The Odyssey as a Hero Journey.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Langston Kahn 1/13/03

The Odyssey as a Hero Journey

"All of us have similar experiences. We share in the life journey of growth, development, and transformation. We live the same stories...the trappings might be different, the twists and turns that create suspense might be different from culture to culture, the particular characters may take different forms, but underneath it all, it's the same story, drawn from the same experiences"(Linda Seger, Creating Myth, 1).

All people face trials and tribulations throughout their life. Thus, what defines one from one's fellow human beings is not the trials themselves, but how one overcomes the challenges along the journey, as well as the psychological and physical lessons one learns from the actions engaged. Heroes, as depicted in literature, often face the same trials the common man must face, and learn the same lessons, but their actions, reactions, and events are magnified to mythic proportions. Thus, the common man and the mythic hero both follow what Joseph Campbell calls "The Hero's Journey," which is used as a tool to describe the framework for many of the most famous myths of all time. While the story of the Journey first manifested itself