Beowulf and the Monomyth (The Hero's Journey) The Monomyth
World Literature Mr. Brennan
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The Story There are only two or three human stories, and they
go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never
happened before. Willa Cather Do you agree or disagree with this
quote? If you agree, what are the typical structures of these
repeated stories? Can you reference examples to support your claim?
Do-Now
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SWBAT explain Campbells theory of the Monomyth, and how it
represents a symbolic search for individual identity and a cultures
concept of the idealized member of society. 1. Unit Overview:
Beowulf and the Monomyth 2. Mini-Lecture: Campbell and the Monomyth
3. Video: Power of Myth: The Heros Adventure 4. Mini-Lecture:
History of England and English Learning Objective AGENDA Identify a
hero/heroine from literature, film, or television and explain how
he/she adheres to Campbell's monomyth. Homework Reminders
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Units Essential Questions What is an epic? How does the epic
serve as a narrative form of a national identity? What is a hero?
How does Beowulf follow Campbells theory of the Monomyth, or Heros
Journey? What are the implications? How does the hero serve as
model of the ideal citizen? What are the conventions of an epic?
What are the literary devices of Anglo-Saxon literature? How has
the polytheistic pagan story of Beowulf been influenced by
monotheistic Christianity? How do modern theories on myth apply to
the epic, Beowulf? What are the origins of the English language?
How has it come to dominate the global landscape?
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Unit Overview MONTUEWEDTHURFRI Columbus Day The Heros Adventure
No Class?Monomyth History of England and English Anglo-Saxon
Literature Beowulf P. 315 Beowulf P. 1535 Beowulf P. 3557 Beowulf
P. 5789 Beowulf P. 89113 Beowulf P. 113151 Beowulf P. 151169
Beowulf P. 169191 Beowulf P. 191213 Beowulf Essay Beowulf Essay
Beowulf Exam Beowulf Essay Beowulf Essay Term 1 Ends
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Final Unit Assessment In a 1250 word essay, examine the hero in
Beowulf, as well as a person you believe to be a hero in
contemporary American culture, and evaluate how they parallel with
Campbells Monomyth?
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Archetypes ARCHETYPES are recurrent symbols or motifs in
literature, art, or mythology; in Jungian psychology, they are
primitive mental images inherited from the earliest human
ancestors, and supposed to be present in the collective
unconscious. Archetypes create myths, religions, and ideas that
influence and set their stamp on whole nations and epochs. An image
can be considered archetypal when it can be shown to exist in the
records of human history, in identical form and with the same
meaning; thus revealing deposits of the constantly repeated
experiences of humanity.
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Joseph Campbell Campbell (19041987) was an American
mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in
comparative mythology and comparative religion. Campbell introduced
the monomyth (one myth), referring to the theory that sees all
mythic narratives, regardless of their origin or time, as
variations of a single great story. This archetypical pattern,
often described as the hero's journey, was described in Campbells
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).
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We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where
we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And
where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center
of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we will
be with all the world. Joseph Campbell
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1. What makes a hero? 2. What are the two types of heroic
deeds? What heroic cycle is followed in completing both deeds? 3.
Psychologically, what is the purpose of the heros adventure? 4.
What are Moyers and Campbells thoughts on the difference between a
leader and a hero? What do they say about its application to
individuals such as Napoleon (or perhaps Hitler)? What does this
tell you about the perception of a hero? 5. Campbell distinguishes
two types of heroesone who chooses to undertake the journey and
another who is thrown involuntarily into an adventure. According to
Campbell, in regards to the hero, how are these two types of
adventures the same? 6. What distinction is made between a
celebrity and a hero? Why does a society or nation need heroes? 7.
We are each completing our own personal heroic journey, and each of
us must vanquish our own dragon. According to Campbell, what does
the dragon psychologically represent? What is his solution to
slaying this dragon within you? 8. Over the course of our lives,
and our personal heroic adventure, we encounter suffering. Who is
responsible for our suffering according to Freud? According to
Marx? According to Campbell? What is Campbells advice to addressing
suffering? 9. What are Campbells thoughts on the truthfulness of
myth? A Heros Adventure
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The Hero with a Thousand Faces The mythological hero, setting
forth from his common day hut or castle, is lured, carried away, or
else voluntarily proceeds, to the threshold of adventure. There he
encounters a shadow presence that guards the passage. The hero may
defeat or conciliate this power and go alive into the kingdom of
the dark, or be slain by the opponent and descend in death. Beyond
the threshold, then, the hero journeys through a world of
unfamiliar yet strangely intimate forces, some of which severely
threaten him, some of which give magical aid. When he arrives at
the nadir of the mythological round, he undergoes a supreme ordeal
and gains his reward. The triumph may be represented as the hero's
sexual union with the goddess-mother of the world, his recognition
by the father-creator, his own divinization, or againif the powers
have remained unfriendly to himhis theft of the boon he came to
gain; intrinsically it is an expansion of consciousness and
therewith of being. The final work is that of the return. If the
powers have blessed the hero, he now sets forth under their
protection; if not, he flees and is pursued. At the return
threshold the transcendental powers must remain behind; the hero
re-emerges from the kingdom of dread. The boon that he brings
restores the world.
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Monomyth: The Heros Journey [see website for video]
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Monomyth: The Heros Journey Through the journey, the hero
learns the truth about his world and himself. The journey
symbolizes the search for individual identity and the cultures
concept of the idealized member of society.
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Ordinary World & Call to Adventure The hero's journey
begins when the hero becomes aware of the world outside his home or
town where he/she has lived for his entire life. His journey is
usually given to him by a herald who helps the hero by acting as a
guide. Departure Limited/Increased Awareness of Problem
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Refusal of the Call Often when the call is given, the future
hero first refuses to heed it. This may be from a sense of duty or
obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a
range of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her current
circumstances. Departure Fear/Resistance to Change
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Meeting the Mentor & Supernatural Aids Once the hero has
committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his guide and
magical helper appears, or becomes known. More often than not, this
supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more
talismans or artifacts that will aid them later in their quest.
Departure Overcoming Fears
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The Crossing of the First Threshold This is the point where the
person actually crosses into the field of adventure, leaving the
known limits of his or her world and venturing into an unknown and
dangerous realm where the rules and limits are not known. Departure
Committed to Change Imperative for Cultural Dissociation
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Belly of The Whale The belly of the whale represents the final
separation from the hero's known world and self. By entering this
stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis.
Departure
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Road of Trials (Tests) The road of trials is a series of tests,
tasks, or ordeals that the person must undergo to begin the
transformation. Often the person fails one or more of these tests,
which often occur in threes. Initiation Experiencing New
Conditions
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Meeting With the Goddess (Allies) This is the point when the
person experiences a love that has the power and significance of
the all-powerful, all encompassing, unconditional love that a
fortunate infant may experience with his or her mother. This is a
very important step in the process and is often represented by the
person finding the other person that he or she loves most
completely. Initiation Experiencing New Conditions
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Woman as Temptress (Enemies) In this step, the hero faces those
temptations, often of a physical or pleasurable nature, that may
lead him or her to abandon or stray from his or her quest, which
does not necessarily have to be represented by a woman. Woman is a
metaphor for the physical or material temptations of life, since
the hero- knight was often tempted by lust from his spiritual
journey. Initiation Experiencing New Conditions
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Innermost Cave / The Approach Atonement with the Father In this
step the person must confront and be initiated by whatever holds
the ultimate power in his or her life. In many myths and stories
this is the father, or a father figure who has life and death
power. This is the center point of the journey. Although this step
is most frequently symbolized by an encounter with a male entity,
it does not have to be a male; just someone or thing with
incredible power. (The hero and newfound allies prepare for the
major challenge in the special world) Initiation Preparing for
Major Change
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The Supreme Ordeal Apotheosis When someone dies a physical
death, or dies to the self to live in spirit, he or she moves
beyond the pairs of opposites to a state of divine knowledge, love,
compassion and bliss. A more mundane way of looking at this step is
that it is a period of rest, peace and fulfillment before the hero
begins the return. (Out of the moment of confronting death/fear
comes a new life) Initiation Big Change with Feelings of Life and
Death
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The Ultimate Boon (Reward) The ultimate boon is the achievement
of the goal of the quest. It is what the person went on the journey
to get. All the previous steps serve to prepare and purify the
person for this step, since in many myths the boon is something
transcendent like the elixir of life itself, or a plant that
supplies immortality, or the holy grail. Initiation Accepting
Consequences of New Life
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Refusal of the Return Having found bliss and enlightenment in
the other world, the hero may not want to return to the ordinary
world to bestow the boon onto his fellow man. Return
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The Magic Flight Sometimes the hero must escape with the boon,
if it is something that the gods have been jealously guarding. It
can be just as adventurous and dangerous returning from the journey
as it was to go on it. Return
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Rescue from Without Just as the hero may need guides and
assistants to set out on the quest, oftentimes he or she must have
powerful guides and rescuers to bring them back to everyday life,
especially if the person has been wounded or weakened by the
experience. Return New Challenge and Redirection
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Resurrection Crossing of the Return Threshold The trick in
returning is to retain the wisdom gained on the quest, to integrate
that wisdom into a human life, and then maybe figure out how to
share the wisdom with the rest of the world. Return Last Attempts,
Final Dangers; Growth at Redirection
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Return with the Elixir Master of Two Worlds This step is
usually represented by a transcendental hero like Jesus or Gautama
Buddha. For a human hero, it may mean achieving a balance between
the material and spiritual. The person has become comfortable and
competent in both the inner and outer worlds. Return Mastery
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Freedom to Live Mastery leads to freedom from the fear of
death, which in turn is the freedom to live. This is sometimes
referred to as living in the moment, neither anticipating the
future nor regretting the past. Return Mastery
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Monomyth: The Heros Journey The Heros Journey simply highlights
repetitive archetypes throughout heroic tales, it is NOT a rigid
formula Many variations exist the stages can be deleted, added to,
and drastically re- shuffled without losing their power. The
essential characters can be combined or divided into several
figures to show different aspects of the same idea. The myth is
infinitely flexible, capable of endless variation
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The Power of Myth The Hero's Adventure [see website for
video]
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Do you think that you shall enter the Garden of Bliss without
such trials as came to those who passed before you? Qur'an WE ARE
ALL HEROES it's about the trial; its about a transformation of
consciousness The hero is always ready when the adventure
approaches: the adventure that he is ready for is the one that he
gets Lifes big question: When you cross the the threshold, and
confront the beast/the dragon/leviathanwill you be devoured by it,
or will you be able to conquer it or use it? Heros do not change
the system, but learn to live and advance within it. Not to worry,
you will have aids to assist you, but the last trick must be done
by you. You save the world by saving yourself.
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Question to Consider Do we create stories based on this
paradigm through our collective unconscious or has the
appropriation of Campbells model influenced the recreation of the
monomyth?
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Homework Identify a hero/heroine from literature, film, or
television and explain how he/she adheres to Campbell's monomyth.
(departure > initiation > return)