The Monomyth

Joseph Campbell

The hero was a key area of Campbell's comparative mythological studies, and he found they followed a kind of narrative pattern he called the "monomyth". The monomyth is found in stories throughout the world.

Campbell summarised his belief that several myths from disparate times and regions share a similair structure and stages, in this quote from his book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces":

"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."

His structure contained 17 steps in 3 categories:

Departure:

The Call to Adventure

Refusal of the Call

Supernatural Aid

The Crossing of the First Threshold

The Belly of the Whale

Initiation:

The Road of Trials

The Meeting with the Goddess

Woman as temptress

Atonement with the Father

Apotheosis

The Ultimate Boon

Return:

Refusal of the Return

The Magic Flight

Rescue from Without

The Crossing of the Return Threshold

Master of Two Worlds

Freedom to Live



Campbell described narratives of Buddha, Moses and Christ in terms of the monomyth, and his work has also influenced film makers, authors and songwriters; maybe most notably George Lucas's Star Wars movies, and J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

Critics have said that Campbell's theory of the monomyth contains stages so vague that they can easily be applied to a lot of different texts.