Essay On The Hero's Journey In The Odyssey

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In the Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is forced to go on a journey for twenty years to fight at Troy, and return to Ithaca. The “Hero’s Journey” by Joseph Campbell represents the steps a hero must take on his journey. In the Odyssey, a work by Homer,the hero Odysseus reflects Joseph’s Campbell's monomyth in these three ways: The Call to Adventure, Supernatural Aid and, Reward and Journey Home.
The “Odyssey” relates to “The Hero’s Journey” one way with The Call to Adventure, where Odysseus first goes to Troy. Odysseus felt as if he was the kind of the world “...after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy.” The Hero’s Journey tells us, the readers that “Usually there is a discovery, some event, or some danger that sends them on the heroic path.” These quotes matter because they show how “The Odyssey” is a monomyth and can relate to the “Hero’s Journey”. …show more content…

Odysseus is granted this on two occasions. One being when he speaks to Telemachus in the underworld and when he receives help from Athena with getting rid of the suitors in Ithaca. When he discovers that there are suitors attempting to take his home, and his wife, Odysseus “..pondered how to hurt him worse, but Athena granted what [he] prayed for.” In “The Hero’s Journey” it also discusses how this can happen when a “...supernatural character gives them the means to complete the quest”. That quote shows one that Odysseus does experience this stage in the quest because he had Athena (his supernatural aid) give him the means to complete the quest (turns him into an old man). In all good epics the journey does not end when the quest completes, but it continues into the phase of the journey

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