Hero’s Journey Project
Homer’s The Odyssey and
Hanna-Barbara’s Scooby Doo
Jack H.
Homer’s The Odyssey
Departure
Supernatural
Aid
Initiation
Return
Supernatural Aid
Odysseus begins his epic tale by setting
course to home on Ithaca. His journey is one
with countless challenges, which requires
the help of gods and goddesses. “The story
of Odysseus begins with the goddess
Athena’s appealing to Zeus to help
Odysseus, who has been wandering for ten
years on the seas to find his way home, to
his family on Ithaca” (Book 1, 18-20). Athena
asking for Zeus to assist Odysseus is a direct
example of supernatural aid; the immortal
gods and goddesses are helping out
Odysseus in his extensive journey home.
Homer’s The Odyssey
Departure
Initiation
Return
The Meeting
with a
Goddess
The Meeting with the Goddess
In the midst of all the action, Odysseus travels all
through the Mediterranean Sea and comes across
the Goddess Calypso. “For seven of the ten years
Odysseus has spent wandering the Mediterranean
Sea, he has been held captive by the Goddess
Calypso” (Book 5, summary 1). Odysseus stumbles
upon this island, and ends up meeting Calypso, the
goddess of the sea. This is where she holds him
captive, preventing him from continuing his journey
home to Ithaca. Zeus must intervene and tell
Calypso to only build him a raft to assist him in his
journey to Ithaca.
Homer’s The Odyssey
Departure
The crossing of
the return
threshold
Initiation
Return
The crossing of the return threshold
Odysseus is now faced with a final challenge;
to defeat the suitors that have ravaged his
manor. “You yellow dogs, you thought I’d
never make it home from the land of
Troy…You dared bid for my wife while I was
still alive…Your last hour has come. You die in
blood” (Book 22, 34-35, 36-37, 40). So
basically Odysseus is saying that it’s game
over. The suitors are matched up against
Odysseus and some gods, so the odds aren’t
exactly in favor of the suitors. It’s going to be
a total blood bath in the hall, and this will be
Odysseus’ final test to finally meet up with
his babe.
Hanna-Barbara’s Scooby Doo
Departure
Refusal of
the Call
Initiation
Return
Refusal of the Call
Scooby and the gang come across a
guard in this episode, who is
unconscious. The guard awakens and
passes them a note. This note sparks
adventure and mystery solving within
the gang except for the cowardly Scooby
and Shaggy. The crazy duo are once
again refusing the call of their heroic
task of saving the day due to their fear
of any monster. The creeper is clearly a
powerful creature capable of harm,
which keeps Scooby from fulfilling his
task. But of course the supernatural aid
of Scooby Snacks will come to the
rescue of the pair of cowardly heroes.
Hanna-Barbara’s Scooby Doo
Departure
Initiation
Return
Apotheosis
Apotheosis
Now that Scooby and the gang have
discovered what needs to be done to prevent
the creeper from committing more crimes
and robberies, it is only of matter of time
before they have a face to face showdown of
guts and wits. This period of time that they
have is used to rest for the events about to
unfold and also for the preparation for a trap
to capture the creeper alive. Apotheosis can
also be considered as the period of time the
great Escoobus must take to meditate in
order to defeat the villains.
Hanna-Barbara’s Scooby Doo
Departure
Initiation
Freedom to
live
Return
Freedom to Live
Now that Scooby has saved the day as
usual, what can he do? Well a hero
deserves a day of rest and maybe some
more Scooby snacks. The hero Scooby
now has the freedom to live, but more
mysteries are likely to follow as Scooby’s
crime solving days will never come to an
end.
Mr.
Rustin
Works Cited
•
"Scoobypedia - Scooby Doo characters, episodes, movies, and tons more!."
Scoobypedia - Scooby Doo characters, episodes, movies, and tons more!.
N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2012.
<http://scoobydoo.wikia.com/wiki/Scoobypedia>.
•
Wikipedia contributors. "Scooby-Doo." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Feb. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2012.
•
Wikipedia contributors. "Scrappy-Doo." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Jan. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2012.
•
Allen, Janet. "The Odyssey." Holt McDougal Literature: Texas Grade 9.
Texas ed. Evanston, Ill.: Holt McDougal, a division of Houghton Mifflin
Harcourt, 2010. 1185-1288. Print.