The Hero's Journey of Odysseus

Book excerpt: This book covers Odysseus' journey through the lens of the Monomyth. By analyzing the Iliad and the Odyssey Josh Coker identifies each classic stages of the Hero's Journey. What is the Monomyth? The term "Monomyth" comes from the Greek. It is broken into two root words: 1) mono, meaning "one," and 2) mythos, meaning "story." The connotation being, the "One Story." This term was coined by author James Joyce in his most famous work, Ulysses (the Roman name for Odysseus). However, it wasn't popularized until the late 1940's when a comparative mythologist by the name of Joseph Campbell, published his seminal work, The Hero With A Thousand Faces. In his book, Campbell suggested that there are common aspects that nearly all myths throughout time have shared. These elements combine into a narrative format that can be used as an approach to mythology. Many people associate the "Hero's Journey" as synonymous with The Monomyth. Both, historical and modern storytellers have used it as an approach to analyze narratives and develop new plots and characters for contemporary audiences. According to Campbell, the Monomyth follows a three-act structure. In the first act, The Separation, a hero is called to adventure and leaves his known world for the unknown world, guided by a mentor. Once the hero crosses the threshold of adventure, they enter the second act, The Initiation. In this section, the hero faces many tests and trials, confronts his inner demons (many times represented as ghosts, monsters, minotaurs, or dragons), then goes on through stages of enlightenment. Once the hero retrieves the boon, he must return it to the normal world from which he came. This third act is called the Return. During this final section of the narrative, the hero must release the power of the boon into society in order to restore it. Many times this last act requires the hero to overcome his major flaw and make a sacrifice. Once restored, the hero and those citizens in the world are free once again to live in it. The story of Odysseus follows this format very close. Particularly, if we combine the events from the Iliad and the Odyssey we obtain a full picture of Odysseus' journey of kingship. This book makes a great companion guide for anyone wishing to learn the about the Hero's Journey or Odysseus' adventures.