Odyssey Journal #2
What is a hero? Who are your heroes? What is it about these people that makes them heroic? Can anybody become a hero?

A Metaphor for
Literature and
Life
Let the Journey Begin!

Joseph Campbell
• Campbell was perhaps the leading expert on
World Mythology
• His books on The
Hero’s Adventure created a framework for understanding both life and literature

The Archetype of the Hero’s Journey
Joseph Campbell developed this chart to show the journey that literary and cultural heroes must pass through.

Even Children need Heroes
Joseph Campbell believed that there exists a UNIVERSAL PATTERN for heroes in all cultures and all eras . .
.

Campbell’s Hero
• The hero must pass through three stages:
• Call and Initiation
• Challenges, Abyss and Temptations
• Atonement and
Return with a Gift

The Call and Initiation Stage
George Lucas used the
Hero’s Journey as the framework for his full
Star Wars movie series .
In Star Wars episode 4, we meet Luke Skywalker, an initiate
(hero-to-be) who is a young man longing for an adventure .

The Threshold Guardians
Luke’s Aunt and Uncle on his home planet of Tattoine serve as his threshold guardians. They do not feel that he is ready to move out into the adult world.

All young people , like Luke, must come to a point in their journey where they must
“cross the Threshold” from the world of childhood to the adult world of responsibility .
The Threshold Guardians try to hold them back as the young initiates struggle to break away from home.

What is your
Threshold?
•
We all cross many types of Thresholds during our lifetime.
What are some of the new
Thresholds you are facing this year?
•
As you enter high school, you are facing many new thresholds in your young life!
Who are the
Threshold
Guardians at this point in your life?

The young initiate has now made the key life decision to step out on his/her own into the unknown adult world
This line represents
The THRESHOLD

Threshold
Guardians
• The hero is never alone in his initiation and training phase .
The Initiate
Needs Mentors
Obi-Wan Kenobi gives Luke the first Call to become a Hero
His uncle and aunt guide him before his hero’s journey begins .
Yoda takes over for Obi-
Wan and helps Luke become a Jedi
Knight, fulfilling his destiny

The Initiate Needs Helpers
• Other important people in the young hero’s life are Helpers
• Han Solo, R2D2,
C-3PO and Princess
Leia are examples of other initiates on their own Hero’s Journey.

Helpers , Mentors , and YOU
It is the wise young person today who seeks out HELPERS and
MENTORS with strong values and conviction.
Who serves as YOUR
Helpers and Mentors when your Threshold Guardians cannot be there for you?

Challenges and Temptations
A young person’s journey to adulthood is full of trials and temptations.
In any true Hero’s Journey, it is the challenges and dangers that turn the child into an adult -the initiate into a True Hero.
Think of all the ways that Luke
Skywalker must prove himself to become a Jedi Knight & hero:

The
At some point, the initiate must confront his deepest and darkest fear.
In most legends, he must confront EVIL or death itself.
In Luke’s case, the challenge is both PHYSICAL and
EMOTIONAL, because his father is DARTH VADER.

What is your ABYSS?
What are your greatest
Challenges and Temptations?

At this stage, the initiate has survived the Abyss and has faced his greatest fear.
He has now proven himself a worthy Hero, and he is ready to accomplish the great deed that is his true destiny.

How have you found
ATONEMENT?
How has your own life been
HEROIC?

The Return (with a Gift)
To truly complete the Hero’s Quest, the new Hero must return to his home as a truly “new person.” He will bring home the
“gifts” of protection, wisdom, and guidance to his home .

Your Role as a Hero:
Are you willing to become a
Mentor or Helper?
There is always another young person who wants to be a hero and who needs a real Mentor!

So. . . What will YOU do when the world gets tough?
Do you have what it takes to be a HERO in today’s world?
Will you be willing to become a
MENTOR for one who will follow in your footsteps?