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The king of heroes, Hercules. The once and future king, Arthur Pendragon. The last son of Krypton, man of tomorrow, Clark Kent, Superman. Each of these heroes follows the monomythic structure outlined by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces. The heroes heard the call to adventure. The Heroes rose above their peers to face off with incredible obstacles. The heroes triumph, and eventually fall. This might sound familiar, being the fundamentals of the tales of heroes from around the world. The idea of the hero’s journey should need no introduction. Simply look at Hercules, King Arthur, or Superman. These are only a few examples of a tradition of storytelling dating back to before written language. However, despite their accomplishments, they all follow a certain pattern.

The heroes lead mundane lives, before being thrust into the world of the supernatural to fend for themselves. John Campbell likens this to adolescence, “a rite, or moment, of spiritual passage, which, when complete, amounts to a dying and a birth.” (Campbell, 56) For example, Hercules is the son of Zeus and a mortal woman, granted godlike strength by his divine heritage and suckling from Hera. He was raised as a normal child before killing his musical tutor with a lyre and being sent to become a shepherd. His awakening to the supernatural came as Hera sent him into a fit of madness, killing his children by Megara, and leading him to go to the Oracle of Delphi to seek penance. King Arthur pulled the sword from the stone as a humble squire, fulfilling a prophecy that only the one true king could pull it from the stone. Superman was the last son of a dying world, granted superhuman abilities by Earth’s yellow sun. Adopted by a farmer and his wife, he was raised as a normal boy until he started bending steel accidentally. This symbolizes the end of innocence or childhood, and the transformation into an adult- part of a world where things that never concerned us as children lurk behind every corner.

The heroes were given an edict from the newly discovered supernatural forces. Campbell calls this “the call to adventure,” which “signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual center of gravity from the pale of his society to a zone unknown.” (Campbell, 58) Hercules could only earn his penance through service to King Eurystheus for 10 years. King Arthur got Excalibur, the sacred sword, in a farcical aquatic ceremony, proclaiming him king of the Britons. Superman received recorded messages from his father telling him to use his incredible powers to protect humanity. This shift symbolizes the expectations thrust upon the growing man or woman.

The heroes build their legend. Hercules completes his 12 labors and seeks further adventures. Arthur gathers the Knights of the Round Table and seeks the grail. Superman prevents world domination plots and punches a balding mad scientist. This stage of the journey is life itself- the day-to-day occurrences and challenges that everyone faces in the world. Hercules fought the hydra, Arthur fought the Black Knight, Superman fought Doomsday. The everyman must deal with finances, the people around him, and the expectations put upon him.

The heroes screw up, leading to their downfall.  King Arthur impregnates his sister and has all the babies born for several months killed, resulting in Mordred’s ascension to the Siege Perilous. Hercules is unfaithful to his wife, allowing the centaur Nessus to trick her into poisoning him. Superman goes a bit mad under the influence of red kryptonite, leading to the creation of Doomsday from his DNA, and his subsequent death at the monster’s hands. This is the inevitable tragedy that all must face: At some point in life, everyone is going to fail at something, or make a mistake.
Campbell claims that these symbols can all be traced back to Freudian psychoanalysis. Many who first hear this theory take it at face value, and assume that this is all a story is. There is something to consider, however: every culture has a Hercules, King Arthur, Superman, Cu Chulain, Ben Kei, Monkey King, Olaf the Old, or Niel Thorgeirsson because every culture has a set of ideals they believe should be present in any hero. This is the core of any mythology- the heroes are an ideal that people should aspire to emulate, rather than any claim of historical accuracy. The purpose of the hero’s journey is to help prepare for what society expects, to encourage the ideals the heroes embody, and to take the challenges life throws your way head-on.

What makes these tales worth telling again and again is not the similar stops on the journey. It is the unique tale of the heroes. It is the struggle for Hercules to obtain his birthright, consequences be damned, and the importance the Greeks placed on family. It is the British ideal of the king’s divine right to rule, and Arthur’s quest for the throne. It is Superman’s quest for truth, justice, and the American Way. Each hero had their own personality and motivations that drove them through their quests, that determined the lengths they would go to complete them. Hercules would stop at nothing to complete his labors, Arthur would never give up the quest for the throne or grail, and Superman let only his morality and altruism stop him.

Of course, a hero does not need a divine impetus, or incredible powers. It is the virtues they embody that makes the hero likeable. Hercules was the Greek ideal- a man who would never give up or surrender, who could overcome any obstacle that faced him head-on. King Arthur was the king every Briton longed for, a wise and just ruler, chosen by God himself. Superman was what every American looks for in an authority figure- honest, diligent, fair, and powerful enough to protect everyone. What is considered “heroic” varies from culture to culture, from era to era. One thing, however, remains constant- a hero accomplishes something great, and does not compromise themselves to do it.

For example, Terry Pratchett's Discworld offers a more realistic hero: Ankh-Morpork's Samuel Vimes. In a world with dwarves, trolls, wizards, and dragons, it is hard to imagine him as "realistic." But Vimes isn't one of those. Vimes is an ordinary human, dedicated to upholding the law. He is a man in a position considered a joke by the city and its people- Captain of the Night Guard in a city where the thieves and assassins operate in the open. Whatever its blemishes, though, Ankh-Morpork is his city, and he accomplishes incredible tasks in its defense. To name a few accomplishments from the course of the Discworld series, he has arrested a dragon (destruction of property), two armies marching toward the gates (disturbing the peace), and the city’s ruler (for treason). In a world where the traditional weaknesses of the supernatural reign, he killed a werewolf with his bare hands to protect his wife. He refuses to be stopped or bribed in his pursuit of justice. And this is what makes him Heroic.

The idea that every story can be boiled down until the monomyth is all that remains is, frankly, offensive. If you boil down any animal, you will find a skeleton. To look and see only the bones, a viewer would have to ignore all the components that made the beast what it was. The reader would have to look past fur and flesh and blood and heart. Historical and cultural context, the divergent growth of the heroes, the various morals their tribulations tell- those are what make the story unique. The monomyth is, certainly, an interesting quirk of fiction, but it is not the sum and total of all man’s literature.