In the study of stories and myths, the hero's journey, also called the monomyth, is a common pattern found in many tales. This pattern describes a hero who goes on an adventure, faces a major challenge, and returns home changed.

Earlier thinkers, such as mental health expert Otto Rank and someone who studied cultures, Lord Raglan, had similar ideas. Later, Joseph Campbell popularized the study of hero myths. He was influenced by the work of Carl Jung and used the monomyth to compare different religions. In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), Campbell explained the story pattern in detail.

Scholars, especially those who study folklore, have criticized Campbell's ideas about the monomyth. They argue that his approach lacks proper research and may focus only on sources that support his views.

More recently, the hero's journey has been studied as an example of a "sympathetic plot," a story structure where a main character with a clear goal faces challenges, overcomes them, and achieves success.

Background

The study of hero myths began in 1871 when anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor noticed similar patterns in the stories of heroes' journeys. In 1876, German philologist Johann Georg von Hahn created a list of common elements, such as character traits, events, and situations, found in Indo-European hero stories in his work Sagwissenschaftliche Studien (Scientific Studies).

In the fields of narratology and comparative mythology, several theorists have identified story patterns in hero myths. Psychoanalyst Otto Rank proposed such patterns in 1909, and amateur anthropologist Lord Raglan did so in 1936. Both Rank and Raglan described shared features in hero myths and connected these patterns to ideas from Freudian psychoanalysis and ritual practices. According to Robert Segal, "The theories of Rank, Campbell, and Raglan show the different ways people study hero myths."

Terminology

Joseph Campbell borrowed the term "monomyth" from James Joyce's book Finnegans Wake (1939). Campbell was a well-known expert on Joyce's work and co-wrote an important analysis of Joyce's final novel in A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944). Campbell's use of the term "monomyth" suggests that the "hero's journey" is a common story pattern found in many cultures. However, the term "monomyth" has sometimes been used more broadly to describe a recurring mythological pattern or theme found in stories worldwide. Omry Ronen called Vyacheslav Ivanov's description of Dionysus as an "avatar of Christ" (1904) "Ivanov's monomyth."

The phrase "the hero's journey," which refers to Campbell's idea of the monomyth, became widely known through two documentaries. The first, The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell (1987), was paired with a book published in 1990 titled The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work (edited by Phil Cousineau and Stuart Brown). The second was Bill Moyers's series of important interviews with Campbell, released in 1988 as the documentary and book The Power of Myth. In the introduction to a revised edition of The Hero's Journey, Phil Cousineau wrote that the monomyth is "a meta myth," meaning it is a way to understand the shared spiritual history of humanity as a unifying story behind all other stories.

Summary

In his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), Joseph Campbell explains that the monomyth, or hero’s journey, has 17 stages. Not every myth includes all 17 stages clearly; some focus on only one stage, while others may present them in a different order. According to Claude Lévi-Strauss, these stages are called "mythemes," which are grouped together to form the structure of the monomyth.

The 17 stages can be divided into three main parts:

Departure: The hero lives in the ordinary world and receives a call to begin an adventure. At first, the hero may be unwilling to leave but is encouraged by a mentor.

Initiation: The hero crosses into a new, unknown world, where they face challenges or trials. They may receive help from others during this time. The hero then reaches the central point of their journey, where they face a major challenge or enemy. After overcoming this obstacle, they gain a reward, such as a treasure or a special item called an "elixir."

Return: The hero must return to the ordinary world with their reward. They may be chased by guardians of the special world or hesitate to return, requiring help from others to complete the journey. When they return, they bring the elixir or treasure back to their world, using it to help others. The hero is changed by the journey, gaining wisdom or power that benefits both their original world and the new one.

Campbell's seventeen stages

The hero begins in a normal situation where they receive information that calls them to leave their familiar life and go on an unknown journey. According to Campbell, this part of the journey is represented by

Sometimes, when the call comes, the hero refuses it at first. This might be because of duty, fear, insecurity, or feeling unprepared. Campbell says that

Once the hero decides to accept the journey, a guide or magical helper appears. This helper often gives the hero tools or items that will help them later. Campbell writes:

This is the moment when the hero leaves their known world and enters a dangerous, unknown place where the rules are unclear. Campbell tells us,

The "belly of the whale" represents the hero's final goodbye to their old life and self. By entering this stage, the hero shows they are ready for a major change. At first, the hero might face a small danger or problem. According to Campbell:

In the story of Jonah from the Bible, the Israelite Jonah refuses to follow God's command to warn the city of Nineveh. He tries to escape by sailing to Tarshish, but a storm hits. The sailors find out Jonah is to blame and throw him overboard. A large fish swallows him, and he spends three days inside. Jonah finally accepts God's will, and the fish spits him out onto the shore. He then goes to Nineveh and preaches. In Jungian analysis, Jonah's time inside the fish is seen as a symbol of death and rebirth.

In The Power of Myth, Campbell agrees with Bill Moyers that the trash-compactor scene in the original Star Wars film is a strong example of this stage. George Lucas said he intentionally designed Star Wars to follow the hero's journey pattern.

The "road of trials" is a series of challenges the hero must face to begin changing. The hero often fails some tests, which usually happen in groups of three. Eventually, the hero overcomes these challenges and moves forward. Campbell explains that

This is where the hero receives items that will help them later. Campbell proposes that

In this step, the hero faces temptations, often physical or pleasurable, that might lead them to abandon their quest. These temptations do not always involve a woman, though a woman can symbolize physical or material temptations. Campbell relates that

At this stage, the hero must face the most powerful force in their life, often represented by a father figure or someone with great power. This is the center of the journey. All earlier steps lead to this point, and all later steps begin from it. While a male figure is often used, the power can come from anyone or anything. Per Campbell:

Campbell later explains:

This is the moment when the hero gains a deeper understanding. With this new knowledge, the hero is ready to face the harder parts of the journey. Campbell discloses that

The "ultimate boon" is the goal of the hero's journey. It is what the hero sought to achieve. All earlier steps prepare the hero for this moment, as the boon is often something powerful, like an elixir or a holy object. Campbell confers that

After finding peace or wisdom in the other world, the hero might not want to return to their old life to share the boon. Campbell continues:

Sometimes, the hero must escape with the boon if it is something the gods protect. Returning can be as dangerous as the journey itself. Campbell argues that

Just as the hero needs help to begin the journey, they often need help to return to their normal life, especially if they are hurt or weak. Campbell explains:

Campbell says in The Hero with a Thousand Faces that "The returning hero, to complete his adventure, must survive the impact of the world." The goal of the return is to share the wisdom gained and use it in society. Campbell writes:

For a human hero, this might mean finding balance between the material and spiritual. The person becomes skilled in both the inner and outer worlds. Campbell demonstrates that

Discussing this stage, Campbell cites the Apostles of Jesus, who became selfless in their devotion during their master's transfiguration, as well as Krishna's teaching: "He who does My work and regards Me as the Supreme Goal … without hatred for any creature—he comes to Me." Campbell goes on to illustrate that

In this step, the hero gains freedom from the fear of death. This freedom allows them to live fully in the present, without worrying about the past or future. Campbell declares,

In popular culture and literature

The idea of the hero's journey, also called the monomyth, became widely used in American literary studies and writing guides starting in the 1970s. Christopher Vogler, a film maker and writer, wrote a 7-page memo titled A Practical Guide to The Hero with a Thousand Faces based on Joseph Campbell's work. Vogler later expanded this memo into a book called The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.

George Lucas's 1977 film Star Wars was quickly recognized as an example of the hero's journey after it was released. In 1988, Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers had a televised discussion called The Power of Myth. Lucas also shared in an interview that after finishing his film American Graffiti, he realized modern stories rarely used mythology. He began researching fairy tales, folklore, and mythology, including Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Lucas said it felt strange because he noticed his first draft of Star Wars followed patterns from Campbell's work. Moyers and Lucas met again in 1999 to talk about how Campbell's ideas influenced Lucas's films. The Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum also held an exhibit in the late 1990s titled Star Wars: The Magic of Myth, which explained how Campbell's work shaped the Star Wars series.

Many popular books have been described by authors as following the hero's journey pattern. These include The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, works by Charles Dickens, William Faulkner, Somerset Maugham, J. D. Salinger, Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, W. B. Yeats, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Seamus Heaney, and Stephen King. Other examples include Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Homer's Odyssey, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, among many others.

During the writing of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick introduced Arthur C. Clarke to Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Clarke later wrote in his diary that Campbell's book was "very stimulating."

The hero's journey is a key theme in the video game Alan Wake and its sequel Alan Wake 2. In the first game, the story's central novel and final episode are titled Departure. The stories of Alan Wake and Saga Anderson are called Initiation and Return, respectively.

Feminist literature and female heroines within the monomyth

Charlotte Brontë’s character Jane Eyre is an important example of how heroines are shown in stories. Brontë wanted to create a strong female character that fully represents the idea of a "heroine." Jane Eyre is a coming-of-age story, a type of novel common in Victorian times, that follows the moral and emotional growth of the main character as she becomes an adult.

Jane is a middle-class woman in Victorian society, which means she faces different challenges than men of the same time, like Pip in Great Expectations. These differences change the hero’s journey because Brontë understood the struggles women faced, such as limited control over power and wealth.

Brontë made Jane more passionate and confident than other Victorian women. The abuse and emotional pain Jane suffered from the Reeds as a child led her to set two goals: to find love and to be free. Jane takes a step toward freedom when she confronts Mrs. Reed for treating her unfairly, gaining the freedom of her mind.

As Jane grows, she refuses to give up one goal to achieve the other. When Rochester, the main male character, asks her to stay with him as his mistress, she says no because it would take away her freedom. Later, after Rochester’s wife dies, Jane returns to him and marries him as an equal, achieving both her goals and completing her journey.

Although the story ends with Jane marrying Rochester, Brontë shows her returning after growing and becoming an equal partner. This makes Jane one of the most complete and satisfying heroines in literature.

The story of Cupid and Psyche is one of thirteen tales in Metamorphoses, written by Apuleius in 158 A.D. It follows a hero’s journey. Psyche, the heroine, is forced into the journey because of her beauty. Her beauty causes men to worship her instead of the goddess Venus, which angers Venus and leads to Psyche being banished from her home. An oracle tells Psyche to travel to a rocky place in funeral clothes, where she is taken by the west wind to a divine location. There, she marries Cupid, who hides his identity. Psyche searches for him after he flees, and Venus gives her four impossible tasks: sorting seeds, shearing golden rams, collecting water of death, and retrieving a beauty cream from Hades. Psyche completes all tasks and becomes an immortal goddess, living forever with Cupid on Mount Olympus.

Self-help movement and therapy

Poet Robert Bly, Michael J. Meade, and others connected to the mythopoetic men's movement have used and developed the ideas of the hero's journey and the monomyth as a way to describe personal spiritual and psychological growth.

A key feature of the mythopoetic men's movement is the practice of retelling fairy tales and analyzing them to gain personal understanding. The movement often refers to archetypes from Jungian analytical psychology and focuses on topics such as gender roles, gender identity, and the well-being of modern men. Supporters frequently use storytelling combined with music, which they consider a modern form of "new age shamanism," a concept popularized by Michael Harner around the same time.

One of the movement's most well-known figures was poet Robert Bly, whose book Iron John: A Book About Men became a bestseller. The book is an analysis of the fairy tale "Iron John" by the Brothers Grimm.

The mythopoetic men's movement led to the creation of many groups and workshops, often led by authors like Bly and Robert L. Moore. Serious academic work also emerged from the movement, including the founding of magazines and nonprofit organizations.

A study published in 2023 in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that viewing life through the lens of the Hero's Journey narrative can greatly increase a person's sense of life meaning and resilience. This effect was observed consistently across different groups of people and research methods.

Criticism

Campbell's way of studying myths, which are a type of folklore, has faced criticism from experts in folklore. American folklorist Barre Toelken points out that few psychologists have studied the complexity of folklore. He says that psychologists influenced by Carl Jung often create theories based on one version of a story that supports their ideas. To explain this, Toelken uses Clarissa Pinkola Estés' book Women Who Run with the Wolves (1992) and Joseph Campbell's "monomyth" theory as examples. Toelken writes that Campbell only included stories that matched his ideas and ignored others that did not fit. He also notes that Campbell's theory influenced other works, like Robert Bly's Iron John: A Book About Men (1990), which had similar issues with how sources were chosen.

American folklorist Alan Dundes strongly criticizes Campbell's approach. Dundes calls Campbell a "non-expert" and gives examples of how Campbell's theories and how he is portrayed in media have misled people. Dundes writes that some people believe they can speak about folklore without proper study, and Campbell is one example of someone who has been wrongly accepted as an expert. Dundes says that the idea of "archetypes" promoted by non-experts has harmed serious folklore research.

According to Northup (2006), most modern studies of myths have moved away from Campbell's broad, universal ideas. Consentino (1998) says it is important to highlight differences between myths, not just similarities, to avoid making myths seem the same when they are not. Ellwood (1999) adds that thinking in general terms about people or groups is a major flaw in studying myths.

Some scholars argue that Campbell's categories are too vague to be useful. Crespi (1990) criticized Campbell's work for being too abstract and not connected to real cultural contexts. He says Campbell's focus on one culture may cause problems and that myths lose their true meaning when studied this way.

John Shelton Lawrence and Robert Jewett, an American philosopher and religious scholar, wrote about an "American Monomyth" in books like The American Monomyth (1977) and The Myth of the American Superhero (2002). They describe this as a version of Campbell's monomyth adapted to American stories. The "American Monomyth" involves a peaceful community threatened by evil, a superhero who saves it, and the hero returning to obscurity. A modern example is the character "Reacher" in books and TV shows by Lee Child.

Campbell's monomyth has also been criticized for focusing only on male journeys. Books like The Heroine's Journey (1990) by Maureen Murdock and From Girl to Goddess (2010) by Valerie Estelle Frankel describe a different journey for female heroes. Kim Hudson's The Virgin's Promise also outlines a feminine journey that focuses on personal growth and spiritual awakening, not just external quests.

In a 2014 interview, filmmaker Nicole L. Franklin and artist Alice Meichi Li said that the hero's journey often describes someone with privilege. Li explains that a heroine may not start with the same advantages as a hero and may not return to a world where she is no longer part of an oppressed group. She says that a heroine's journey is about overcoming inequality rather than returning with a "magic solution."

In a 1999 article, science-fiction writer David Brin criticized the monomyth for supporting "despotism and tyranny." He believes modern stories should move away from this structure to promote more equal values.