Devised by mythologist Joseph Campbell, a monomyth, also known as the hero’s journey, represents “a basic pattern that… is found in many narratives from around the world” (“Mythology” 1). The monomyth consists of several stages and archetypes. Fitting into “stories of Osiris, Prometheus, Moses, Gautama Buddha, and Jesus” (1), the hero’s journey closely follows a structure of the hero on a quest being put through many tests and trials before reaching victory. Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, is representative of James Campbell’s monomyth as it presents the story of Odysseus throughout the several stages of the hero’s journey, as well as the archetypes appearing throughout the story. The departure of the hero in The Odyssey consists of five stages,
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The timeline of The Odyssey begins after the Trojan War, but Odysseus’ story begins well before The Odyssey and the war. At the start of the Trojan War, the hero, Odysseus, is home in Ithaca with his wife, Penelope, and newborn son, Telemachus. This is where Odysseus receives “information… that acts as a call to head off into the unknown” (1), better known as the call to adventure. The elopement of the Spartan king’s wife, Helen, with Paris to the city of Troy culminates into “the famous Trojan war, [and serves as] the theme of the greatest poems of antiquity, those of Homer and Virgil” (Bulfinch). The Trojan War is what ultimately serves as a herald as it causes Odysseus’ call to adventure. As a former suitor of Helen, Odysseus is a part of a pact made between the other suitors to “defend [Helen] from all injury and avenge her cause if necessary” (Bulfinch). With this pact in mind, King Menelaus “[calls] upon his brother chieftains of Greece to fulfil their pledge” (Bulfinch) and sends Palamedes to Ithaca to recruit Odysseus. Odysseus, however, “[is] very happy in his wife and child” (Bulfinch) and feels “a sense of duty [and] …show more content…
Cautious Odysseus sent two groups to investigate the island: [Odysseus] took one and lord Eurylochus the other” (161). Both leaders sent their men in at separate intervals, and Circe welcomed them inside. “She mixed them a potion… but into the brew she stirred her wicked drugs” (162), ultimately turning the men into pigs, which she “drove… into her pigsties” (162). Odysseus treks back to free his men, while Eurylochus stays behind. As he approaches Circe’s castle, “Hermes god of the golden wand” (164) approaches Odysseus. He warns him of her trickery, but provides him with a talisman, moly, to make Odysseus immune to her potions. Odysseus receives instruction to then rush at Circe with his sword and to not “refuse the goddess’ bed” (164). It is only then that Odysseus can request her assistance. Odysseus follows all of Hermes direction, and Circe grants true hospitality and reverses the spell placed upon his men. With this, Odysseus is infatuated with the “lustrous goddess” (Homer 167), and he and his men enjoy her generosity and her home for a year, rather than pressing to return to his Penelope. Responding to the pleas of his crew, Odysseus finally requests Circe’s aid home. Fulfilling her second role as threshold guardian, she reveals that, to return to Ithaca, Odysseus must travel “to the House of Death… to consult the ghost of Tiresias… the great blind
The timeline of The Odyssey begins after the Trojan War, but Odysseus’ story begins well before The Odyssey and the war. At the start of the Trojan War, the hero, Odysseus, is home in Ithaca with his wife, Penelope, and newborn son, Telemachus. This is where Odysseus receives “information… that acts as a call to head off into the unknown” (1), better known as the call to adventure. The elopement of the Spartan king’s wife, Helen, with Paris to the city of Troy culminates into “the famous Trojan war, [and serves as] the theme of the greatest poems of antiquity, those of Homer and Virgil” (Bulfinch). The Trojan War is what ultimately serves as a herald as it causes Odysseus’ call to adventure. As a former suitor of Helen, Odysseus is a part of a pact made between the other suitors to “defend [Helen] from all injury and avenge her cause if necessary” (Bulfinch). With this pact in mind, King Menelaus “[calls] upon his brother chieftains of Greece to fulfil their pledge” (Bulfinch) and sends Palamedes to Ithaca to recruit Odysseus. Odysseus, however, “[is] very happy in his wife and child” (Bulfinch) and feels “a sense of duty [and] …show more content…
Cautious Odysseus sent two groups to investigate the island: [Odysseus] took one and lord Eurylochus the other” (161). Both leaders sent their men in at separate intervals, and Circe welcomed them inside. “She mixed them a potion… but into the brew she stirred her wicked drugs” (162), ultimately turning the men into pigs, which she “drove… into her pigsties” (162). Odysseus treks back to free his men, while Eurylochus stays behind. As he approaches Circe’s castle, “Hermes god of the golden wand” (164) approaches Odysseus. He warns him of her trickery, but provides him with a talisman, moly, to make Odysseus immune to her potions. Odysseus receives instruction to then rush at Circe with his sword and to not “refuse the goddess’ bed” (164). It is only then that Odysseus can request her assistance. Odysseus follows all of Hermes direction, and Circe grants true hospitality and reverses the spell placed upon his men. With this, Odysseus is infatuated with the “lustrous goddess” (Homer 167), and he and his men enjoy her generosity and her home for a year, rather than pressing to return to his Penelope. Responding to the pleas of his crew, Odysseus finally requests Circe’s aid home. Fulfilling her second role as threshold guardian, she reveals that, to return to Ithaca, Odysseus must travel “to the House of Death… to consult the ghost of Tiresias… the great blind