Friday, January 25, 2013

The Campbellian Monomyth

I often reference the Campbellian Monomyth in my discussions about games, because it's an important lens through which to view them. It dissects the pieces of the most moving narratives of our culture through a series of steps that are the pieces of a good adventure.

 http://uddhamsoto.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/myth_quest_model_heroes_journey.gif

While the wikipedia entry linked above is a good synopsis, the best source is Joseph Campbell's book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. I highly recommend it to anyone who wishes to study the monomyth.

Over the next few posts I'll give a brief explanation of each step, as well as examples from classic literature, video games, and the Bible.

The image above shows the varying steps of the monomyth in their cyclical nature. Feel free to take a look at it, and return to it as we discuss the steps!

No comments:

Post a Comment