...famous author, mythologist, and most notable for his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. During the mid 1900’s, Campbell studied the heroic ideology throughout the world and time. Campbell realized similarities of the heroic journeys between the different cultures and time periods. Even though all heroic stories are different, they all have common patterns of their journey. He wrote his discovery in the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. To summarize the heroic journey, Campbell wrote in his book, “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...
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...An archetypal hero is defined as someone who “…possess attributes which you would recognize as heroic.” More importantly, the archetypal hero has some “…form of journey (the hero's journey archetype); these needn't be physical journeys like Homer's epics, but also spiritual journey(s)…” In the Anglo-Saxon poem, Beowulf slays dragons and monsters, as well as becomes king, and sails across vast oceans—however, Beowulf’s ultimate purpose to his journey is to be remembered for what a renowned hero he once was, as well as gain recognition from others for his heroic battles. Beowulf can be considered an archetypal hero because he possesses attributes that would be considered heroic, and also goes on a physical as well as spiritual journey. In the story of Beowulf, Beowulf has an ultimate journey that involves a call to adventure, followed by a refusal of the call, as well as reward (seizing the...
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... APA Style!!! * An epic hero has four distinctive qualities. The first characteristic is that the hero requires a life altering journey, one that can change the way he thinks about someone or something, or that has a substantial impact on him/her physically or emotionally. The next quality is that there must be some form of divine or godly intervention that helps or hinders the hero’s journey. A third quality of the epic hero is a quest, goal or objective that the hero must reach. Nearly all cultures have produced myths about heroes. Some heroes, such as the Greek Achilles, have one mortal and one divine parent. Others are fully human but are blessed with godlike strength or beauty. Many myths about heroes concern significant phases of the hero's career, such as the circumstances of the hero's birth, a journey or quest, and the return home. The birth and infancy of a mythological hero is often exceptional or even miraculous. In the ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean world, the births of many heroes followed similar patterns. Many heroes were often left to die at a ver young age but miraculously survived. Other heroes were immediately able to care for themselves. They performed astonishing feats of strength as children. Most heroes set off on a quest or a journey of some kind. One of the earliest tales of a hero's journey is the Babylonian story known as the Gilgamesh epic, written in cuneiform on 12 clay tablets in about 2000 BC....
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...Whirligig Hero Essay Elvin Deckard R Paul Fleischman wrote the book Whirligig, a story of a boy named Brent who goes on a journey to carry the life of a girl, whose life he took. In the book, Brent goes through a lot, but in the end, Brent does become a hero. Brent goes through all the phases of the heroic journey, becomes a better person, and makes peoples life better. Probably the most important factor of all would be Brent going through the heroic journey. Brent killed Lea and was asked to go on his journey, the call to adventure. He met many people throughout his journey, let this be the previous owner of the whirligig book, the cyclist, Ameal, or Lea’s spirit. These would be his allies. For preparation, he collected...
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...how they lived and died without the hope and consolation of the Christian faith (“Beowulf” 30-31). Beowulf is an epic poem that describes various characters and events from the sixth century, in particular the story of a brave warrior named Beowulf, his many heroic adventures, and his ultimate death. This poem originated from both legends and myths from other cultures that originally were passed down orally from generation to generation and then eventually recorded. By definition, an epic poem is a “long narrative poem in an elevated style that celebrates heroic achievement and treats themes of historical, national, religious, or legendary significance.” Some common characteristics of an epic that are obviously evident in Beowulf are the use of specific types of figurative language, the fighting of heroic battles against supernatural creatures, the unusual behavior of god-like heroes, and the array of geographical settings which are often included in a long journey (“Epic”). One characteristic of epic poems is the use of certain types of figurative language. One type of this elevated language is an epic simile, “an extended simile often running to several lines used typically in epic poetry to intensify the heroic stature of the subject and to serve as decoration” (“Epic simile”). One example of an extended simile in Beowulf is Hodges 2 the comparison of the Geats’ boat to a bird, which begins in lines 217-219 (“Beowulf”). A similar type of description, which is...
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...Grendel Literary Analyses In John Gardner's novel “Grendel,” a monster, Grendel goes on a quest and enters a war between Hrothgar and himself. During this journey, Grendel has an encounter with the dragon and ends up learning a new way to live life. Through Grendel’s encounters with the dragon, the dragon questions Grendel about the true meaning in life, and makes Grendel re-think the true meaning of life. In “Grendel, John Gardner expresses his opinion on the discourse of the philosophical topics of existentialism and heroic ideals. The dragon establishes a theory for himself that all things in the world will die and are useless. The dragon shares his advice with Grendel, by sharing, “Seek out gold and sit on it" (74). This piece of advice...
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...determine who the heroic protagonist is in The Iliad. That's because the audience today doesn't believe that their view, of what constitutes a heroic protagonist, coincides with the typical heroic protagonist of the Ancient Greeks. Yes, contemporary readers will all probably agree that Achilles possesses a couple of the characteristics, that would make him a heroic protagonist (i.e. being extremely brave, ambitious for honor, physically strong, etc...). However, Achilles also possesses some less thought-of characteristics, that might cause contemporary readers to arguably disagree with Achilles being an heroic protagonist. Given all criteria that makes up an epic poem's heroic protagonist, and that The Iliad is considered an epic; I'm going to have to say, that (while others display qualities of heroic protagonists) Achilles is the most heroic protagonist of The Iliad. Some of the more controversial characteristics, that make Achilles the perfect candidate for being the most heroic protagonist include: ambition driven by glory and immortality, he fights something or someone god-like, he has a known companion, he has an outward physical element that's very prominent, he is feared by a god, has many of character flaws, he makes a sacrifice, and his character undergoes a transformation linked with the journey he embarks on. Achilles' ambition for honor, immortality, and glory when he speaks of his two fates: "If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy, / My journey home is gone,...
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...The hero, Perseus, was a compelling story to the ancient Greeks. His legend heavily influenced later ideas of heroic characters. In many ways, he was the ideal hero for the Greeks to look upon. sharing many of the same traits and mental patterns as the people, he became a way for people the people of Greece to glorify their own lives. Following Gilgamesh, and followed by the famous Heracles and Jason, the story of Perseus built a template for later stories. Perseus was seen as a hero to ancient Greeks because of how he followed the path of a hero, showed the traits of a hero, and created a hero’s legacy. The story of Perseus follows the same order as many parallel stories of heroic greatness, but with different names, goals and locations. His experience was universal given that he was not only made a hero by ancestry, but by his actions. A recurring topic in Greek mythology was people sending their opponents on impossible journeys that they are not expected to complete, but instead die from. Odysseus was sent into the Underworld on his journey, Jason was sent far east to steal the Golden Fleece from a cyclops in...
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...Pamplin January 14th, 2016 Essay #1 Epic heroism usually denotes to an individual of highest social class such as great kings or leaders. Epic heroes are outstanding fighters, sometimes carrying some divine powers. To show his heroic elements, the hero must confront some supernatural enemies, quests, war, or adversity. The Epic of Gilgamesh depicts most of these characteristics of epic heroism. The description about his birth to the journey and adventures in his life meets the characteristics of an epic hero. Although, at some points, Gilgamesh engages in acts of selfishness and arrogance, I believe he achieves the characteristics of an epic hero and portrays those characteristics throughout the epic. Gilgamesh is described as a son of a mortal man and a goddess, which makes him a one-third man and a two-thirds god. During his birth, Gilgamesh is marked out as a unique type of a person who has connections with both the mortal world and the divine world. The divine birth is very central and important to the various adventures and achievements to come into his life. “When the gods created Gilgamesh they gave him a perfect body…..Two-thirds they made him a god and one-third man (Mitchell, 13). Like most epic heroes, Gilgamesh embarks on heroic quests where he fights with the guardian Humbaba, which was a monster of the holy forest in order to achieve immortal status. Gilgamesh reveals his courageous nature by defying his advisers, including his own mother in efforts to accomplish...
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...Every story has a person that earns fame because of their heroic traits or actions. In Star wars, Luke skywalker is a citizen of Tatooine who goes on an adventure and shows heroic traits along the way, making him famous. Similarly, In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is the king of Ithaca before he embarks on a journey and uses his heroic traits, that include determination and leadership, to get him home. He then becomes famous, like Luke Skywalker did, because of his heroic traits. Similar to Odysseus, I also posses the heroic traits of determination and leadership. The first trait that Odysseus and I share is determination. Odysseus shows persistence when he is stuck in the cyclops’ cave and there seems to be no hope. He doesn’t give up and...
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...Subrath Timsina 5th Final Exam Essay People nowadays have probably heard of fictional superheroes such as Batman and Superman. They have special abilities unlike human beings. They use their powers to save humans from danger, but have you heard about Odysseus though, strong, wise, and Loyal. Throughout his journey he has shows the traits mentioned above and that's what makes him so heroic. First, He was the most heroic in the Circe’s Island. To Begin, he approaches Circe without fear to save his men. Circe is the goddess of magic, she turns people into animals. Second, he goes to the underworld with no fear of getting his futures told. Third,he successfully gets out from the underworld and Circe’s Island, which is a difficult task to do and it's a task which takes a lot of courage. In doing that It shows his determination to make it back to Ithaca , his home. Throughout his journey he faces Circe, goddess of magic and the brother of Zeus known as Hades. His Bravery through his journey is what makes him a hero....
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...Hui-Fen Hsu The Heroic Pattern in Life of Pi 95 The Heroic Pattern in Life of Pi Hui-Fen Hsu Applied English Department National Taichung University of Science and Technology Lecturer Abstract This paper examines the universal structure of a mythological hero’s adventure in Life of Pi. The theory is based on Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which illustrated and distilled heroic patterns from various cultures. The hero’s journey has three stages: separation, initiation, and return. Answering a call to adventure, the hero departs from his familiar world and ventures into a region of supernatural wonder. Miraculous forces are encountered there and a decisive victory is won. He then returns from this mysterious land, bringing an elixir to bene¿t his fellow men. Through this journey of trials, the hero transforms his former self and achieves spiritual growth. Such heroes range from monster slayers to spiritual leaders such as the Buddha and Christ. Life of Pi is a fantasy adventure novel about an Indian boy who survives a shipwreck by drifting on a lifeboat with a tiger. His adventure ¿ts Joseph Campbell’s hero archetype. Similar to the mythological hero, Pi departs from his familiar land of India, answering the call for adventure to a new country. Protected by the supernatural powers of Hinduism, Catholicism, and Islam, he penetrates the dangerous and mysterious realm of the Pacific Ocean. After experiencing harsh ordeals, he returns...
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...character in the story is named Odysseus, King of Ithaca. In the story, King Odysseus leaves from the land of Ithaca, to far lands across the ocean. On his twenty- five -year journey, he encounters many monsters, frightening creatures, gods, goddesses, and more. This story tells many life lessons that can be learned and followed. Odysseus is definitely a heroic figure in this epic poem. Throughout the story, Odysseus faces many troubles, hardships, failures, and worries throughout the story. Because of the many brave actions and characteristics Odysseus shows throughout the...
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...Aladdin and the Rings Fairy tales have been around for countless centuries, and their impact on story telling is still extremely influential to this day. The main morals that these tales first displayed is still what drives the plotlines of countless movies and books today. There is a large amount of these entertaining stories that owe credit to the original plots and morals of fairy tales. One fairy tail in particular that stands out when it comes to repeating plots and morals among today’s stories is Aladdin, more specifically Aladdin’s heroic qualities and his will to overcome adversary and obstacles. Aladdin is a folk tale that originated in the Middle East; it was included in the vast book of tales known as “The book of one Thousand and One Nights,” which is better known as “Arabian Nights.” The true origins of Aladdin are not precisely known, but some say a Frenchman wrote the tale in 1704, his name was Antoine Galland (Aladdin's origins likely European, and not Arabic). Many claim it is a possibility that Galland also took the tale and made it sound more Arabic, explaining why it was then put into “Arabian Nights.” (Aladdin's origins likely European, and not Arabic) Aladdin was also made into a film in 1992 by Walt Disney pictures, which altered the original story details to those of their liking for the production (IMDB). I believe that the plot of Aladdin and the morals it tries to convey are extremely similar to a particular series of books, which was then...
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...Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (Delahoyde). This poem is still known to be one of his famous poems. The poem is about a father who is tells his son to be beware of a monster named “Jabberwocky” that wanders around in the woods. In the poem, Carroll mentions several dissimilar and unusual creatures that do not exist in the real world. Carroll’s style of writing is very unusual in this piece of work and it only influences the readers to laugh at the definitions of the words. In his mind boggling poem, “Jabberwocky,” Lewis Carroll uses unusual diction to mock the Anglo-Saxon heroic tradition. After the father tells his son of the monster that lives in the woods, the son goes on a search for this monster with the purpose of killing it. Upon succeeding and returning back home, his father jumps from joy and then, they both celebrate together. The storyline of this poem is very similar to the classic heroic tale of Beowulf. Both pieces of work mention a hero who went to war with a monster and came out being successful. Both poems also start off with the classic ‘once upon a time’ setting which portrays a fantasy theme. Carroll...
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