Chad Cheatham
Analysts of myths and legends such as Joseph Campbell and
Carl G. Jung have discovered that there is a definitive structure used in practically every tale concerning a hero. The structural elements,analysts assert, are divided into three acts. This ritual pattern involves a change or loss, a descent, and a rebirth or resurrection (Leeming 8).The traditional story-structure used in Homer’s The Odyssey exhibits how Odysseus develops throughout his journey and why he is considered a hero for the ages.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines a hero as a person
“in mythology and legend…celebrated for his bold exploits” and probably the most famous of all heroes is Odysseus in Homer’s The Odyssey. Odysseus is among the physically elite and is considered by his society the most intelligent and cunning of men.
According to Christopher Vogler, the first act in a heroic myth usually consists of a few key elements. He labels these elements, or stages, as the Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, the Refusal of the Call, the Meeting With the Mentor, and Crossing the First Threshold (Vogler 12). The Ordinary World exists, Vogler says, to create a contrast to the other world that the hero enters into on the journey. It is in Act I when the hero receives his call and the journey begins. The hero is often reluctant and temporarily refuses the call. This is when
an outside influence must try to motivate the hero. Once motivated, the hero is on his way to encounter his first real challenge of the story, the first threshold (Vogler 17).
In The Odyssey, Ithaca represented Odysseus’ Ordinary World
(“The Hero’s Journey”). Before leaving to fight in Troy, Odysseus was enjoying the wonderful role of King. He was on top with nobody to bother him. There were neither internal nor external threats. He, like his kingdom, was at peace. This allows the audience to see the contrast to the world that the King explores in his heroic journey.
Odysseus’ Call to Adventure, along with other elements of the story, takes place during a flashback. Campbell relates this call to a character type, or archetype, which he calls the Herald. This character’s job is to deliver the challenge and to “announce the coming of significant change” (Vogler 61). In The Odyssey, it is the god, Hermes, who takes this role, an has the immortal title of Messenger. It is Hermes who descends to the island where dwelt the beautiful goddess and nymph Calypso where Odysseus has been dallying for the past seven years.
Now Zeus commands you to send him [Odysseus] off
with all good speed: it is not his fate to die here, far from his own people. Destiny still ordains that he shall see his loved ones, reach his high-roofed house, his native land at last.
(Homer VI 125-128)
When this god-sent message is relayed to Odysseus, he is very
skeptical of Calypso’s willingness to let him go home. This fear delays his call, thus showing the Refusal of the Call (“The Hero’s Journey”). Vogler says the reason the hero temporarily refuses his call is because he is clinging to the comfort of his Ordinary World (110).
However, there can be other reasons for the hero’s denial, most of which lie in the hero’s flaws. Campbell says, “The refusal is
essentially a refusal to give up what one takes to be one’s own interest” (60). This is quite evident in the case of Odysseus, who, throughout the story, puts off his journey’s ultimate goal to indulge in his most eminent weakness, which is women. His stay at Ogygia with Calypso and the year he spends with Circe definitely show how Odysseus continues to refuse his ultimate goal. A hero usually needs one or more immortal or mortal being to get him past the refusal stage and to motivate him to continue on with his journey. These beings will often times give gifts of wisdom or material treasures to assist the hero throughout his journey. These beings are referred to as Mentors (Vogler 31). On Ogygia, the Mentor is Calypso, who comforts Odysseus and assures him that he is free to leave. Once the hero finally accepts his call, he will soon encounter his first challenge, just as Odysseus does after he leaves Calypso.
The final stage before the second act is what Joseph Campbell calls Crossing the First Threshold (Vogler 14). The First Threshold is the where the hero is given a test, often a dangerous one, where he or she first meets the enemy (Vogler 129). When Odysseus makes his way to the land of the Phaeacians, he comes to this First Threshold. This is when Odysseus encounters Poseidon, who is a main antagonist of the story. Poseidon creates a storm for Odysseus, almost killing the great king. Odysseus luckily meets an ally, Leucothea, who acts as a Mentor and gives Odysseus a cloak, along with some much-needed advice, allowing him to survive this first trial with Poseidon.
Though The Odyssey is not written in chronological order, the order in which the events are presented to the audience fits well into the traditional story-structure that Campbell and Vogler have explored and defined. Therefore, in the second “act,” when Odysseus tells his heroic tales to King Alcinous, they are presented in flashbacks, but still follow the story-structure. The story is already rolling, but Odysseus will encounter his greatest crisis, a life and death conflict, and his reward.
“Once across the First Threshold, the hero naturally encounters
new challenges and Tests, and makes Allies and Enemies” (Vogler19). After Odysseus’ First Threshold, he receives help from the most benevolent and famed Mentor in Greek myth, Athena, daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom. Athena indirectly introduces Odysseus to an ally, Nausicaa, who is the princess of the land. Nausicaa sends Odysseus to meet with King Alcinous and Queen Arete, who end up being the most helpful allies to Odysseus by eventually sending him to Ithaca. The day after meeting the king and queen, Odysseus is
presented with a few more tests. This time they are harmless tests of physical ability. The games end and dinner begins. This is when Odysseus is asked to tell the story of himself.
Odysseus tells his tale, mentioning the visit to the Lotus-Eaters, and how he had arrived on the land of the Cyclops. The story of the giant, Polyphemus is told, which shows how brave and heroic Odysseus is. Next is the trip to Aeaea, where Odysseus meets Circe. After a year of living with Circe, Odysseus finally decides to continue on homeward. Before he can go home though, he must get past another obstacle, which happens to be a visit to the Kingdom of the Dead, known as Hades. Circe ends up being a Mentor to Odysseus, giving him sound advice and his ship’s sail a fresh wind for his trip to Hades.
As in most mythical tales, a trip to Hades is what Vogler and
Campbell would call the Approach to the Inmost Cave. This is considered the second threshold (Vogler 20). One of the earliest
literary depictions of life after death is in The Odyssey. “The Land of the Dead that Odysseus visits is a place of darkness, sadness, and despair” (Leeming 64). This is conveyed by the ghost of Achilles who says to Odysseus about the afterlife:
No winning words about death to me, shining Odysseus!
By god, I’d rather slave on Earth for another man –
some dirt-poor tenant farmer who scrapes to keep alive –
than rule down here over all the breathless dead.
(Homer XI 555-558)
Vogler says that the Approach to the Inmost Cave is where the hero will “encounter supreme wonder and terror” (145). Vogler also says that the hero is careful, knowing that he is balancing on the line of life and death (151). The truth of Vogler’s statements is obvious when Odysseus is confronted by visions of his mother, a dead crewman, and several deceased warriors such as, Hercules, Agamemnon, Achilles, and Ajax. He is in obvious awe throughout his visit as these Mentors give him advice, warnings, and prophecies. He eventually leaves Hades, fearing that Queen Persephone will bring death upon his head.
Even Circe is amazed at the Odysseus’ defiance of death when he returns to Aeaeaand she says: “You ventured down to the House of Death alive, / doomed to die twice over – others die just once” (Homer XII 23-24).
When returning to Circe’s island, Odysseus is given more advice from Circe. This time it is about the biggest trial that the great
hero will encounter. This trial and crisis is called The Ordeal (Vogler 12). The Ordeal that Circe warns Odysseus about is his trip to Helios’ Island. On the way, he encounters the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis. On the way back, he encounters Charybdis again, this time with more devastating results. Zeus gives Odysseus no choice but to go towards the whirlpool, which ultimately swallows up his whole crew and destroys his ship, his only means home. Vogler says that in the
Ordeal, there is a possibility that the hero will die and that he or she is “brought to the brink in a battle with a hostile force” (21). Odysseus drifts for days until he reaches Calypso’s island. The tale of flashbacks now comes to an end and the audience is back where it began, at the Call to Adventure.
Act III always contains the return of the hero, who surpasses his final threshold, or what Campbell refers to as the “return
threshold” (217). The third act consists of the Reward, the Road Back, Resurrection, and the Return with the Elixir. This is when the hero has come full circle and is able to show what he has learned throughout his journey (Vogler 204). Campbell explains that this is the point of the story, or journey, when the hero must return to the Ordinary World with his reward, whether it be a princess, the Golden Fleece, or “the runes of wisdom.” Campbell continues to say that these types of rewards the hero returns with are used to save “the community, the nation, the planet, or the ten thousand worlds” (193). Odysseus uses his rewards to save people as well as his land.
After a few days with King Alcinous and Queen Arete, Odysseus is granted the unparalleled gift of returning to Ithaca. This is Odysseus’ reward for enduring the ten years it has taken him to get home. The reward is usually the definitive element before the hero begins his final attempt to return to the Ordinary World. Even though Odysseus makes it to Ithaca’s soil, his mind is still on the journey, unable to adjust to his Ordinary World. This shows the significant change that Odysseus has gone through on his heroic journey. The hero must be reborn before he can recognize his Ordinary World again.
There a few times back in Ithaca in which Odysseus goes through the stage Vogler and Campbell call the Resurrection. He is asleep on the beach of Ithaca, symbolizing death, only to be awakened by Athena, which symbolizes Odysseus’ rebirth. Athena disguises Odysseus as a beggar and sets him up for another rebirth later on when he meets his son, Telemachus, at Eumaeus’ hut.
Odysseus’ resurrections have been compared to that of Jesus
Christ in the Bible, where Jesus appeared to be dead, but arose again to show the power that he possessed (Leeming 298). Odysseus shows this type of power and prominence in his meeting with Telemachus, causing Telemachus to sit in awe of the king’s greatness.The Road Back is represented by Odysseus’ visit to Eumaeus’ farmhouse. This stage is usually placed before the climax of the story (Vogler 14). The
Road Back is a quiet point in the story, allowing time for someone to motivate the hero to go and face his final test. The Road Back also displays a definitive change in the aim of the story (Vogler 195). Odysseus’ stay at Eumaeus’ hut is surely a slow point in the book. It is very relaxing in mood, with no huge conflict at hand. This is another point where the Ordinary World exhibits the great contrast to the world the hero had been in on his journey. The focus of the hero, Odysseus, has gone from his quest homeward, to the deaths of the suitors that occupy his palace. The climax of The Odyssey comes after Telemachus returns to Ithaca.
When Telemachus returns to Ithaca, Odysseus reveals that he is the young prince’s father, the great King of Ithaca. Together, they plan the killings of the suitors. Books XXI and XXII comprise the climax of the story. It is in these books that Odysseus and his son take on the hundred-plus suitors, killing them all. After the reunion with Penelope, they go to Laertes’ farm. A mob comes to avenge the suitors’ deaths, but Zeus descends and gives an order of peace. Peace is instilled on Ithaca and Odysseus, once again, reigns as King.
The final element of the story is the Return with the Elixir, in which the hero brings something back that cures or restores the Ordinary World he left behind before his journey (Vogler 221). It is clear when one looks back on the last books of The Odyssey, the most evident Elixir that is brought back to the Ordinary World is the sovereignty strength of King Odysseus’ Palace. Odysseus restores this strength when he kills the suitors. Another extension of the Elixir is Odysseus’ learned ability to listen to the gods. James Warren says, “He [Odysseus] knew that he had to appease the gods, but how to do so was a different matter entirely” (“A Modern Hero”). By the end of The Odyssey, Odysseus not only figures out how to pacify the gods, but
also displays his knowledge by obeying the commands of Zeus when the Almighty demands that there be peace on Ithaca. This is a giant step for Odysseus, who swallows his previously untamed anger to appease the gods. The last example of the Elixir is the mere presence of Odysseus in Ithaca. His prominent presence gives Telemachus, Penelope, and Laertes the cure for their broken hearts.
“Most remarkable is the extent to which the Western hero archetype is to this day still a result of the molding which occurred upon the character of Odysseus so long ago” (Greene).
John D. Cox, however has questioned the integrity of Odysseus and the latter’s right to be considered a hero. Cox asks, “Can a man [i.e. Odysseus] truly be called a hero when he is so accomplished at lying and deceiving? (“Introduction to Homer”). In response, it must be said that Odysseus’ cunning nature and ability to tell a tale are not put in the service of evil but to allow him to survive along his journey. According to James Warren, Odysseus’ myth was built on this type of craftiness and it was skills of this nature that fit him in the Athenian mold of a hero (“A Modern Hero”). Without that type of ability, which was often times envied by even the gods, he would have never lasted as long as he did.
Vogler even states that flaws are sometimes appealing to an audience, giving the hero very human qualities that everyone can relate to (Vogler 39). Odysseus is a hero for the ages. Even today the influence of The Odyssey and Odysseus is globally shown in film, on stage, and in literature. “The theme of a hero given up for dead, attempting to return home is found in over 125 separate mythological traditions all around the world” (Laing). The archetypes and the grand structure of the hero’s journey have all originated within the works of Homer. The story-structure that Homer uses in The Odyssey undoubtedly displays the elements necessary to tell the tale of a hero’s journey, or what has been called Odysseus’ Odyssey.
Works Cited
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