Rome Foundational Myth: The Hero's Journey

When creating a story, many great minds will use a pattern to enthrall readers and shape them into a hero. Established by Joseph Campbell, The Hero 's Journey is the iconic template many utilize to plan their imaginative tale. The Hero’s Journey is the cycle in which the protagonist ventures into an unknown world where he or she will go through a series of adventures and learn moral lessons. Heroes in ancient myths such as Homer 's epic poem, The Odyssey follows this formula since the protagonist, Odysseus, faces hardships throughout different regions that ultimately change his once arrogant character. Throughout Homer 's monomyth, Odysseus undergoes challenges that teach him the importance of humility.

The hero’s journey describes the pattern of a story that is seen in myths, drama, fantasy and others. It includes specific archetypes that create that pattern . Without the majority of these archetypes, the story could not be defined as thus. Star Wars: A New Hope is a classic example of the hero’s journey. Luke is the hero, while the others play essential archetypal characters. One of the most important is Princess Leia. She first plays the vulnerable damsel in distress, but she quickly changes into a powerful character. She soon becomes the goddess for Luke and the temptress for Han Solo. Princess Leia plays three vital archetypes throughout the journey, the damsel in distress, the goddess and the temptress.

As Rome’s government began to change, the leadership became much less consistent. According to a chart compiled from various resources that lists the Roman emperors between 235 BCE and 285 BCE (Document 1), a majority of these emperors ruled for roughly two to three years, however some reigned for as little as or less than a year and some as much as seven to eight years. This constant change in leadership left the Roman army questioning their leadership often times more devoted to their earnings than to the man paying them. These leaders became careless as time went on, as stated in Vegetius’ Concerning Military Matters (Document 2), and the conflicting and constantly changing opinions on military strategy left the rigor and morale of the army in shambles. He states “...because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary armor began to seem heavy since the soldiers rarely ever wore it. Therefore, they first asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates… and then the helmets.” Because of this, the Roman army fell easy prey to enemy archers. Additionally, not only were the Roman soldiers dying at a much higher rate, thus increasing the demand for soldiers, but the number of individuals affected by mandatory conscription was also decreasing.

The Hero's Journey is a form of story structure that can be seen in almost all stories. The Hero's Journey is a twelve stage structure that travels through the ordinary world, call to adventure, refusal, meeting with the mentor, crossing the threshold, tests, approach to the inmost cave, ordeal, reward, the road back, resurrection, and ends with the return with the elixir. The Hero's Journey structure seems to fit into any story because of the story arcs that are followed by the heroes of stories. A great example of this is the movie, Toy Story. From the characters to the story arc Toy Story oozes with the structure of the Hero's Journey. Based on its characters and plot the movie Toy Story follows the Hero's Journey model. The movie is about two people who have a bitter rivalry but need each other to get out of a life or death situation.

When an empire falls, there was more than one cause. Despite its successful start as a thriving empire, Rome's fall was due to a number of events. Events such as, foreign invasions, military problems, and most importantly, legal injustice. Rome had begun in 750 BCE, as a peaceful, thriving settlement, until their government turned from a Republic into a dictatorship. Then, political strain started occurring in the heart of Rome. Roman leaders started focusing on using force instead of compromise to overtake land. Rome had started to get lazy, and was open for attack. Outside invaders infiltrated Rome, not completely destroying the empire, but destroying the city and heart of Rome.

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is an excellent utopian/dystopian fictional story about a man who fights for the freedom to read. The government in this world has made almost every book (with a few exceptions) illegal. They have done this due to the contradictory ideas found in them. It was thought that all of the contradictions might confuse citizens on what is the truth and what isn’t. This book, along with being a utopian fiction, follows the Hero’s Journey archetype. Even though this book may not have purposely been made as an example of the Hero’s Journey the book and many others follow the paradigm. It may not be a perfect example, however, it definitely has it’s moments.

Military mistakes, natural disasters, these are just a couple of ways Rome began to fall. Rome was falling, the reasons why are natural disaster and diseases, military mistakes, and foreign invasions.

Have you ever thought to yourself, what makes a hero a real hero? Hercules is a Disney movie about a hero, who has to go through a self-discovering journey to reunite with his family. Hercules goes through all the phases of a hero’s journey.

A hero's journey is a pattern of narrative identities that appears in many dramas, storytellings, myths, and psychological development. The journey consist of twelve different steps and in the story Beowulf we read about the magnificent and rough journey that Beowulf and this men accomplish. Many people question if Beowulf is considered a hero and if what he did was good. The journey that he embarked on, leads me to believe that Beowulf is a hero and always will be.

The hero's journey is a popular form of writing that involves a hero who embarks on an adventure, quest, or journey where in the climax they win a victory, then comes home transformed or changed. The book, “The Odyssey” is a prodigious example of the hero's journey. Odysseus is the hero of “The Odyssey”. All heroes in a hero's journey display particular traits. Odysseus displays perseverance and fortitude, two specific characteristics that all heroes should display.

Many know about the idea of the "monomyth," or the hero's journey as an outline for many of our modern books, movies, t.v. series, etc. Joseph Campbell's definition for the hero's journey is, "the quintessential (or best example) of an archetypal myth." The Disney film Hercules is one of the best examples of Joseph Campbell's monomyth.

In Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, he writes about the many different stages of the hero’s journey. He claims that the hero’s journey, or the monomyth, has existed as a guideline for authors and storytellers for centuries. The authors of these stories may have consciously utilized the monomyth, or the stories may be so commonly used that it became the natural way of telling a story about a hero. The monomyth is organized into three different phases: the initiation, separation, and return. Within these phases are the different encounters the hero has. This paper will discuss how the heroes Moses and Odysseus follow the path of the hero’s job journey in their respective stories. Both heroes existed long ago, before stories

The concept of “The Hero’s Journey” plays a major role in nearly every piece of fiction humanity has created since its inception, from epic poems to blockbuster movies. In many ways, works of fiction and some pieces of nonfiction could not exist and would not make sense without the concept of a Hero’s Journey; it allows the reader to comprehend and follow the progression of characters over the course of the story. While Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road may not display most of the archetypal qualities found in classic Hero’s Journeys such as J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit or Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad, it most clearly exemplifies the qualities of a Hero’s Journey through the Boy’s character in relation to the mentor, tests and enemies, and the

Greek mythological heroes, and Roman mythological heroes share similar trades, however are different in many ways. These similarities and differences can be identified when looking at the means for the creation of a hero, and a hero’s life. This essay will discuse the similarities and differences in Roman and Greek heroes by anylysing the primary and secondary sources they feuture in respectively. Firstly will context be given, secondly the secondary sources in which the heroes feature, and lastly the spefic Greek and Roman hero will be compared.

The ancient Roman saying states: All roads lead to Rome! And this was true, in this essay I will show what great achievements and inventions happened during the plus minus 500 years from 27 Before Common Era, to 476 Common Era, in the Roman Empire and argue how these achievements and inventions still have influences in our everyday life and the modern world we live in today. Of course the Roman Empire consisted of more than just Roads, the Roman legislative system, their customs and traditions, religions, social structure, political system, art, architecture, writing, philosophy, citizenship, language use and military advancements held their Empire and their citizens together. I will reflect and show, how some of these tools the Romans used almost 2000 years ago, still live on through us today.