Netflix's Myths & Monsters: Joseph Campbell & The Hero's Journey ("Heroes & Villains," S1E1)

[Music] few myths are more exciting than tales of great heroes and the phones they encounter in their adventures such heroic quests are planned in tales from cultures across the globe and throughout history but there are often striking similarities between such stories the mighty warrior is all but invulnerable to harm the witches and wizards who help or hinder the menacing Giants the beguiling temptations the journeys into dark caves or into the depths of the underworld all are found in tales from different cultures and different times but what if there was more to these echoes than mere coincidence that was the belief of an American mythologist named Joseph Campbell from an early age Campbell was obsessed with mythology as a young man in the 1930s he spent years examining ancient texts from around the world it was in this period of intense study that a theory formed in his mind it was a theory that would make him famous in the countless stories that he read and analyzed Campbell thought he spotted something a pattern [Music] camera was trying to make a claim for a sort of universal human nature that can be appealed to by a certain kind of story he laid out what he thought was the story that's common to all hero myths everywhere in the world Campbell believed that you could read this kind of mythological quest or the hero's journey throughout all of Western mythology as he engages with non-western cultures he develops this idea further until we get the book the hero of a thousand faces the hero with a thousand faces was published in 1949 drawing on the pioneering works of Sigmund Freud Carl Jung and others Campbell outlined the recurring stages he had identified in story after story from culture after culture he dubbed it the hero's journey the hero with a thousand faces became an unlikely bestseller with a particular impact on the big screen George Lucas the creator Star Wars has credited the book with shaping his thoughts about the saga and Luke's thrilling adventures follow almost every stage laid out by the hero's journey [Music] all hero's journeys begin with the hero at rest in their home culture so one particular stage is the call to adventure an outsider figure comes and calls them to adventure says come on Luke you've got to go do something now and help this girl he embarks on a journey into the unknown a run that's usually much more crowded with the supernatural the hero is tested in these strange surroundings and has to pass various trials in order to continue within that realm he meets various mental and also various companion figures who become part of a sort of entourage that he travels around with typically he then has a near-death experience type adventure where he plunges down into some kind of abyss but the hero survives this darkest moment and then achieves perhaps new knowledge or a treasure as a reward and then he flees pursued by the enemy from which he arises transformed capable of fulfilling the quest on which he started out there's one final test and that is often a moment of life or death the hero has to use all the knowledge that he's gained up until this far to come through that and succeed the end result is a new world a new status quo that comes into being [Music] the hero with a thousand faces became one of the most influential books in the 20th century but how did Campbell's ideas apply away from the cinema screen does Yvonne's battle with Koshchei the deathless fit the model what about the other great adventures of Mythology is every hero truly on the same journey or is Joseph Campbell's theory just another myth we begin with Arthur legendary king of the Britons and the tale of the greatest quest his Knights embarked upon the quest for the Holy Grail [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Writer's Digest

Views: 112,233

Rating: 4.9137254 out of 5

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Id: DwnxYXOTy94

Length: 5min 4sec (304 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 25 2018