`` The Odyssey `` The Epic Story Of The Hero Journey

Heroes, as depicted in literature, often undertake the most difficult tasks and place themselves in mortal danger in order to bring back, for themselves and their societies, both knowledge and treasure. Their stories follow what Joseph Campbell calls the â€Å"Hero Journey.† The Odyssey, as the epic story of the hero Odysseus, follows closely the complete cycle of Joseph Campbell’s Hero Journey, both as a physical and as a psychological undertaking. The Hero Journey, used as a framework for both Odysseus’ physical and mental journeys, serves to bind the two together. Each of Odysseus’s physical difficulties can be viewed as a metaphor for a psychological hardship that he must overcome, and by overcoming these hardships, Odysseus†¦show more content†¦Odysseus’ journey begins twenty years prior to the start of The Odyssey. At home, he is called upon by Agamemnon to join the Atrides in a war to conquer Troy and return Helen to her rightful hus band, Menelaus. For one month Odysseus refuses to leave his safe home on Ithaca. We are not told of the rationale behind his final decision to join the war; however, we must assume that he believes he will be successful, returning home with many spoils of war. His decision to leave Ithaca 2 cannot be merely an external one: he is a young king, and while he rules his land with great strength, he is inexperienced (he does not wish to go off to battle (Book 24, ll. 126-128)). In part, his reasons for initiating his journey must include the experience and maturity he will gain fighting the Trojans. We can take the initial threshold Odysseus must cross to be the Trojan War itself. The war represents a first step for Odysseus—after all, while it is his trickery that eventually wins the war for the Achaeans (it was his idea to build the large wooden horse in which the Achean army hid and from which they successfully sacked Troy (Book 4, ll. 304-306)), we are introduced to Odysseus as â€Å"the man of twists and turns† (Book 1, l. 1). Cunning is a trait he already possesses: It cannot be the object of his journey; it merely starts him off. Yet he must initially survive the battle, and his survival proves hisShow MoreRelatedSundiata Essay971 Words   |  4 Pages Epics Sundiata was written in Africa. Gilgamesh was the oldest one written. Other works include the Iliad and the Odyssey, which were written by the blind prophet Homer. What do all these works of literature have in common with each other? The similarity that all these works of literature have is that they are all epics. What does this mean? What is an epic? 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