Odyssey Monomyth Essay

Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth describes the basic event sequence found within a hero’s journey. The Monomyth comprises of three stages, Departure/Separation, Initiation, and Return. These three stages each have several sub-stages equating to seventeen stages total (Monomyth, n.d.). The process of identifying the different stages of the Monomyth within Homer’s The Odyssey will unfold throughout this paper. While traditionally essayists only analyze Odysseus’ journey using the Monomyth, this paper will additionally analyze Telemachus’ journey, Odysseus’ only son.

The first stage of the Monomyth is the call to adventure in which the hero originates in their own normality when he receives new information that acts as a call to head off into the unknown

As he and Minerva went in search of Nestor, Telemachus asks "But how, Mentor," replied Telemachus, "dare I go up to Nestor, and how am I to address him? I have never yet been used to holding long conversations with people, and am ashamed to begin questioning one who is so much older than myself" (Homer, The Odyssey, 3). It becomes clear that Telemachus is now in the belly of the beast. “The belly of the whale represents the final separation from the hero’s known world and self. By entering this stage, the person shows willingness to undergo a metamorphosis” (Monomyth, n.d.). Telemachus is far from home and unaccustomed to conversing in an adult

He sailed first to Ismarus and plundered the city. This brought a battle upon him and his crew causing them to lose half a dozen men a ship. Then a hurricane veered his ship off course and landed him in the land of the Lotus Eaters. While the Lotus Eaters were friendly in and of themselves, the lotus they offered a few of his men caused them to lose all desire to return home. The men sought only to stay among the Lotus Eaters chewing on lotus. Odysseus had to force the men onto the ship and adhere them to the vessel. And once more, they set