The Hero's Journey: Epic Poetry

Introduction

At the beginning of the epic, Gilgamesh is a hedonistic and ravenous king who rules his kingdom cruelly, but is soon changed after the gods bless him with a friend who is nearly a match for the god-king’s greatness, the beastman Enkidu. Together, Gilgamesh and Enkidu embark on fantastic adventures until Enkidu is struck with illness by the gods and perishes. Mourning his friend and fearing his own death, Gilgamesh embarks on a final adventure to achieve immortality but instead gains the closest to immortality that a mortal can hope for.

Introduction

Homer’s epic poem is one of the oldest examples of the Hero’s Journey archetype.

Odysseus, the protagonist of the epic, is a hero who after having fought in the battle of Troy wishes to return to his kingdom of Ithaca and to his wife Penelope. However, all manner of perils lie in his way including monsters, temptresses, and the wrath of an angry sea god.

Unlike most Homeric heroes, Odysseus actually changes over the course of his journey, learning the importance of controlling his temper and pride.

Breakdown of Odysseus's Hero's Journey

In the Greek classic The Odyssey, the hero Odysseus must also go on a hero’s journey.

1. Ordinary world - Odysseus is at home with his wife and son.
2. Call to adventure - Odysseus is called to fight the Trojans.
3. Refusal of the call - He doesn’t want to leave his family.
4. Meeting with the mentor - The goddess Athena guides Odysseus.
5. Crossing the first threshold - After the war, the gods are angry, and Odysseus’ ship is taken off course.
6. Tests, allies, and enemies - Odysseus and his men must go through several tests, including fighting a sea monster and a cyclops.
7. Approach - Odysseus’ crew opens the bag of winds when they are nearly home, sending them away again.
8. Ordeal - Odysseus must go to the underworld.
9. Reward - Odysseus receives passage home.
10. The road back - Odysseus returns home to find his wife is being courted by many suitors.
11. Resurrection of the hero - Odysseus is patient and dresses as a beggar to test his wife’s fidelity.
12. Return with the elixir - He learns she has been faithful, and their union is restored.

Introduction

The protagonist of the poem, Dante, must delve into the deepest pits of hell in order to reach heaven where Dante’s wife, Beatrice, awaits him. Through the horrifying yet vivid imagery of the underworld, Dante learns of the nature of justice as well as evil and God’s will.

Introduction 

The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer.

Set in the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of Ilium by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. Although the story covers only a few weeks in the final year of the war, the Iliad mentions or alludes to many of the Greek legends about the siege.

Breakdown of Achille's Hero's Journey

The pattern occurs three times, each withdrawal (W) followed by destruction (D) and then a return (R):

W1      Achilles storms out of the Greek camp. (Book 1)

D1       Many Greek warriors die as the result of his absence. (Books 4–15)

R1       Patroclus wears Achilles’ armor and returns to battle as a surrogate for him. (Book 16)

W2      Achilles himself refuses to return. (Book 16)

D2       Hector kills Patroclus. (Book 16)

R2       Achilles “returns” to the edge of the battlefield to drive the Trojans away from Patroclus’ corpse by shouting in a terrifying way. (Book 18)

W3      Achilles withdraws in various ways from contact with his humanity, crossing over significant boundaries that define human life. (Books 19–22)

D3       Achilles kills Hector. (Book 22)

R3       Achilles consoles Priam and returns the body of Hector for burial. (Book 24)

Introduction

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025. Scholars call the anonymous author the "Beowulf poet". 

The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 6th century. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother attacks the hall and is then defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes king of the Geats. Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a tower on a headland in his memory.                                                                                        British Library: The single surviving manuscript

The enduring appeal and influence of Beowulf

Some 1,300 years on from when most historians believe it was written, Beowulf continues to be shared, adapted and revised, whether on screen, in print or in song.

JRR Tolkien, who was a noted expert on the poem, is widely thought to have taken inspiration from Beowulf for his Lord of the Rings trilogy.

According to Prof Andrew Burn, from University College London (UCL), the roots of popular medieval-themed video games and TV shows can also be found in this epic saga. "Look at Lord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Game of Thrones, any of those big TV franchises, and you realise what the perennial source of interest there is in the same themes: bravery, mortality, power struggles, social hierarchy," he says.

Tolkien, who was a professor of Anglo-Saxon English, completed his own translation of Beowulf in 1926.

Irish poet Seamus Heaney's 1999 translation became a bestseller, and children's author Michael Morpurgo has retold the story for younger readers. There have also been comic books, films, TV series and documentaries.

Breakdown of Beowulf's Hero's Journey

The Old English poem Beowulf is a great example of the hero’s journey.