Thursday, January 5, 2012

The Hero's Journey


Joseph Campbell, the scholar of mythology, wrote about the classical story structure he called "The Hero's Journey." Campbell was close friends with filmmaker George Lucas (the old professor died in a home Lucas provided on his ranch). It is no accident that "Star Wars" clearly follows the mythic story structure of "The Hero's Journey."

      THE HERO'S JOURNEY

  • Ordinary world
  • Call to adventure
  • Refusal of the call
  • Meeting the mentor
  • First threshold (first test)
  • Meeting allies, enemies
  • More tests (complications, set-backs)
  • Approach to the inmost cave
  • Supreme ordeal
  • Reward (seizing the boon, or, in some myths, resurrection)
  • The road back home
  • Arriving at home with the boon (the elixir, the wisdom, the renewed person, etc.)

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