Webster\u2019s dictionary defines a hero as:
\na: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability
\nb: an illustrious warrior
\nc: a person admired for achievements and noble qualities
\nd: one who shows great courage [1]<\/p>\n
According to Mr. Webster we are all heroes in some type of way. Some use their courage to give birth to another human being or adopt a child. Others use their courage to plant a church while a few enter into a doctoral program. Still, a few have the privilege of raising a child with a disability, when others start a brand-new company. The truth is a hero has a thousand faces!<\/p>\n
The Hero with a Thousand Faces is a classic that integrates mythology with psychology and philosophy to discuss heroism. Building on the remarkable contributions of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and other respected psychologists, Campbell argues that \u201cby entering and transforming the personal psyche, the surrounding culture, the life of the family, one\u2019s relational work, and other matters of life can be transformed too.\u201d [2] Campbell strongly believes what transforms the psyche is mythology.<\/p>\n
Campbell\u2019s undergirding presupposition is that \u201cMyth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into the human cultural manifestation\u201d (p. 1).
\nCampbell\u2019s idea is that there is only one story, the grand story of our lives, the monomyth. The story is told in millions of different ways, but every story ever told is just a repetition of this grand story or a retelling of a certain aspect of the complete story.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest highlights of influence on producers is the \u2018Star Wars\u2019 that was inspired by the book. [3] So many movies and movie writers have been greatly influenced by Campbell\u2019s work. Campbell is a mythographer \u2014 he writes about myths. What he discovered in his study of world myths is that THEY ARE ALL BASICALLY THE SAME STORY \u2014 retold endlessly in infinite variation.
\nHe discovered that all storytelling, consciously or not, follows the ancient patterns of myth, and that all stories, from the crudest jokes to the highest flights of literature, can be understood in terms of the \u201cHERO MYTH\u201d; the \u201cMONOMYTH\u201d whose principles he lays out in the book.<\/p>\n
The hero begins the story in his natural habitat, where he receives his calling. He is hesitant at first but is encouraged by the wise old man or woman to cross the first threshold, where he encounters trouble. He reaches the innermost cave, where he endures the supreme ordeal. He seizes the sword or the treasure and is pursued on the road back to his world. He is resurrected and transformed by his experience. He returns to his ordinary world with the treasure.<\/p>\n
This is the template of the mythological adventure of the hero\u2014someone who sets out on a journey, often with the help of a sage guide and allies along the way, overcomes obstacles, and achieves some sort of transformation which he or she then shares with the world a deeper, more spiritual redemption of a wayward and fallen people. Even though Campbell\u2019s book can be related to Jesus Christ, Job, or even Paul, I\u2019d like to think all of us are heroes in some type of way. We all set out on a journey, and along the way we face a devastating event or train wreck. Someone comes along to guide us and we wrestle with whether or not to get back on our feet. Wisdom calls us and we endure the struggle while overcoming obstacles. We are eventually transformed deeply by the experience and are NEVER the same again! Finally, we officially become one of the thousand. <\/p>\n
Campbell displays amazing scholarship in this book and a vast knowledge of the mythologies, literatures and sacred writings of cultures from one end of the globe to the other. Perhaps this is why so much of it, particularly the second half, seems so esoteric. Maybe it\u2019s because I really don\u2019t know much about mythologies and because of this intellectually, I can\u2019t keep up with him. This was not an easy read for this city boy and I doubt if I will pick this book up again. <\/p>\n
1.\tMerriam-Webster, s.v. \u201chero (n),\u201d Accessed February 2, 2023,
\nhttps:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/definition\/english\/hero.<\/p>\n
2.\tCampbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. (Princeton University Press: Princeton, 2004). P. xxvi.<\/p>\n
3.\tMoyers, Bill. \u201cCinema: Of Myth And Men \u2013 TIME,\u201d August 25, 2013. https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130825045550\/http:\/\/www.time.com\/time\/magazine\/article\/0,9171,990820,00.html.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Webster\u2019s dictionary defines a hero as: a: a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b: an illustrious warrior c: a person admired for achievements and noble qualities d: one who shows great courage [1] According to Mr. Webster we are all heroes in some type of way. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2489,2552,789],"class_list":["post-30752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp02","tag-dlgp02-campbell","tag-campbell","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30754,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30752\/revisions\/30754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}