world and gave him advice and belief in himself. All these instances help set the heroes forward on
their paths.
Eventually there is also the actual ordeal that they must go through. For Heracles this involved
twelve different labors. His first was to kill the Lion of Nemea. His second was to kill the nine-headed
monster known as the Lernaean. His third labor was to capture the golden-horned hind. The fourth was
the slaying of the Erymanthian boar. His fifth labor was to clean the Augean stables. The sixth was
shooting the Stymphalian birds. Seventh was to capture the Cretan bull, eighth was to take a herd of
mares who ate people back to Eurystheus. The ninth involved him having to obtain the magic girdle of
the queen of the Amazons. Tenth was fetching the cattle of Geryon, eleventh was obtaining the apples
of the Hesperides. Finally, he had to fetch Cerberus, the three headed dog who guarded the underworld.
Perseus had to actually slay Medusa when he got their land. For Jason, he had to traverse the
seas to get to where the golden Fleece was held. Finally to obtain the fleece, he had to yoke some fire
breathing bulls and plow a field full of dragons teeth. Superman's ordeal involved him battling Zod and

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his forces. He fought them with all his heart and worked to destroy their world shaping machines.
These were the machines meant to change Earth into the new Krypton. He lost his powers when he was
close to these machines so this was quite the test. His final ordeal involved him fighting Zod by hand
and eventually having to kill him. This was a moral dilemma for him and a huge ordeal for his
emotions.
All heroes who complete their quest (according to the format of the monomyth) are entitled to a
reward. For Heracles, he turned into a god after he conquered death itself on his last three trials. He
also was granted the opportunity to marry Hebe, the cupbearer goddess. Perseus saves Andromeda and
marries her. For Jason he obtains the golden fleece and the opportunity to regain his throne. Superman
had his presence now known by those of earth in a good positive way, but also saved the world. That
for him was a reward in itself.
There is also hopefully freedom to live for these characters. Heracles gets to live as a god.
Perseus founds the city of Mycenae and lives there with Andromeda and his children. Odysseus is used
here because the ending to Jason's story is not so positive. For Odysseus, he becomes the King of
Ithaca again. Superman takes a job as a reporter at the Daily Planet and tells the world that he will help
on his terms.
The monomyth truly is all encompassing. From these ancient Greek myths to many other stories
throughout time (those from the Bible, other religions, etc..) and the stories which are told now we see
that pattern again and again. Man of Steel used it successfully and obviously it has some tug at the
heartstrings of humanity. To feel for these heroes, to identify their quest, that is what the monomyth
does and that is what it can accomplish. It truly humanizes stories across the eras and helps people to
identify with characters who otherwise would have nothing to do with them. This is why these stories
are relevant now and it is fascinating in the way which mythology and the mythology of modern
religion is touched upon in our daily lives through the prism of the monomyth.

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