The Odyssey falls right into place with Joseph Campbell’s, “Hero’s Journey” as Odysseus travels far and wide to complete his journey. He voyages through all of the twelve stages present in the hero’s journey while discovering, fighting, and traveling with his men till the very end. While on his voyage he becomes and meets characters that match the Hero’s Journey archetypes as they help or prevent him on his journey. The interpretation of the stages of the Hero’s Journey below helps to describe Odysseus’s travels by breaking it down piece by piece.
The first stage shown in The Odyssey would be Odysseus’s “ordinary world”. Odysseus is just your “average joe” with a wife and a child just like any other ordinary family, who lives on the Island …show more content…
Since he and his men decided to feast they were faced by a furious Zeus who killed off the rest of Odysseus’s men in outrage. This left him extremely upset and on his own for the rest of his journey until he reached, “the island home of lovely-haired Calypso, the awesome goddess with a human voice, who took me in and tended me,” (Book 12, page 252). Once Odysseus had reached home he was a changed person because of everything he had faced, especially the slaughter of all of his men. Odysseus had reached the second to last stage, the “new life” when he finally returned to Ithaca. When Odysseus reaches home, he then returns to his house and enters an arrow contest that he would then win against the suitors. In doing so, Odysseus transformed into a beggar who, “shot clean through each axehead in that row; not one missed…bronze-tipped arrow,” (Book 21, page 433). This explains that he had gained some unnatural powers while being the shape shifter because of his transformation from himself to a beggar to himself again. Finally, Odysseus reaches the final stage, “freedom to live”, once he transforms back from a beggar into himself once more. He then returns to his own home and gains back his beloved wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus when Penelope, “ran to greet Odysseus, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed his head,” (Book 23, pages 463-464). After, his journey had reached an end and he was accepted back into his home by his wife and child with open
The first stage shown in The Odyssey would be Odysseus’s “ordinary world”. Odysseus is just your “average joe” with a wife and a child just like any other ordinary family, who lives on the Island …show more content…
Since he and his men decided to feast they were faced by a furious Zeus who killed off the rest of Odysseus’s men in outrage. This left him extremely upset and on his own for the rest of his journey until he reached, “the island home of lovely-haired Calypso, the awesome goddess with a human voice, who took me in and tended me,” (Book 12, page 252). Once Odysseus had reached home he was a changed person because of everything he had faced, especially the slaughter of all of his men. Odysseus had reached the second to last stage, the “new life” when he finally returned to Ithaca. When Odysseus reaches home, he then returns to his house and enters an arrow contest that he would then win against the suitors. In doing so, Odysseus transformed into a beggar who, “shot clean through each axehead in that row; not one missed…bronze-tipped arrow,” (Book 21, page 433). This explains that he had gained some unnatural powers while being the shape shifter because of his transformation from himself to a beggar to himself again. Finally, Odysseus reaches the final stage, “freedom to live”, once he transforms back from a beggar into himself once more. He then returns to his own home and gains back his beloved wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus when Penelope, “ran to greet Odysseus, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed his head,” (Book 23, pages 463-464). After, his journey had reached an end and he was accepted back into his home by his wife and child with open