Elements of the hero’s journey, also known as “monomyth,” is a phenomenon of human psychological nature that has been going on for thousands of years and is still going on now. The seventeen stages that make up the monomyth have appeared in countless narratives from around the globe, from the epic ballads “Beowulf” and the story of Hua Mulan (which Disney made into a 1998 movie), to the myths of the Greeks and parables in the Bible, to blockbuster movie series like “Harry Potter,” “James Bond,” and the “Matrix.”
The monomyth keeps reappearing around the world for a number of reasons. In every culture, children are taught morals and behavior by their elders; using experience from their own lives and remembering their faults, the elders weave stories to teach the children how to behave.
Before the printing press and other writing technology, people told stories through oral tradition and passed them down, using the stories to entertain as well as teach. It’s widely believed that all humans have a collected way of thinking, despite all of the differences between cultures. Situations like a hero rescuing a damsel in distress using an item of magic proportions can be identified in narratives from throughout history.
One example of the monomyth is the supernatural aide; whether this aide is a creature or an object, it accompanies the hero on the hero’s journey. Examples include the magic sword Hrunting in “Beowulf,” the lightsaber in the “Star Wars” series, the wand in the “Harry Potter” series, and the various gadgets James Bond acquires in his series. One stage that is less common than others in the elements is the woman as a temptress; two examples from the Bible include Adam being tempted by Eve and Samson tempted by Delilah; another example includes the witch Circe tempting Odysseus in “The Odyssey.”
There are many reasons why the monomyth is still around; religions use their parables, filmmakers and authors recreate old stories, and politicians tell stories to relate to the public. Civilizations may come and go, but stories following the hero’s journey will always be around.
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3 comments:
I think your description on how the monomyth is used to teach children morals and behave properly was very interesting.
However, these morals and values have changed over the past millenia with developments in culture and technology. The supernatural aide may have been a sword in the older novels, but it can be portrayed as a futuristic gun or blaster of some sort.
The only thing that I disagree with would be your point about the temptress be less common. I believe that with more and more movies, books, and tv shows using sexual suggestions in their material, (ie. Angelina Jolie in Wanted) that the temptress has made quite a comeback. We can even see some good sexual references in The Canterbury Tales.
Overall, you had a terrific post with plenty of good points and examples of the universal aspect of the monomyth.
The reason that I think that this tradition continues in stories even today is because it works. I do this even in any writing I do. Once you spend developing and working on a system you don't want to change it. It took possibly hundreds of years to develop the system that we have today. Why try to fix something that isn't broken yet? I do this when I'm writing because all of last year we worked on 5 paragraph essays I now write almost all of my essays in a 5 paragraph format. A great coach once told me that it takes 21 days to make a habit. It also takes 21 days to make a new one and I'm pretty sure no one is willing to spend that much time to try to fix something that has been time tested for hundreds of years. It would be like some on trying to redo Einstein's theory of relativity. It cannot be done. However small changes can be made to the monomyth to make it fit with the story at hand. In Beowulf the birth phase is skipped because at the time Beowulf is not a child. The hero's journey is like a scientific law that can be adapted to many different situations. That is why it has lasted for so long. It has the ability to bend to the writers will.
It was interesting to find how the monomyth is in so many pieces of literature and movies from centuries ago to modern times. Sadly, knowing this makes a lot of pieces of literature basically the same except with different details, names, etc... making them more predictable. I think this monomyth keeps reappearing for several reasons one being humans need for everything being reliable and the same. Like when someone who could sit anywhere in a room keeps sitting in the same spot everyday regardless. Many of the details of the monomyth such helpers to the hero are there to make the audience happier. In this case helpers for the hero makes people happy because it makes it seem that someone will always be there to help you no matter what.
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