Lecture notes to accompany Campbell's Monomyth
from The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Call to Adventure
On page 245, Campbell writes, “The mythological hero, setting forth from his [or her] commonday hut or
castle, is lured, carried away, or else voluntarily proceeds, to the threshold of adventure."
It is important to note that the hero often resists the call.
 Human birth-involuntary (the gods have literally delivered you; you have no choice)
 Luke Skywalker-voluntary; although Han Solo—a secondary hero in the story—is highly resistant
 Christ-he asks that “this cup might pass”
 Dorothy-involuntary; the tornado transports her across the threshold
 Bilbo-involuntary; Gandalf and the dwarves pull him into the adventure
 Superman-involuntary; His planet, Krypton, exploded, so he must fulfill his fate on Earth
Refusal of the Call
On page 59, Campbell writes, “Often in actual life, and not infrequently in the myths and popular tales, we
encounter the dull case of the call unanswered: for it is always possible to turn the ear to other interests.
Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative . . . [where] the subject loses the power of
significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved.”






King Minos, even though he built an empire, was only able to “create new problems for himself and
approach the gradual approach of his disintegration” (59).
Apollo and Daphne. She will not “stop and ask who [her] lover is.” Instead she flees and is transformed
into a tree.
Sleeping Beauty-As everyone slept, “a hedge of thorns began to grow, which became taller every year,
and finally shut off the whole estate. It grew up taller than the castle so that nothing more was seen, not
even the weather cock on the roof” (63).
Rapunzel—is locked away and cannot go on her journey, so she becomes one who must be saved
You can see that there is a bias here toward women. My theory is that, since women have traditionally
been oppressed in Western Culture, that they haven’t been able to go on their journeys and instead
become characters who must be saved.
“Some of the victims remain spellbound forever . . .” Lot’s wife, who turned back and was changed into
a pillar of salt. Eurydice, who had to remain in the Underworld because Orpheus looked back at her.
Helpers
According to Campbell, these are those who provide "magical” or “supernatural” aid to the hero. More
specifically, the helpers encountered at this point in the journey are those who will help the hero cross the first
major threshold.
Campbell writes: “For those who have not refused the call, the first encounter of the hero-journey is with a
protective figure (often a little old crone or old man) who provides the adventurer with amulets against the
dragon forces he is about to pass” (69).






Starts with midwife or physician who deliver child in the world
Obi Wan, who, in the bar, helps Luke escape from a bad situation
Judas-both a test and helper
The Munchkins-help Dorothy onto the Yellow Brick Road
Gandalf-helps Bilbo begin his adventure
Lois Lane helps Superman

Alfred helps Batman
Threshold Crossings
“A symbolic passageway, usually represented as a common archetype such as a door or gate, or as some natural
divider such as a river, lake, sea, mountain range or valley. Intrinsically, the threshold marks a place of
transition, which leads from the land of what is real to the land of what is unreal (or from the waking world into
the dream world).













Emergence from womb at birth
Bar scene in Star Wars
Descension and Ascension of Christ
Several for Bilbo
Tornado in Wizard of Oz
Phone Booth in Bill and Ted
Sodium Pentathol in Flatliners
Transporters in Star Trek movies
Moses crossing the Red Sea
Alice through the looking glass or rabbit hole
Subtitle for the Hobbit: There and back again
The stargate in Stargate
Platform 9 ¾ in Harry Potter
Brother-battle
Under construction.
Dragon-battle
 Bilbo battles Smaug, a dragon
 Dragonslayer (with Sean Connery) is a movie about a dragon-battle that is eventually avoided
(transcended) through communication between dragon and human. Both experience an expansion of
consciousness through this communication and begin working together. A curious reinscription of the
old form.
Dismemberment
 Odyssey: Some characters have to leave things behind to enter the Underworld. This is dismemberment.
 Frodo of the nine fingers; he loses a finger during his quest
 Sir Gawain and the Green Night
Crucifixion
 Jesus Christ is probably the most compelling example.
 In Dante’s “Paradiso,” the crucifixion represents not only agony but the essential peace that takes place
around the event.
Abduction
Under construction.
Night-Sea Journey


Moses
Harry Potter and the muggles leave to avoid Hagrid, but he finds them
Wonder Journey
 Odysseus is probably useful here. His entire journey is a wonder journey.
 The example of Sinbad and his Seven Voyages works well.
 Jason and the Argonauts
Whale's Belly
 Jonah
 Baron Munchausen and his crew are swallowed by a great fish
 Inanna, who must surrender all of her clothes=powers before she can go into the Underworld.
 Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie are caught in the giant trash compactor, where a huge eel-type creature
lurks.
 Pinocchio
Tests
Campbell first mentions tests in terms of "a shadow presence that guards the passage" (245). However, the hero
may encounter further "tests" which will "severely threaten him" (246).






Bullies, disease, and other threats to human life
The Empire and Darth Vader (Dark Father)
40 lashes, crown of thorns for Christ
Obtaining the ruby slippers from the Wicked Witch of the West
The quest for the ring, Gollum
Phoenix Jackson in A Worn Path
Additional Helpers
These additional helpers are those who help the hero overcome various tests along the hero's path. Campbell
marks the most significant hurdle of the journey at the "nadir of the mythological round." At this point, the hero
experiences a "supreme ordeal and gains his reward" (246). These helpers assist us through our "supreme
ordeals."





Family and Friends
Obi Wan Kenobi
Veronica & Simon
Scarecrow/Tin Woodsman/Lion
Gollum & Aragorn
Sacred Marriage
 Munchausen and Venus (Uma Thurman) during their sacred dance (he even calls it a "moment of
bliss").
Father Atonement
 Christ becoming one with the “Heavenly Father”
 Luke coming to know his own father, Darth Vader
 This is a reconciliation of self
Apotheosis


Christ is not only unified with his Father, he himself becomes God within the Holy Trinity.
Batman becomes god-like
Elixir Theft
According to Campbell, this involves the "theft of the boon he [the hero] came to gain" (246). I define the elixir
as the outward sign of the inward change.




Souvenirs and photographs
Freedom from oppression
The eternal life offered by Christ
Safety from evil
Expansion of Consciousness
Campbell: "intrinsically, it is an expansion of consciousness and therewith of being" (246). For me, this is the
entire point of the heroic journey. If nothing is gained or learned, the hero becomes a comic figure (Tim Taylor
from Home Improvement, the Three Stooges). For the comic character, nothing will change. Nothing will be
gained.
The expansion of conscious can take the shape of a slow, building series of recognitions, such as those of
Oedipus, or it can be sudden, as when Luke discovers the identity of his true father. Or it can be more
reflectively experiential, such as visiting a new place and then incorporating that experience into your frame of
reference.



Luke learns to use the Force
Christ becomes God
Dorothy learns that she had the power to get back to Kansas "all the time."
Flight
Campbell: The final work is that of the return. If the powers have blessed the hero, he now sets forth under
their protection (emissary); if not, he flees and is pursued" (246).





Humans know what it means to flee
Luke Skywalker is pursued by Imperial Soldiers
Bilbo is pursued by Orcs, etc. Indiana Jones
Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "Run Away! Run Away!"
Satan from Paradise Lost?
Return
Under construction
Resurrection
Under construction
Return
Under construction
Threshold Struggle
Under construction
Notes
Bilbo battles Smaug, a dragon
Christ is crucified
Jonah is caught in the belly of the whale
Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie are caught in the trash compactor
Overall readings
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Star Wars
Football
Baseball
Alice in Wonderland
The Getaway
Christ's Bible scenes
The Hobbit
The Wizard of Oz
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
Flatliners
Star Trek episodes
Vacations as mini-journeys
Home Improvement, with Tim as comic hero
The Three Stooges as comic heroes
Northern Exposure episodes
City Slickers
Nissan Commercials (Boy and Baseball/GI Joe and Barbi)
Rituals
The Seven Sacraments of Catholicism
Baptism/First Confession/First Communion/Confirmation/Marriage/Priesthood/Last Rights (Are these correct?)
Birth Rituals
Wedding Rituals
Moving Rituals
Sex/Mating Rituals
Song
Dance
Stories
Painting
Sculpture
Story Telling/Oral Tradition