The Hero With A Thousand Faces Analysis

The basic structure of the myth he extrapolates from all these myths is the following:

“The hero is the child of most distinguished parents; usually the son of a king. His origin is preceded by difficulties, such as continence, or prolonged barrenness, or secret intercourse of the parent, due to external prohibition or obstacles. During the pregnancy, or antedating the same, there is a prophecy, in form of a dream or oracle, cautioning against his birth, and usually threatening danger to the father, or his representative. As a rule, he is surrendered to the water, in a box. He is then saved by animals or by lowly people (shepherds) and is suckled by a female animal or a humble woman. After he has grown up, he finds his distinguished parents, in a highly versatile fashion; takes his revenge on his father, on the one hand, is acknowledged on the other, and finally achieves

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell (1904 - 1987) is the author of The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The main idea Campbell postulates is that of the monomyth and the hero’s journey.
His main conclusion is that all myths are a retelling of the same basic ideas. All stories from epics to the simples of jokes can be understood in relation to the hero’s journey. This journey can be found in every culture. There can be as many journeys as individuals but they will always share the basics. This idea of a shared fundamental structure is called by Campbell monomyth. He defines it in the introduction of the book as:
“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man” (Campbell, 1968)
As it could be said of Raglan’s theory, Campbell divides the Hero’s Journey into three main