Main Topic: Monomyth-Separation Defined
- This show covers the thrid of the three sections of the monomyth as described by Joseph Campbell in his book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)
- This show was featured in a P.A.P Smear on the Podholes Podcast. Click here to read the post about this show.

Sections of the Monomyth:
- Separation
- Initiation
- Return

Essay References:
- “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” (ISBN 0-691-01784-0)
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek
- http://scriptures.lds.org
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/perseus.html
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/j/jason.html
- http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gorgons.html

Podcasts Mentioned:
- http://www.dancingwithelephants.com

Music Provided by Jon Schmidt:
- http://www.jonschmidt.com

Next Episode:
- A full Monomyth Example

Click “Read the Article” to see the transcript

Transcript

Welcome to the Myth Show, where timeless stories are discussed and brought to life. I am your host, Gregory Lemon and this is episode six. This show is for those who would like to know more about the wide and fascinating field of mythology, folk lore, and fairy tales.

During this episode we’ll discuss the final third of the Monomyth, the Return, as described in the book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”, written by Joseph Campbell in 1948. Episode Four discussed the the Separation and Episode Five covered the Initiation.

The music for this podcast is provided by Jon Schmidt at jonschmidt.com

Main Topic: “Monomyth – the Return”

Often the hero who has left will returns home to complete his journey. Think of Odysseus who had finally returned home after the wars of Troy in the journey of the Odyssey. Some examples of the hero journey are more cyclical in nature. J. K. Rowling’s hero, Harry Potter begins a hero’s journey every year he goes to school only to return back to Privet Drive at the end. (On a side note, Harry begins his last journey in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows on July 21, 2007 for those in the US and UK. I will be in line at the local bookstore July 20^th for the Midnight release parties! Now back to the essay.)

The process of the hero returning and concluding his journey takes six steps. From pg 36 of his book, Campbell states: (quote) “The return and reintegration with society, which is indispensable to the continuous circulation of spiritual energy into the world, and which, from the standpoint of the community, is the justification of the long retreat,…[will be shown in] six subheadings: (12) “Refusal of the Return,” or the world denied; (13) “The Magic Flight,” or the escape of Prometheus; (14) “Rescue from Without”; (15) “The Crossing of the Return Threshold,” or the return to the world of common day; (16) “Master of the Two worlds”; and (17) “Freedom to Live,” the nature and function of the ultimate boon.” (p. 36) The original numbering in the quote was changed to match the section numbering for this essay series.

12. Refusal of the Return

During our last essay, we left our hero as he had achieved the Ultimate Boon. Now that the hero has the boon in whatever form it takes, he now has the responsibility to share the boon with those he left behind when he started the journey.

About the responsibility to share the boon, Campbell states that:

“the responsibility has [been] frequently refused. Even the Buddha, after his triumph, doubted whether the message of realization could be communicated, and saints are reported to have passed away in the supernal ecstasy. Numerous indeed are the heroes fabled to have taken up residence forever in the blessed isle of the unaging Goddess of Immortal Being.” (p. 193)

But what fun would the story be if the hero doesn’t go home? What if Frodo never returned to the Shire? Even though it is tempting for the hero to stay in the bliss he found, he will return. Whether they come back on their own or are forced to come back will vary from story-to-story.

13. The Magic Flight

The hero is now ready to return to where his journey began with the Ultimate Boon or Elixir of Life. How the hero achieved the boon is very important to how we see the Magic Flight. Campbell describes the differences by saying (quote) “If the hero in his triumph wins the blessings of the goddess or the god and is then explicitly commissioned to return to the world with some elixir for the restoration of society, the final stage of his adventure is supported by all the powers of his supernatural patron. On the other hand, if the trophy has been attained against the opposition of its guardian, or if the hero’s wish to return to the world has been resented by the gods or demons, then the last stage of the mythological round [becomes] a lively, often comical, pursuit. This flight may be complicated by marvels of magic obstruction and evasion.” (end quote – p. 196-197) So if the gods likes the hero and gave him the boon or elixir, his magic flight will be supported and protected by the gods. If he stole the boon, he better be a runnin’.

Here are two examples of the Magical Flight from Greek Mythology where the hero had to run for his life. The first is the story of Perseus, who killed Medusa and flew away with her head while wearing winged shoes. As he fled, he was chased by the Gorgan Sisters, Euryale and Sthenno. The second is the story of Jason, who went to find the Golden Fleece. Jason obtained the golden fleece with the help of the king’s daughter, Medea. As they both escaped on Jason’s ship, the Argo, they were pursued by Medea’s father, King Aeëtes.

There are some modern examples of the Magical Flight without the pursuit. First comes from Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” where Sam and Frodo are carried off Mount Doom with the help of the Eagles. Second, Harry Potter and his friends flew out the Chamber of Secretes holding on the tail of the Phoenix named Fawkes.

All of these heroes participated in the magic flight but they needed help.

14. Rescue from Without

Even though the wants to return home, or is forced to, our hero may need help. He has been in the realm of the immortals or the fantastical. To return to the world of mortals and humanity, our hero needs help from humanity to get back to the real world.

The events demonstrating the rescue may be in the same event as the Magic Flight. If we look at the examples from the Magic Flight step, we will also see the Rescue from Without. Perseus had the help of Hermes, Athena, and the three Graeae who provided the winged shoes. Jason received help from King Aeëtes’ daughter Medea. Tolkien’s Eagles flew into Mordor to rescue Frodo and Sam. Rowling’s phoenix flew into the Chamber of Secretes to rescue Harry, Ginney, Ron, and Gilderoy Lockhart.

There is one difference in the modern examples and those provided by Campbell. The “world” the heroes of Frodo and Harry are rescued from are places of evil and not from the realm of immortals. That is unless you consider Sauron and Lord Voldemort as representatives of gods from whom the heroes need to escape. I don’t know if this nullifies the examples but I still think they effectively demonstrate the Rescue from Without.

15. The Crossing of the Return Threshold

The hero’s journey is circular in nature. The hero leaves and then returns, and sometimes the journey starts again. In the essay on the Separation, we discussed crossing the first threshold. Going through this first threshold, the hero enters the fantastical world that may take the form of a paradise or hell. After the hero has found, earned, or stolen the Ultimate Boon, the hero will need to cross the Return Threshold. This threshold may or may not be the same as the first threshold crossed earlier, meaning the entry point into the fantastical world is not always the exit.

Our hero does not return as the “every man” he was when he crossed the threshold the first time. Our hero returns to the human world as new man armed with the knowledge and experience he gained during the Road of Trails and in his meeting with the God and the Goddess. With the Ultimate Boon he will be able to improve the quality of life of those he left behind to take the journey.

But will the hero be welcomed on his return? Campbell used the story of Rip Van Winkle as an example of a returning hero that was not welcomed back into society. Rip Van Winkle crossed the Return Threshold just by waking up. I thought that this was an odd example because the hero slept the entire time from when he crossed the first threshold by falling asleep and crossed the Return Threshold by waking up. What kind of a heroes journey is it when you spend the entire separation phase asleep?

However, this example does help illustrate the symbolism of the two thresholds. This shows the symbolism of separation can be shown as sleep or death. I recently watched Disney’s Alice in Wonderland with my kids. Even though Alice didn’t know it at the time, she fell asleep before she saw the White Rabbit and followed him into Wonderland. To escape the Queen of Hearts and came back into the human world Alice crossed the return threshold by waking up. A more extreme example of this symbolism for the thresholds is that of death and eventual resurrection. Regardless of the depth the symbolism of the thresholds take, the hero is back in the real world.

16. Master of the Two Worlds

Our hero has successfully returned back to the real world after his times of difficulty and learning on his road of trials. He may or may not have met a threshold guardian on his way back to the real world.

To introduce this topic in his book, Campbell uses the story from the New Testament where Jesus took Peter, James, and John to the place that would be eventually be called the Mount of Transfiguration. This scriptural account covers different steps monomyth, including Crossing the first threshold, Atonement with the Father, The Ultimate Boon, Crossing the Return Threshold, and becoming the Master of the Two Worlds.

From the King James Version of the Gospel of St. Matthew, we receive the following account from the seventeenth chapter verses one through nine.

1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,

2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.

4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.

5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.

7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.

8 And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.

9 And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/17

Of this experience, Campbell said:

“Here is the whole myth in a moment: Jesus the guide, the way, the vision, and the companion of the return. The disciples are his initiates, not themselves masters of the mystery, yet introduced to the full experience of the paradox of the two worlds in one. [...] Flesh had dissolved before their eyes to reveal the Word. They fell upon their faces, and when they arose the door again was closed. (p. 230)

Looking at the verses carefully, we can see the different steps that I listed before. Verse 1 describes call to adventure by explaining that they went up the mountain. And not only up, but also using the key word “apart” to emphasize the separation between themselves and the world. Verse 2 though 4 describing the apostles receiving the Ultimate Boon of knowledge by seeing Moses and Elias visiting the transfigured Christ. The critical part of this story comes in verse five where Peter, James, and John were overcome by the cloud, crossed the threshold with Jesus as the guardian. This allowed them to hear the Father through atonement and returned back through the threshold and then met Jesus after the vision.

Jesus, as the major hero, and Peter as another hero had the experiences of both worlds to help benefit the world by establishing God’s Kingdom on the earth. Jesus truly became the master of the two worlds closer to the end of his story when he arose from the dead and as a resurrected being. No longer mortal, but as God, he became the master of two worlds.

17. Freedom to Live

In the last step of the hero’s journey, our hero finally has the freedom to live. He has faced all the tests and won, or at least survived. He has crossed the threshold and returned with the Ultimate Boon regardless of it being an object or knowledge. Now he can share the boon with those he originally left behind.

Jesus, from the previous step, now has the freedom to live in full glory as he triumphantly ascends to heaven to be back in His Father’s presence.

The Wikipedia article on the Monomyth provides these examples from the world created by Tolkien: (quote) “In the Lord of the Rings, the hobbits became prominent citizens of the Shire with the wisdom they had gained. Aragon reigns as King for many decades and ushers in a new age of peace and then rebuilds Middle Earth.” (end quote)

And with that, the journey is over. The cowboy can ride into the sunset, Frodo can sail away with the elves, and Luke Skywalker can celebrate in the Ewok village.

Critiques and Concluding Remarks

The book I have used extensively through this series of essays is called “The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” Even though there are many myths and legends that follow the pattern Joseph Campbell proposed in his book, there have been more that a thousand heroes.

What I mean by this is that they monomyth is not as universal as its name would imply. Some critics of the hero’s journey said that it focuses too much on classical mythologies and ignored those from Africa and “non-classical” sources.

To Wikipedia’s credit, there is a section criticizing the monomyth in the article I referenced through the essay series.

“American novelist, Kurt Vonnegut satirized Campbell’s view on the monomyth as being excessively complicated by offering his interpretation, called the ‘In the Hole’ theory; loosely defined as ‘The hero gets into trouble. The hero gets our of trouble.’”

With so many different patterns available, how legitimate is the monomyth today? This has become a very famous literary pattern and is used a lot in novels and in Hollywood since Campbell’s book was published. Many of the examples from these essays come from modern sources, like Star Wars. Star Wars consciously patterned its hero after the monomyth. This doesn’t invalidate the examples but does show that the proverbial cart is in front of the horse.

Some of the other patterns for stories include the Aarne-Thompson system that we discussed in the “Fairy Tales Defined” which categorized 2500 basic plot lines. Christian Ankerstjerne from the forums suggested that “detective stories” follow a unique but frequently used pattern to solve the crime-de-jour. One of my favorite patterns comes from classic Star Trek episodes. This pattern is summarized by Captain Kirk and crew find a new planet where they quickly beam down to the surface. The guy in the red shirt usually has a line like “Captain, look what I found…Aaaarrrgh” before Dr. Bones says, “He’s dead, Jim”. The aliens manifest themselves, there is conflict, conflict is resolved, Kirk makes out with the cute alien woman, and Spock says something logical. End of episode. Repeat 80 times for live action, Repeat 22 time for animation.

Personally, I have enjoyed the time that I have spent studying the monomyth and the hero’s journey. It has helped me more effectively appreciate the stories that I consume in different formats. It also helps me appreciate the stories that I found that do not pattern themselves after Campbell’s theories and wince when I see blatant use of the hero’s journey. I hope that you have enjoyed this discussion of the monomyth and learned something along the way.

I originally intended that this would be the last that I would discuss the Monomyth as a main subject of an essay, with the possibility of being stuck in a rut, there will be one more. One of my biggest criticisms of Joseph Campbell’s book was that he never took one character throughout each of the seventeen steps. So to conclude this essay series, the next Myth Show essay will take a one fictional character through all seventeen steps of the monomyth. Who it is may surprise you!

Resources

Resource material for this essay came from:

The book “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. Originally written in 1948 with a second edition in 1973.

The Wikipedia Entry on the Monomyth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth – Retrieved October 12, 2006)

The Wikipedia Entry on Star Trek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek – Retrieved March 6, 2006)

The Scripture: Internet Addition found at scriptures.lds.org. (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/matt/17 – Retrieved February 2, 2007)

The Encyclopedia Mythica Entries on Persus, Jason, and the Gorgon Sisters:

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/perseus.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/j/jason.html

http://www.pantheon.org/articles/g/gorgons.html

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