THE HERO’S JOURNEY

At first glance, an ancient epic poem like the Odyssey

may seem wholly disconnected from 21st century life
and the modern student. However, the text quickly
reveals familiar experiences, including a call to a quest,
a yearning for a homeland, a seemingly
insurmountable challenge, and a heroic emergence
from trials as a wiser and stronger individual. This
pattern, known as the “hero’s journey,” is found in many stories in different cultures, from ancient
epic poetry to modern popular fiction. Researchers refer to the concept as a “monomyth” and
argue that this archetypal story arises from the inherent human need for understanding and growth
through quests for knowledge.
The hero’s journey archetype contains several identifiable stages. There is a call, motivated
by either internal longing or external pressure, for the hero to leave his common world and join a
quest, which is followed in the narrative by a reluctance to answer the call. The hero, male or female
(but typically male), is persuaded to leave and shortly thereafter finds a mentor. At this point in the
narrative, the hero generally meets trials, tests of endurance, and
enemies. This individual then undergoes a major struggle, either
external or internal, from which he emerges victorious with an
earned reward. Following the reward, the hero attempts to
complete the journey and must sacrifice something—often his
own life—in order to be reborn with a sort of healing power. The
last stage, the apotheosis, is when the hero experiences self-
realization, gained through battling his foe.
Gareth Fields, professor of cognitive psychology and author
of The Hero’s Journey in the Modern Mind, postulates that the hero’s
journey emerges from the human desire to use an external
struggle—a story—to mirror psychological difficulties that people must overcome. This hero
narrative is evident in one of the first recorded myths found in the ancient [western] world, the story
of the Sumerian goddess Inanna’s descent and journey through the underworld, where the goddess
is forced to undergo trials that eventually lead to her death and rebirth. Ancient myths portray
learning as a journey, Fields writes, and journeys to knowledge are part of the human experience.
This is why the modern reader may still find a connection to Inanna’s ancient journey. Fields notes
that the repetition of the themes in other stories support the theory. Epic poems from the Greeks,
the Romans, medieval authors, and many others contain the same prevailing them of a journey to
the underworld and the undertaking of physical and psychological trials along the way. Modern tales
contain similar components as well, which we will see later in this essay in a discussion of 20th and
21st century hero quests.
Fields claims that the hero’s journey emerges in every culture because the stories and the
trials the character undergo are a representation of the knowledge growth and character
development
Like Odysseus, Frodo must overcome his trial before emerging with the strength necessary to
restore order to his homeland. Fields argues that these two examples, among many, are common
and popular in lore because they mirror the way in which humans must prevail over hardship and
grow into their potential.
 While Fields focuses on the draw that myths have because of the way they inspire character
growth and help individuals face psychological hurdles, Thaddeus Burns, professor or archaic and
classical Greek civilization, looks more closely at the monomyth concept and how humans use the
template of myth to express common yearning. Burns addresses hoe the theories of analytical
psychologist Carl Jung influenced the development of the idea of an archetypal story, in particular
particular Jung’s theory of the collective unconsciousness. The collective unconscious is, according
to Burns, a shared structure of archetypes found in the human unconscious mind. It is part of the
foundation of the hero’s journey archetype and the reason myths transcend culture and history. It is

from this collective unconscious that humans draw common themes. Burns argues that the story of
the Odyssey—as well as other epic poems that imitate it—uses common tropes to provoke feelings of
triumph, despair, and glory that bring about an individual’s awareness of the self, which Burns refers
to as knowledge acquisition.
While the Odyssey may not fall into the category of “pleasure reading” for the average student
of today, as Boudicca Inez so poignantly expresses in her recent article in Bolster Magazine, other tales
of heroes who follow the same hero’s journey archetype do not necessarily suffer the same fate.
Inez’s work, though it appears in a popular source rather than a scholarly source, makes valid points
that are relevant to the discussion, particularly in the context of pointing out how modern hero
journeys resemble ancient texts. Citing heroes from Frodo to Harry Potter to Luke Skywalker, and

Neo
(The Matrix), Inez shows that their success as characters lies in their quests and in an audience’s
desire to see them achieve self-realization though perseverance. Their glory, unlike Odysseus’s, is
something not just understood, but celebrated. The tale of author JK Rowling’s hero, Harry Potter,
is a “dyed-in-the-wool” example of the hero’s journey, Inez writes. The wild success of the story,
despite the character living in a magical world, is rooted in the main character’s journey. Like
Odysseus, Harry is called to a quest. During the quest, he gains a mentor, grows through trials, and
eventually conquers evil through special powers he wins through sacrifice.
Even non-readers cannot avoid the hero’s journey, Inez claims, and that is in no small part
due to Star Wars. Theaters in 2016 opened to a film that continues one of the classic journeys of a
hero—that of Luke Skywalker. Skywalker fits all the tropes of a classic hero, complete with his call
to the quest, his sacrifice, and his choice to die—or sacrifice himself—instead of succumb to evil.
Skywalker’s journey culminates with victory and the salvation of his people. What the story means
to viewers, however, represents “much more than just cute Ewoks and victory over the emperor,”
says Inez. “It appeals to the human yearning for personal growth through a quest.” Jung would
likely agree.