Heroic Journey Patterns
COMMON FEATURES OF THE HERO
According to Jan de Vries, Heroic Song and Heroic Legend (*******, 1963)
1. THE BEGETTING OF THE HERO
a) Mother a virgin, overpowered by a god or gets involved in extramarital
activites with the hero's father
b) Father a god
c) Father an animal (god in disguise)
d) A case of incest??
2. THE BIRTH OF THE HERO
a) Unnatural
b) Cæsarian - thus "unborn"
3. CHILD THREATENED IN YOUTH
a) Exposed to avoid a prophesy - or because of shame
b) The exposed child then fed by animals
c) Then found (or taken) by shepherds/ fisherman/ gardener
d) Or brought up by mythological creature like a centaur
4. METHOD OF UPBRINGING
a) An early display of strength
b) Hero a late/ slow devloper. Either dumb or acts mentally deficient
5. GAINS INVULNERABILITY
6. COMMON HEROIC DEEDS
- A fight with a dragon or monster in its lair (cave/ bottom of a lake
etc.) Enters "chaos" area to do this.
7. WINS MAIDEN AFTER GREAT DANGER
8. EXPEDITION TO UNDERWORLD
9. BANISHED IN YOUTH
- If so, returns and is victorious. Sometimes has to leave again after rewinning
kingdom
10. DIES YOUNG
According to Lord Raglan, The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth and Drama
(******, 1936)
1. Mother a royal virgin
2. Father a king
3. Father often a near relative of the mother
4. Unusual circumstances of the conception of the child
5. Reputed to be son of a god
6. At birth, an attempt is made to kill the child (by father or maternal
grandmother)
7. Child is spirited away
8. Child is brought up by foster parents in a far country
9. Little is known about childhood
10. On reaching manhood, child travels or returns to his future kingdom
11. Defeats king and/ or giant/ dragon/wild bear
12. Marries princess, often daughter of old king
13. Becomes king
14. Rules for a time uneventfully
15. Sets laws
16. Loses favour with god(s) or subjects
17. Driven from throne or city
18. Mysterious/ strange death
19. His children do not succeed him
21. His body is not buried, but...
22. There are one or two small temples to him
Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)
1. The Call to Adventure or signs of the vocation of the hero
2. Refusal of the Call, or the folly of the flgith from the god
3. Supernatural Aid, or assistance
4. The Crossing of the First Threshold
5. The Belly of the Whale, or passage into the realm of night
6. Trials and Victories of Initiation
a) The Road of Trials: Dangers
b) The Meeting with the Goddess, bliss of infancy regained
c) Woman as Temptress, agony of Oedipus
d) Atonement with Father
e) Apothesis
f) Ultimate Boon
Alfred Nutt, "The Aryan Expulsion and Return Formula in the Folk and Hero Tales
of the Celts", The Folk-Lore Record, IV (1881).
1. Hero born out of wedlock, either posthumously or supernaturally
2. Mother, a princess residing in her own country
3. Father a god or hero from afar
4. Tokens and warnings of the hero's future greatness
5. He is in consequence driven forth from home
6. He is suckled by with beasts
7. Is brought up by a childless (shepherd) couple, or by a widow
8. Is of a passionate and violent disposition
9. Seeks service in foreign lands
10. He attacks and slays monsters
11. He aquires supernatural knowledge through eating a magic fish
12. He returns to his own country, retreats, and again returns
13. Overcomes enemies, frees his mother, and seats himself on the throne
14. He founds cities
13. The manner of his death is extraordinary
14. He is accused of incest; he dies young
15. He injures an inferior, who takes revenge upon him or his children
16. He slays his younger brother
Margaret Arent, "The Heroic Pattern"
A. Unusual beginning in life, remarkable youth
1. Venerable ancestors; illustrious heritage, usually harking back to
some mysterious origin
2. Precocious childhood, some connection with a bear, display of
phenomenal strength, subduing of wild beasts, ecstatic staes of
battle fury, weapon dances, invulnerability, fighting without
weapons, hand to hand struggles
B. Adventures of Manhood
1. Unusually difficult task, defending the tribe, aiding king against great foe
- Enemy may be demonic (then subterranean journey)
- Appearance of good omens for the struggle
2. Band of faithful followers, usually with a traitor within
3. Aquiring of gold and fame, rewards of courage
C. Fateful end, brought about by some cunning, or treachery, curse or the like,
as part of the working of fate
Variation on that Theme
(http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/%7Emmagouli/hero_patterns.htm)
Various Patterns of Hero Journeys from folklorists who
compared hero stories from around the world. Levi-Strauss' is the one I rely on
most. Kluckhohn's is the most general and useful of the other type. Campbell's
coordinates well with patterns of the ritual process. Most were produced in the
mid-20th century from comparisons of many stories
Claude Lévi-Strauss’s view of the hero (based on comparison of myths
from around the world, but especially Native American myths) = Structuralism

Series of impossible mediations between oppositions which are ordered
according to
o
Geography: e.g. east – west
o
Cosmology: e.g. below – above
o
Logic: e.g. integration, resolve distances
o
Sociology: e.g. patrilocal – matrilocal residence
o
Techno-economic schema: e.g. water famine  hunt  success
o
Global integration (of 2 exreme propositions
Hero = Mediator between dualities / oppositions
o
Often in TWIN form: Messiah & Trickster
Clyde Kluckhohn's Pattern (based on his study of Spencer’s analysis of
Navaho mythology which lead to his own realization of these similarities with
other world mythology)
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The hero has adventures and achievements of extraordinary kind
(e.g., slaying monsters, overcoming death, controlling the weather).
There is often something special about the birth of the hero
(occasionally heroine)
Help from animals is a frequent motif.
A separation from one or both parents at an early age is involved.
There is antagonism and violence toward near kin, though mainly
toward siblings or father-in-law. This hostility may be channeled in one or
both directions. It may be masked but is more often expressed in violent
acts.
There is eventual return and recognition with honor. The hero’s
achievements are realized by his immediate family and redound in some
way to their benefit and that of the larger group to which the family
belongs.
Johann Georg von Hahn’s Hero Pattern (based on biographies of 14
heroes--mostly Western--including Oedipus)
1.
The hero is of illegitimate birth
2.
His mother is the princess of the country
3.
His father is a god or a foreigner
4.
There are signs warning of his ascendance
5.
For this reason he is abandoned
6.
He is suckled by animals
7.
He is brought up by a childless shepherd couple
8.
He is a high-spirited youth
9.
He seeks service in a foreign country
10. He returns victorious and goes back to the foreign land
11. He slays his original persecutors, accedes to rule the country, and sets
his mother free
12. He founds cities
13. The manner of his death is extraordinary
14. He is reviled because of incest and he dies young
15. He dies by an act of revenge at the hands of an insulted servant
16. He murders his younger brother
Jan De Vries Hero Pattern (based on comparison of traditional folk tales,
mostly European)
1.
The hero is begotten
2.
He is born
3.
His youth is threatened
4.
He is brought up
5.
He often acquires invulnerability
6.
He fights with the dragon or other monster
7.
He wins a maiden, usually after overcoming great dangers
8.
He makes an expedition to the underworld
9.
He returns to the land from which he was once banished and
conquers his enemies
10. He dies
Lord Raglan’s Hero Pattern (based on comparison of 18 classical myths,
mostly from the Western world)
1.
His mother is a royal virgin
2.
His father is a king, and
3.
Often a near relative of his mother, but
4.
The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5.
He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6.
At birth an attempt is made, often by his father, to kill him, but
7.
He is spirited away, and
8.
Reared by foster parents in a far country
9.
We are told nothing of his childhood, but
10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild beat,
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his predecessor, and
13. Becomes king
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully, and
15. Prescribes laws, but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city.
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill.
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchers.
Joseph Campbell’s Structure of the Heroic Journey (based on comparison
of parts of narratives from around the world). Similar to the pattern of
separation, initiation/transformation, return of the ritual process (see Victor
Turner)
SEPARATION/DEPARTURE:
1.
The Call to Adventure
2.
Refusal of the Call
3.
Supernatural Aid
4.
Crossing the First Threshold
5.
Passage Into the Realm of Night
THE STAGE OF TRIALS & VICTORIES OF INITIATION:
1.
The Road of Trials
2.
The Meeting with the Goddess
3.
Temptation
4.
Atonement
5.
Receiving the Ultimate Boon
THE RETURN & REINTEGRATION WITH SOCIETY:
1.
Reconciliation
2.
Healing
3.
Paradise Regained