Joseph Campbell’s 10 Steps to Hero’s Journey: Hercules’ Quest to Becoming a True Hero

 

Joseph Campbell’s 10 Steps to Hero’s Journey: Hercules’ Quest to Becoming a True Hero

            Ordinary people are not the only ones who were given the chance to become a hero. Even those who were born with extraordinary power were also given an opportunity for a quest on becoming a true hero. Joseph Campbell provided the steps to Hero’s Journey. Thus, the steps below show the steps of Hercules to Hero’s Journey.

Step 1: The Ordinary World

            Although Hercules was born in Mount Olympus by the demigods, he was raised on earth by his mortal parents. This makes him live in an ordinary world, with ordinary life, yet with extraordinary strength.

Step 2: The Call to Adventure

            Hercules was bullied in town because of his extraordinary strength. With this, his mortal parents admitted that he was not their real son, and they just found him when Hades had an evil plan for him.

Step 3: Cross the First Threshold

            With what he had discovered from his mortal parents, he decided to go to Mount Olympus to look for his father. He believed that this will let him feel what it feels like to live in a place where he belongs.

Step 4: Trials, Friends, and Foes

            Zeus can be considered as one of Hercules’ supporters. This is because he was the one who sent Hercules to train himself on being a true hero. His support is with Hercules all the way, but he let him discover his potential on becoming a true hero.

Step 5: Magical Mentor (or the Mentor with Supernatural Aid)

            To help Hercules on his quest for becoming a true hero, Zeus sent him to Philoctetes/Phil. He is popularly known for training the previous gods who attempted to be hero but failed to do so for some reasons.

Step 6: Dragon’s Lair

            The time when he fought against the monster with multiple heads can be considered as Step 6. The said monster was sent by Hades, the god of the underworld. During this scene, the people in Thebes do not trust his capabilities. With this, he is in the middle of fighting against the monster and proving his capability to the people. Luckily, he succeeds in doing so.

Step 7: Moment of Despair

            Just as when he feels like is close to becoming a true hero, a great distraction came out of the way. Hades used Meg, the woman whom Hercules loves, deceives him. Hades told Hercules that in exchange for Meg, he should pass his strength and power onto him. With the love he has for Meg, he did what Hades said. This is where the relationship between Hades and Meg unfolds, yet Meg regrets it. However, on the verge of giving up, Phil came to cheer him up and reminded him of his real power. This gives him the strength to fight the enemies along the way.

Step 8: Ultimate Treasure

            His dream of coming home with the gods was finally fulfilled. He was also able to regain his godlike strength. He was able to defeat the titans and Hades as well. Everything seems so peaceful, yet he still a wish that he wants to be fulfilled. This is the point where he was hit by a big realization.

Step 9: Homeward Bound

            In the middle of the celebration for his victory, he saw Meg who seems like walking away from him and happy seeing him finally reunited with the gods. He realized that he belongs to the Earth together with the mortals. Not having Meg by his side makes him feel empty.

Step 10: Rebirth & The Champion’s Return

            Zeus allowed Hercules to come back to the mortal world. With open arms, his delightful mortal parents embraced him for his homecoming. The people of town welcomed him with proud and loud cheers.

            It was shown how he seems to be ordinary life leads him to a victory of becoming a true hero. Joseph Campbell also provided the three main stages to Hero’s journey. In this time of the pandemic, we also have our Hercules who fought against the threat of COVID-19. The first stage is the departure. Looking at the previous situation, we were living a simple life, yet this pandemic came. This calls for an adventure for medical practitioners. The second stage is the initiation. Who would have thought where we’ll reach the point where we’ll be in the new normal. Many people lost their lives because of the said virus. Probably, one of the most painful is the medical practitioners who died serving the people in the time of the pandemic. However, there are still a lot of medical practitioners who continues to fight against COVID-19. As of now, our medical practitioners are still in the third stage. They haven’t returned, but still, have the strength to fight against virus.

 

Reference:

Scott, J. (2020). Hero’s journey steps: 10 stages to Joseph Campbell's Monomyth. Scott Jeffrey. https://scottjeffrey.com/heros-journey-steps/