Blog: Due 6 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 28.
Summarize the theme of your assigned section in about 100 words. What is the relationship to the monomyth? Sections were assigned randomly.
Graham Williams, Part II, chapter II, section 1
Dan Rust, Part II, chapter II, section 2
Will Shirley, Part II, chapter II, section 3
Emory Smith, Part II, chapter II, section 4
Camille Olson, Part II, chapter III, section 1
Kenna Collums, Part II, chapter III, section 2
Katie Portner, Part II, chapter III, section 3
Brad Gordon, Part II, chapter III, section 4
Kristen Laprade, Part II, chapter III, section 5
Kevin Scott, Part II, chapter III, section 6
Lance Ezell, Part II, chapter III, section 7
Archer Hodges, Part II, chapter III, section 8
Matt Niemeyer, Part II, chapter V, section 1
Timothy McArthur, Part II, chapter V, section 2
Madison Stewart, Part II, Epilogue, section 1
Tony Stvartak, Part II, Epilogue, section 2
Ryan Rigney, Part II, Epilogue, section 3
Part II, Chapter III, Section II
ReplyDeleteIn the section title "Childhood of the Human Hero," Campbell writes about the characteristics of the hero at a young age. According to Campbell, "the tendency has always been to endow the hero with extraordinary powers from the moment of birth." Everyone is either born a hero, or he or she is not going to be a hero. In the monomyth, the childhood is crucial in the development of the hero. If something miraculous happens, like in Pope Gregory the Great's life, then the people think of that as a sign that he or she is a great hero. Pope Gregory the Great, even after being born of incest and being guilty of the crime himself, was elected pope because he found the keys in the belly of a whale after seventeen years in prison. His childhood led him to his heroic, symbolic adventure.
My section, “The Hero as World Redeemer,” describes how the hero essentially renews the cycle of life and the hero’s journey when his mission is finally complete. This is due to the fact that he “becomes one with the father” during the atonement and therefore ends up repeating the actions of tyranny that led him to defeat the father in the first place. Soon, a new hero will arise to try to overthrow the former hero, who has simply become the new father. This will all occur unless the hero “crucifies himself” at the very moment of his highest success (like Jesus in the Bible), thereby eliminating the inevitable rise to tyranny that, according to Campbell, always follows the completion of the hero’s journey.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Hero as Emperor and as Tyrant,” Campbell discusses the transformation of a hero when his character seems to deteriorate. Campbell says that the hero begins questioning about his father. The first step in this section is to search for the father; Water Jar Boy feels the strong desire to meet his father. In Mama Mia, Sophie feels like she needs to know who her father is before she can get married. This example shows part of Campbell’s ideas in a modern movie. After the discovery, the hero begins to gain power. Power has the ability to corrupt some of the best people. The main point of this section is to show the transformation from hero to villain in a sense. This section relates to the monomyth, because it is a part of the hero cosmogonic cycle.
ReplyDeleteIn my section "Myth and Dream," Campbell discusses how myths and dreams are inevitable in life. He mentions that the “dream is the personalized myth, myth the depersonalized dream.” (pg. 14) Regardless, they are very closely related. Although most myths may seem farfetched and hard to believe, they have survived over time and still influence the way people think today. Campbell also explains that all the heroes in each myth follow the same basic journey, and that each myth follows an archetype of the hero. He means that there are certain stages the hero must go through in order to achieve heroism. Campbell talks about how some myths, like dreams, do not always make sense and are hard to interpret too. The reader must make of these unusual stories as they will.
ReplyDelete"The Shapeshifter" section in the epilogue discusses the variety of ways that myth affects societies. The section opens with a small piece concerning the god Proteus, who like countless otherer mythological figures, can change form at his own discretion. Campbell then ties this shapeshifting quality into the functions of myth as described by a number of different experts on the subject. He quotes Durkheim, saying that mythology is "a repository of allegorical instruction, to shape the individual to his group (page 330). This idea is present in most myths, giving purpose to the lives of individuals in society and explaining phenomena that appear to have no explanation. Myth also, as in Christianity or any other religion, can serve to stregnthen morals, discover inner peace, and provide a bright outlook for the afterlife.
ReplyDeletePart II, Epilogue, section 1
ReplyDeleteIn my section, titled “The Shapeshifter”, Campbell admits that there are many different ways to interpret myth. He says that one must grasp tightly to the myth, as the life voyager to Proteus, to truly understand and learn from them. Many intellects over the years have attempted to interpret myths different ways. From Frazer to the Church, people and entities have all made judgments on mythologies based on their own viewpoints. Campbell believes that myth encompasses all of these interpretations, and he believes that it has served its purpose by helping the people it was made for in the time that it was made.
"The Hero As Saint" is the section talking about the hero being the "world-renouncer." He gives up all worldly possessions and all human emotions in order to, in essence, become one with the "imperishable." The example Campbell gives is of Oedipus, who unknowingly slayed his father and married his mother. When he discovered the ugly truth, "he plucked his eyes out and wandered in penance over the earth." His eyes were what betrayed him, so he plucked them out to symbolize his renunciation. Wandering in penance over the earth is to say that he chose to be alone for the rest of his life in order to pay for his sins.
ReplyDeleteThe section that I had was titled "Departure of the Hero," in which Campbell gives many examples of the ways that heroes depart from civilization. the first example is through death that the hero leaves, however is not finished as he goes on to the afterlife. The Lord took his soul while he was asleep and allowed into paradise. The next example was about the Blessed One and his departure is into Nirvana. Campbell states that the hero can try to resist death but cannot postpone his exit forever. However the hero will always be remembered as a "synthesizing image" (p.307).
ReplyDeletePart II Chapter II Section 4
ReplyDeleteIn this section, Folk Stories of Virgin Motherhood, Campbell explains thatvirgin births can happen in numerous ways. His main example is a folktale from Tonga. A woman gave birth to a clam and threw it in the bathing pool of Sinilua. The clam was impregnated by Sinilau’s coconut juice. She gave birth to two handsome boys. When they became men, they attended Sinilau’s festival. Sinilau was mad that they were disturbing the festival and ordered them to be killed, but the knives would not cut them. Then the boys told him that they were his sons. Sinilau was very happy and asked to see there mother. They broke open the clam and inside was a beautiful woman. Sinilau married her and ordered all of his other wives and children to be cooke. This story has all elements of the hero's journey.
In "The Hero as a Warrior," the title basically explains the entire section. Campbell states, "Many monsters remaining from from primeval times still lurk in the outlying regions, and through malice or desperation these set themselves against the human community. They have to be cleared away.....The elementary deeds of the hero are those of the clearing of the fields" (pg. 290). The main story Campbell focuses on in the section is one of "Blood Clot Boy." Blood Clot Boy first killed the murderous son-in-law of his foster parents. He then defeated a woman that always wanted to wrestle people and then killed them. After that, he defeated another woman that tricked people into swinging with her, then pushed them into the creek. This relates to the Crossing of the thresholds in the monomyth. During the crossings, most heroes must defeat something or complete a diffucult task. Thus, he is considered and seen as a warrior.
ReplyDeleteIn the "Matrix of Destiny" Campbell explains in more depth the dynamic of the Virgin Birth in mythology. Campbell describes the female as a fluctuating star. He uses the South Rhodesian myth of creation to explain the point he makes in this section. Maori creates Muwetsi and gives him a wife, Massassi. Maori warned Muwetsi that Massassi could only remain with him for two years. Muwetsi was granted another wife, Morongo, but after several times Maori warned Muwetsi to sleep with her no more. Muwetsi disobeyed and Morongo gave birth to lions, scorpions, snakes, and leopard. Muwetsi was eventually killed by his children, and Morongo was buried with him. However she had only been with Muwetsi for two years just as Maori promised. Campbell is trying to show that despite best efforts destiny could not be avoided. The hero Muwetsi deviates from the plan Maori has for him and suffers the ultimate penalty.
ReplyDeleteMy section consists of the final words written in the book, and as such is something of a summary of the entire work. Campbell trumpets (and some might say exaggerates) the successes of science, saying “there is no hiding place for the gods from the searching telescope and microscope.” He goes on to explain that the greatest mystery that mankind now has to face is the mystery of humanity itself. This book has dealt with the ways that humanity has managed to explain the world around it using the monomyth, but now we have science to replace the monomyth.
ReplyDeletePart II, Chapter III, Section 4
ReplyDeleteThis section is about the hero as a lover. The myth Campbell uses is an Irish myth about Cuchulainn. He fell in love with a young maiden, but her dad did not want the two to be married. So, the dad sent Cuchulainn on a mission that the dad supposed Cuchulainn would never return from. However, Cuchulainn made it through the tests. When he came back, he carried the maiden off and married her. The point Campbell makes is that before Cuchulainn's journey, Cuchulainn did not have the strength to marry the girl. As Campbell states, "The adventure itself had given him the capacity to annihilate all opposition" (p. 295).
Part II, Chapter III, Section I
ReplyDeleteMy section explains how heroes come from supernatural beings (such as gods) and are described in human form in order for people of the place with the legend to understand. Legends begin in prehistory where time is vague and are introduced into a time period so people can relate. The heroes of these legends have supernatural attributes to distinguish them from the human race and show their resemblance to the “gods” of the society they teach a lesson to. These supernatural attributes lead to a better leadership and leaders are told these stories in hopes of gaining successes that may be possible compared to the supernatural ones of the legends.