The Hero's Journey

A big part of my high school program at the Pacific Community Charter High School is a project called Passages. Each student picks from six categories and completes one or more Passage each year. The Passages include topics like Adventure, Logical Inquiry, Career Exploration, Global Awareness, Practical Skills and Creativity. You must complete all of the passages to graduate. I have chosen to complete the Adventure Passage this year. My theme is "The Hero's Journey" and my trip to Greece is based around that idea. 

According to the American scholar Joseph Campbell "The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization." 

The Odyssey by Homer, which follows the adventures of Odyssesus, is a good example of the Hero's Journey. In Athens we went to the National Archaeological Museum and there was an exhibit entitled Odysseys. According to the museum "The Exhibition narrates histories of men and heroes, known and unknown "Odysseys", personal and collective ones." Herakles was depicted in lots of the artwork. The Hero's Journey also refers to "Everyday" heroes who take on their own journey, in the exhibit they talked about sailors who travel across the sea. I listened to a program on the Ted Radio Hour about the Hero's Journey telling the story of a woman who sailed across the entire WORLD, ALONE.

Herakles killing the Egyptian King(470 BC)

Statue of Herakles(1st century AD)

Herakles at the National Archaeological Museum

Through my travels I will explore the myths of Herakles and Theseus. While we were in Athens we went to the Hill of Pynx where Theseus fought the Amazons. Today we went to the ruins in Mycenae where King Eurystheus assigned Herakles his twelve labors. To symbolize the Hero's Journey I have brought along an action figure of Herakles to photo document the places we have gone to.

Herakles traveling to the hill of Pynx

Herakles with a view of the Acropolis

Herakles being assigned his twelve labors by King Eurystheus

Herakles at a Venetian fortress