Comparing the Herakles Myth with Joseph Campbells Hero Myth List Essay Example for Free

Comparing the Herakles Myth with Joseph Campbells title-holder Myth List EssayKaren Wagner World Mythology September 27th 2012 Essay 1 Herakles, or more normally known as Hercules according to Disney is probably one of the most popular fabrications people score seen or heard, but could Herakles myth follow Joseph Campbells Hero myth listen. Carl Jung defined an archetype myth or Jungian archetype as a pattern of thought that can be translated to worldwide parallels (The Columbian Encyclopedia) that the human race experiences as a culture or an individual. The myth of Herakles includes split that compare to the Hero Archetype, but there are in any case parts that do not fit the archetype at all. Joseph Campbells list of myths for the common superstar includes a list that does and does not relate to the paper of Herakles. Herakles journey begins from the shared birth from his produce Alcmena, founder genus Zeus and half-brother Iphikles. Hera (Zeus wife) decides to take r evenge because of the affair Zeus had with Alcmena for Herakles. One the morning Herakles was supposed to be born Zeus had made a previous oath stating the son of his bloodline through Pereus who was born that morning would rule Mycenae.Hera made sure Zeus swore to this and sent down the divinity fudgedess of childbirth Eileithuia to slow the birthing process. A sly serving girl named Galanthis had told the goddess of childbirth that Alcmena had her twins, once Eileithuias guard was down and so was her spell. Alcmena bore twins and Herakles was not the first born, one was the son of Amphitryon and the other Zeus. Hera decides to take action by putting snakes in the twins crib in hopes to destroy Zeus latest offspring (Martin 148), firearm Iphikles only wailed, Herakles decided to strangle both snakes to death, identifying the true son of Zeus.Amphitryon stated, well, that ones not my male child (Martin 148). Herakles grew up quickly, learning his new found strength through his hu man father and other relatives. His first official voluntarily task was to eliminate the king of beasts with impenetrable hide from Mt. Kithairon. Once the beast was defeated, Herakles skinned the lion and wore his mane and head as a trophy and as a form of aegis (Martin 153). Herakles continued doing many labors for distinguishable people throughout a large portion of his life he lay with many women, and marries a few as well.Herakles did some wrong doings and towards the end of his mortal life he dies and becomes immoral, forever to live on in myth. Joseph Campbells monomyth list for mythological adventures magnifies the polity described in the rites of passage Departureinitiationreturn. Campbells list for the hero archetype can be compared to Herakles, while other parts do the opposite. The first stage of the heros journey is their birth Campbell goes into explaining that the birth involves mythical circumstances surrounding conception, birth, and childhood (Campbell).Herakl es birth could be seen under fabulous circumstances, an affair, another child, and two dead snakes on the first night Campbells second stage is the Call to Adventure (Campbell), Herakles whilst working on his human fathers cattle ranch heard news of a lion killing the family cows, he volunteers to rid the beast and is successful in the end. Herakles had helpers throughout his journeys, much(prenominal) as Apollos grandson Eurytos teaching him archery (Martin 150) or Atlas assisting Herakles in getting the Golden Apples as one of his labors, but not from a specific beingness or person alone.This being a piece of the myth that doesnt exactly fit into Campbells list but can still compare. Campbells fourth entry on the list Crossing the Threshold somewhat relates to Herakles story in that he does travel 30 days to defeat the mother of all lions, another with impenetrable hide. Campbells crossing the threshold entry explains that the hero must undergo a task or event that takes the her o from everyday life into the world of adventure (Campbell) this could be something small from traveling to a cave or traveling for 30 days.One of the major parts of the myth of Herkales is his love for labors he provides for his people, this definitely relates to Campbells work, in that his number five explains the tests the hero must go through, involving a series of monsters and traveling to different worlds and each conquered task increases said heros ability to overcome even stronger encounters he will face. Campbells number six on his list goes into the helpers the hero will encounter through his journey, this also relates to Herakles.There were parts in his myth where Herakles needed assistance, for example when Herakles wanted to get the golden apples as one of his labors, he asked Atlas to go and he would hold up the heavens until he returned, even though Herakles sort of deceived Atlas in the end, he was still of assistance to the hero. The climax and final battle of Herak les involved his attempt at sacrifice and a struggle to continue living. He was given a cloak that was accidentally poisoned by his wife Deianeira with a previous enemies blood that mixed in with the blood he dipped his arrows from one of his labors.The cloak began to foreshorten around the hero and poison him he sought revenge on his wife to discover she already killed herself in learning what she had done. Herakles myth doesnt have a happy ending like Campbells list basically says in 9, 10, and 11, Herakles dies to live on forever immorally, or in this case real passed but his fame lives on, his story is continued being told and he is recognized as a Greek hero, without any sort of elixir Campbell mentioned in his list, feasting with the gods and his god parents, Zeus and Hera (Martin 179), the mother who was trying to rid him from the beginning.Campbells list is to describe how a hero myth translates to actual events and situations people encounter in their lives while growing up, there is an underlying meaning to each situation that happens to the hero. While some parts did relate to Campbells list, overall Herakles myth strays away from pastime his list, although there are parts that do relate, the myth is still completely different from Campbells interpretation and Jungs archetype definition, giving Herakles his own myth and his own journey thats not as cliche from the rest of the myths in the world.