The Layout of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey in The...

Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey can be found through the layout of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Steps from each of the major phases such as the departure, initiation, and return are steps in the epic. Gilgamesh‘s Hero’s journey begins with the call to adventure this is where Gilgamesh tells Enkidu that they are to fight the beast, Humbaba ( 110.131-136). The call which is refused takes place within Gilgamesh’s dreams that he will fail (117.50-60). The step is not very important due to the face that it is not an outright refusal, only subconscious thoughts. Supernatural appears in numerous forms throughout the epic, one being his mother is a goddess (106.268-270). The next imporatnat step listed is crossing of the first threshold. Gilgamesh and Enkidu leave the safe haven of Uruk and enter the forest (113.20-24) and begin their adventure together. When Enkidu’s dies, Gilgamesh enters the belly of the whale. That is the last of the steps of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. During the rest of the story, the steps change order and some are taken out completely. One could argue a valid statement for each of the steps, but some are more figurative rather than literal. The Odyssey the Epic Hero Cycle Odysseus is the King of Ithaca. He has been fighting in the Trojan War and helped the Greeks win the Trojan War. After winning the Trojan War he wants to get home and reclaim his kingdom and to see his wife and his son, Telemachus. While on his journey home Odysseus faces many