Mike Read

9/19/16

Lit/Film
Heroes Journey

Ordinary World
The Odyssey begins in Ithaca, King Odysseus home. Where he lives with his wife Penelope and newborn
son Telemachus.

The Call to Adventure

Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from
deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change. Odysseus call to adventure begins with
the Trojan war. When the Trojans attack the Greeks, Odysseus must travel to Troy to lead the armies in
battle. Destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from within the
pale of his society to a zone unknown. This fateful region of both treasure and danger may be variously
represented: as a distant land, a forest, a kingdom underground, beneath the waves, or above the sky, a
secret island, lofty mountaintop, or profound dream state; but it is always a place of strangely fluid and
polymorphous beings, unimaginable torments, superhuman deeds, and impossible delight.

The Refusal of the Call

The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however
briefly. Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead. Odysseus reacts
pessimistically and has to make sure it is not a trick, but he answers the call! He is also hesitant since his
first son Telemachus was just born. Often when the call is given, the future hero first refuses to heed it.
This may be from a sense of duty or obligation, fear, insecurity, a sense of inadequacy, or any of a range
of reasons that work to hold the person in his or her current circumstances.

Meeting with the Mentor

At the threshold, heroes will encounter helpers and supernatural aids. Often they bring a talisman to
help us through the ordeal. The most important of these helpers is the mentor. Once the hero has
committed to the quest, consciously or unconsciously, his or her guide and magical helper appears, or
becomes known. More often than not, this supernatural mentor will present the hero with one or more
talismans or artifacts that will aid them later in their quest.
Athena: goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war is Odysseus guide and wants to help him although she has
been instructed not to; she takes pity on him while other gods forsake him. She constantly saves
Odysseus from death, and gives him guidance in the form of information.

Crossing the Threshold

The hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar
rules and values. After the war the gods became angry with the Greeks for their prideful ways; a great
storm emerges and throws them off course. The usual person is more than content, he is even proud, to
remain within the indicated bounds, and popular belief gives him every reason to fear so much as the
first step into the unexplored. The adventure is always and everywhere a passage beyond the veil of the
known into the unknown; the powers that watch at the boundary are dangerous; to deal with them is
risky; yet for anyone with competence and courage the danger fades."

Tests, Allies and Enemies

During their journeys heros encounter many tests and challenges that attempt to throw them off
course. Odysseus has many tests in his travels back to Ithaca, which include:
Polyphemus (The Cyclops)- is the giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the
Cyclopes described in the Odyssey. His name means "abounding in songs and legends". Polyphemus first
appears as a savage man-eating giant in the ninth book of Homer's Odyssey. Some later Classical writers
link his name with the nymph Galatea and present him in a different light.
Cicones- Ciconians or Kikonians were a Homeric Thracian tribe, whose stronghold in the time of
Odysseus was the town of Ismara (or Ismarus), located at the foot of mount Ismara
Lotus eaters- Odysseus and his crew finally escape, having lost six men per ship. A storm sent by Zeus
sweeps them along for nine days before bringing them to the land of the Lotus-eaters, where the
natives give some of Odysseus's men the intoxicating fruit of the lotus.
Lastrygonians- are a tribe of giant cannibals from ancient Greek mythology.
Sirens- Odysseus passes Circe's counsel on to his men. They approach the island of the lovely Sirens,
and Odysseus, as instructed by Circe, plugs his men's ears with beeswax and has them bind him to the
mast of the ship. He alone hears their song flowing forth from the island, promising to reveal the future.
Scylla & Charybdis- in Greek mythology, two immortal and irresistible monsters who beset the narrow
waters traversed by the hero Odysseus in his wanderings described in Homer's Odyssey, Book XII. They
were later localized in the Strait of Messina.
Cattle of the Sun God- These are the prized sheep and cattle of the Sun God Helios. Odysseus has been
warned by the oracle against even thinking about going near them. But Odysseus does. He and his men
land on their island.
Calypso- Calypso was a nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia, where she
detained Odysseus for several years. She is generally said to be the daughter of Atlas the Titan.

Approach

The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world. The Phaeacians are
so moved by Odysseus's story that they offer his safe passage home. When Odysseus wakes up in Ithaca,
Athena reveals herself to him and explains that suitors are attempting to steal his wife and his throne.
Together they make plans to defeat the suitors.

The Ordeal
Heros fortunes hits rock bottom and he confronts his greatest fear. Odysseus disguised as an old beggar
hides out near his home. His son arrives and he reveals his true identity. Odysseus takes part in
Penelopes challenge and wins by stringing his own bow and shooting an arrow through the 12 axe
heads. With his son he kills all the suitors.
The Reward
The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death. There may be celebration, but there is
also danger of losing the treasure again. His reward is winning back his place of power and being able to
be with his wife again, and his son and his surviving father.

The Road Back

The hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is
brought home. Odysseus travels to visit his father Laertes The returning hero, to complete his
adventure, must survive the impact of the world. Many failures attest to the difficulties of this lifeaffirmative threshold. The first problem of the returning hero is to accept as real, after an experience of
the soul-satisfying vision of fulfillment, the passing joys and sorrows, banalities and noisy obscenities of
life. and reveals himself to him. The suitors fathers show up to get revenge on Odysseus.

The Resurrection
At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home. He or she is purified by a
last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level. By the
heros action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved. He must deal with
consequences of confronting the dark force. As such, Odysseus fights the group of angry fathers until
Athena makes them stop.

Return with the Elixir

After Transformation and Atonement, the hero faces the final stage of his journey: The Return to
everyday life. The elixir can be treasure, love, freedom, wisdom, etc. For Odysseus the return means a
return to his throne and kingship and being reunited with his wife and son. Peace is brought to Ithaca.
The hero is the champion of things becoming, not of things become, because he is. 'Before Abraham
was, I AM.' He does not mistake apparent changelessness in time for the permanence of Being, nor is he
fearful of the next moment (or of the 'other thing'), as destroying the permanent with its change.

'Nothing retains its own form; but Nature, the greater renewer, ever makes up forms from forms. Be
sure there's nothing perishes in the whole universe; it does but vary and renew its form.' Thus the next
moment is permitted to come to pass."