The thousand-faced hero

The book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" was first published in 1949. It is a work by Joseph Campbell on comparative mythology, in which the author discusses his theory of the mythological structure of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world myths.

Since the publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbell's theory has been consciously applied by a wide range of contemporary writers and artists. Director George Lucas acknowledged Campbell's theory in mythology and its influence on the Star Wars films.

The Joseph Campbell Foundation and the New World Library released a new edition of The Hero with a Thousand Faces in July 2008 as part of a series of books, audio and video recordings of the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell. In 2011, Time included the book in its list of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since the magazine was founded in 1923.

Writing a book

Campbell explores the theory that mythological narratives are often united by a common fundamental structure. The similarity of these myths prompted Campbell to write his book, in which he describes in detail the structure of the monomite. He calls the motive of the archetypal narrative "the hero's adventure." In a famous passage from the introduction to the Hero with a Thousand Faces , Campbell summarizes the monomy:

The hero departs from the everyday world into the realm of supernatural miracles: fabulous forces meet there and a decisive victory is won: the hero returns from this mysterious adventure with the power capable of bestowing benefits to his neighbors.

In outlining the monomite, Campbell describes a number of stages or steps along this path. The "Hero's Adventure" begins in the ordinary world. He has to move away from the ordinary world when he receives a call to adventure. With the help of a mentor, the hero will cross a guarded threshold leading him into a supernatural world where familiar laws and order do not apply. There the hero will go on a journey of trials, where he will be tested along the way. The archetypal hero is sometimes helped by allies. As the hero faces a challenge, he faces the greatest challenge in this journey. Accepting the challenge, the hero will receive a reward or a boon. Campbell's theory of the monomite continues with the inclusion of metaphorical death and resurrection. Then the hero must decide to return with this boon to the ordinary world. Then the hero faces new challenges on the way back. Upon the hero's return, the gift or gift can be used to improve the hero's ordinary world, in what Campbell calls the application of the gift.

While many myths seem to follow the outline of Campbell's monomite, there are some differences in the inclusion and sequence of some stages. Nevertheless, there is a lot of literature and folklore that follow the motif of the archetypal narrative, paralleling the more general stages of "Departure" (sometimes called Separation), "Initiation" and "Return". "Departure" deals with a hero going on a quest, including a call to adventure. "Dedication" refers to the hero's adventures that will test him along the way. The last part of the monomite is the "Return", which follows the hero's journey home.Campbell studied religious, spiritual, mythological and literary classics, including the stories of Osiris, Prometheus, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad and Jesus. The book provides similarities of the stories and references to them when he breaks down the structure of the monomite.

The book includes a discussion of the "hero's journey" using Freudian concepts popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Campbell's theory involves a mixture of Jungian archetypes, unconscious forces, and Arnold van Hennep's structuring of Passage rituals to provide some illumination. The Hero's Journey continues to influence artists and intellectuals in contemporary art and culture, offering a major utility for understanding Campbell beyond the forms of mid-20th century analysis.