The Role Of The Hero's Journey In The Odyssey

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What is an epic hero? An epic hero can be described as a brave and noble character in a story, and can be easily identified if they follow the “Hero’s Journey”, an archetype that was built by the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer. One character who follows the hero’s journey is Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series. The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling is a fantasy series about a young boy who learns early on in the story that he is a wizard and that he must overcome Lord Voldemort (the main antagonist in the story) in order to save the wizarding world from despair and destruction. Other characters that aide him in the journey are his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. J.K. Rowling did a fantastic job of making Harry Potter …show more content…

Harry completes step one in the first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when he learns that he is a famous wizard and that he must go to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to complete his wizarding education. At first, Harry insists that there must be a mistake but eventually learns to accept it. The second step of the Hero’s Journey is when the hero is helped by a superior figure (like a god or goddess) that eventually becomes their mentor for the remainder of the story. This could easily be compared to when Harry meets Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. Early on he takes a liking to Harry and aids him throughout the story in several, significant ways. Other good examples could be Hagrid the half-giant and his godfather Sirius Black. Finally, Harry completes the third step of the Hero’s Journey, which is when the hero is given magical gifts. Harry is given gifts throughout the story, but the main one that helps him with his adventures would be his invisibility cloak, which he inherited from his deceased father as well as his wand. Throughout the story he also receives other things such as a magical map and

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