Introduction to the art of creating an epic

MONOMYTHCreated by: Nathan Gaffney

19 June 2014

Based on the works of Joseph Campbell

April 18, 2023Nathan Gaffney

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JOSEPH CAMPBELL

• Born: 26 March 1904

• Fascinated by Native American Culture during youth

• Literature professor for the Sarah Lawrence College38 Years

• Writing CareerIntroduction of Where the Two Came to their Father: A Navaho War CeremonialEdit & Complete four volumes of Heinrich Robert Zimmer’s Work after Zimmer’s death

1. Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization2. The King and the Corpse3. Philosophies of India4. The Art of Indian Asia

• The Hero With a Thousand Faces 1949


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STAGES

• 17 in The Hero with a Thousand Faces

• Variations created over time

• The Hero’s JourneyPhil CousineauContains Eight Stages:

1. The Call to Adventure2. The Road of Trials3. The Vision Quest4. The Meeting with the Goddess5. The Boon6. The Magic Flight7. The Return Threshold8. The Master of Two Worlds


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A CHART OUTLINING THE HERO’S JOURNEY BY SLASHME


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AN IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION

• Not a formula for pure written GoldRepetition can cause

• For Observing materials and providing directionCompass and walking through a forest

SEPARATION• The Call to Adventure

• Refusal of the Call

• Supernatural Aid

• Crossing the Threshold

• Belly of the Whale


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THE CALL TO ADVENTURE

• When the Hero receives a call to begin a path from normal life

• Variations of the Call• Theseus and the Minotaur

Of Own Volition• Odysseus and Poseidon

Against WillSea carried Odysseus off course

• The Call gives purpose to the Hero’s quest.


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REFUSAL OF THE CALL

• "Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative. Walled in boredom, hard work, or 'culture,' the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved. His flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones and his life feels meaningless—even though, like King Minos, he may through titanic effort succeed in building an empire or renown. Whatever house he builds, it will be a house of death: a labyrinth of cyclopean walls to hide from him his minotaur. All he can do is create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration.“(The Hero With a Thousand Faces, pg. 23)

• Can be interpreted as a rejection of the self and the potential of self


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SUPERNATURAL AID

• Supernatural – attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding of the laws of nature (Definition)

• Does not have to mean magical

• The Hero meets the guide that will aid the Hero on the journey“…what such a figure represent is the benign, protecting power of

destiny.”(The Hero With a Thousand Faces, p.g. 29)This represents and demonstrates of the positive outcome of succeeding in

the Hero’s Journey

• This begins the process of removing the Hero from normal life and transforming the Hero into a more powerful creature.

• Separation from Normality is important


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CROSSING THE THRESHOLD

• Leaving the actual normality of the Hero’s previous life

• "The usual person is more than content, he is even proud, to remain within the indicated bounds, and popular belief gives him every reason to fear so much as the first step into the unexplored. The adventure is always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil of the known into the unknown; the powers that watch at the boundary are dangerous; to deal with them is risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage the danger fades.“(The Voyage of The Hero)

• This is the final physical separation from the previous self of the Hero.

• No longer is the Hero remaining in the comfort of the known.


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BELLY OF THE WHALE

• This step signifies the final separation of the Hero from normality.

• The Hero is now willing to transform him/herself to become capable of completing the quest.

• Similar to becoming what is sought to be destroyedJapanese painting of the Knight becoming a Demon

SEPARATION• The Call to Adventure

• Refusal of the Call

• Supernatural Aid

• Crossing the Threshold

• Belly of the Whale

INITIATION• The Road of Trials

• The Meeting with the Goddess

• Woman as Temptress

• Atonement with the Father

• Apotheosis

• The ultimate Boon


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THE ROAD OF TRIALS

• When the Hero begins to encounter resistance to completing the quest

• Types of ConflictSelf Vs. OthersSelf Vs. NatureSelf Vs. Self

• Failure is possibleFailure is not the endCreates an opportunity for the Hero to become better than self and learnShows

• Campbell suggest the Hero can feel a supporting divine power


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THE MEETING WITH THE GODDESS

• The Hero experiences a love with an entity or ideaThis love bolsters the HeroDoes not have to be a person or thing. Could be ideals or self

• Critical point in the quest

• Solidifies the resolve of the Hero to continue on and not be defeated

• Provides the explanation of the Hero’s capacity to preform exceedingly non-human feats

• Can easily lead into the next phase of Temptation


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WOMAN AS TEMPTRESS

• Does not have to be a WomanWoman in this sense is a metaphor for something that can lead the Hero astrayDr. Doom communicating with the Sphynx

• "The crux of the curious difficulty lies in the fact that our conscious views of what life ought to be seldom correspond to what life really is. Generally we refuse to admit within ourselves, or within our friends, the fullness of that pushing, self-protective, malodorous, carnivorous, lecherous fever which is the very nature of the organic cell. Rather, we tend to perfume, whitewash, and reinterpret; meanwhile imagining that all the flies in the ointment, all the hairs in the soup, are the faults of some unpleasant someone else. But when it suddenly dawns on us, or is forced to our attention that everything we think or do is necessarily tainted with the odor of the flesh, then, not uncommonly, there is experienced a moment of revulsion: life, the acts of life, the organs of life, woman in particular as the great symbol of life, become intolerable to the pure, the pure, pure soul. The seeker of the life beyond life must press beyond (the woman), surpass the temptations of her call, and soar to the immaculate ether beyond."


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ATONEMENT WITH THE FATHER

• Confrontation with something that holds the greatest impact in the Hero’s life.

• Does not have to be a literal father.

• Easily could be the Hero’s self after possibly failing to resist the temptation and overcoming corruption.

This step allows the possibility of creating a greater depth to the HeroAn infallible Hero is boring and uninterestingCertainty quickly dulls and can shatter the story being told.


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APOTHESIS

• The ultimate creation of the Hero. The final step in creating the beyond human.

• The Hero gains the knowledge that was originally supplied by the Supernatural Aid

Allows for the circle to continue


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THE ULTIMATE BOON

• The completion of the Quest.

• All previous stages have lead to the momentThe Hero’s purpose is now fulfilled

• I see as the self achieving a sense of peace and fulfillment from successfully creating a better self and achieving the life goal.

INITIATION• The Road of Trials

• The Meeting with the Goddess

• Woman as Temptress

• Atonement with the Father

• Apotheosis

• The ultimate Boon

RETURN• Refusal of the Return

• The Magic Flight

• Rescue from Without

• The Crossing of the Return Threshold

• Master of Two Worlds

• Freedom to Live


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REFUSAL OF THE RETURN

• This is the Hero’s unwillingness to return to the normal after such a quest has been taken.

• This is the rejection of returning with the boon to humanity to give and share to others

• Does not have to be out of selfishness.Fear of not being able to effectively communicate the significance of the

boonAn exhaustion from completing the questDeath (Can even include the Freedom to Live)


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THE MAGIC FLIGHT

• This is when the Hero must escape from something that seeks to return the boon.

• Opens up the possibility of another quest the Hero must complete


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RESCUE FROM WITHOUT

• The Hero, far separated from humanity, may need help to acclimate into a normal life.

• This can also be represented by Help assisting in healing the Hero if the Hero has obtained wounds from the quest.

• "The hero may have to be brought back from his supernatural adventure by assistance from without. That is to say, the world may have to come and get him. For the bliss of the deep abode is not lightly abandoned in favor of the self-scattering of the wakened state. 'Who having cast off the world,' we read, 'would desire to return again? He would be only there.' And yet, in so far as one is alive, life will call. Society is jealous of those who remain away from it, and will come knocking at the door. If the hero. . . is unwilling, the disturber suffers an ugly shock; but on the other hand, if the summoned one is only delayed—sealed in by the beatitude of the state of perfect being (which resembles death)—an apparent rescue is effected, and the adventurer returns."


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THE CROSSING OF THE RETURN THRESHOLD

• While retaining what was achieved , both physical and non, the Hero returns back to a human life.

• Allows the Hero the chance to become the Supernatural Aid for another Hero.

• Adapting to a life back in society while integrating what the Hero had achieved in the quest


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MASTER OF TWO WORLDS

• The Hero has become perfectly integrated in human life.Does not have to fit others’ standards, could be a peace achieved within

(Gandalf and the Hobbits)

• Now capable of retaining what the Hero has achieved and living the Hero can now move onto the next step in his/her life, enjoying life.


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FREEDOM TO LIVE

• The Hero now has the ability to enjoy life.

• Having seen the outer world and finding a new balance in life the Hero is able to obtain a peace within him/herself.

Demonstrates accepting the call was the more beneficial action for the Hero in the longer run

• The Hero can now find a deeper sense of peace and contentment with life.


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The End.


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WORKS CITED

• Campbell, Joseph. The hero with a thousand faces. 3rd ed. Novato, Calif.: New World Library, 2008. Print.

• Extra, Credits. "Extra Credits: The Hero's Journey (part 1)." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 19 June 2014. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWKKRbw-e4U>.

• Leeming, David Adams. Mythology: The Voyage of the Hero. New York: Harper & Row. 1981.

• "JCF Home - Joseph Campbell Foundation." . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2014. <http://www.jcf.org/new/index.php>.

• "Monomyth." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 15 June 2014. Web. 19 June 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth>.

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Introduction to the art of creating an epic