Pity For The Hero In Joseph Campbell's The Odyssey

The feeling of pity and sorrow towards the main character is something that needs to occur more in the Hero’s Adventure archetype according to author Joseph Campbell in “Episode 1: The Hero’s Adventure”, and it is shown in the book The Odyssey where Athena feels pity for Odysseus and tries to help him remember his child Telemachus which also enforces the Greek value of family. Joseph Campbell recommends that we should feel sympathy for the hero’s challenges rather than just appreciation for their achievements because the Hero’s journey can be difficult and rough path by saying, “We ought to feel pity for the hero instead of admiration, so many of them have sacrificed their own needs and very often what they accomplish is shattered by the inability

Traditionally, the character goes through struggles to achieve his goal and usually, the characters and readers applaud the end result without feeling bad for the hero through their troubles. This idea is very important as many heroes need help from another character in order to achieve their end goal, and in many cases, this other character feels pity for the hero. Similarly, in The Odyssey, Athena advises Odysseus to reveal his true identity to his son Telemachus out of pity for Odysseus and all the adversity he's been through by saying, “Athena urged him on: 'Royal son of Laertes, Odysseus, old campaigner, now is the time, now tell your son the truth’” (Book 16). Athena realizes that Telemachus could help his father regain control of Ithaca and because of Odysseus revealing his true identity, they do work together to try and take revenge against the suitors. This also aligns with the Greek value of family because Athena wants Odysseus to reveal himself to his own son rather than being locked up in someone else's body and depressed after all the events he’s been through so that they could be together again like a