The Legends of Heroes: The Revealing of the Myths and Monsters of the World

Introduction:

What we would like to refer as the Stories We Tell is the work of Jon Openlander and John Sitar on Narrative Documents.

Historically, as far back as history allows itself to be chronicled, stories have been narrated around the fire, in the huts, and across the empires. Thus, there are many legends about mysterious and extraordinary adventures which are kept in the night of our reality. Mythical beings like gods, demons, emperors, beasts, saints, and ogres hide fascinating tales all around us. These are not just the ‘fables’ that fill our ears and make the idle hours to pass; but these are indeed the real-life dramas that stitch together the fabric of our society! That’s the kind of information they provide, and what unbelievable freedom of subject and theme choice!

But, to tell a given story, from where does it originate, or why has it persisted to the present generation? Here in this exploration what we will be discovering is not just the bare legends but the forces that were kept in the dark from which these emerged—war, disease, religious and social phases, and most of all, the monsters of our spirit.

 

The Russian Folklore of Ivan and Koschei the Deathless:

The story originated from a piece of folklore that is part of the old Slavic folklore, and narrates of Ivan, a hero left alone in a castle with his wife, a warrior princess who had left for war. The only thing Ivan was forbidden to do was climb the tallest of the three tall towers and its tallest turret. However, when weeks went by it became difficult for him to contain the urge to switch to the new system. As Ivan climbed up the tower, he came across a man who looked really skinny and parched. The man pleaded for some water when he saw Ivan. Kind as always Ivan brought a cup of water but the prisoner turned out to be none other than Koschei the Deathless demon. Koschei departs, threatening that Ivan will never lay eyes on his wife again, which puts Ivan through a rather dangerous journey to save her.

Indeed, this story is one of the many examples of the folklore and mythologies common to indigenous people across the globe. Such fables have been spun for thousands of years, dealing with all sorts of topics, from morality and virtue to sin and heroism and what it means to be alive.

The Power of Myth:

Story telling is part of human genes, from time immemorial people told stories. Even before people could read, or there was a film, internet or books, stories travelled from mouth to ear. These stories grew accustom with every other generation, changing with the new generation in the process. They grew into legends: stories which emerged from grassroots of a people, a place and age.

Myths do not just involve moral lessons; they are about identity and who we are as people. And they justify why we exist in the ways that we do, which are probably the emotional as well as irrational aspects of our spirits. Myths are purified emotions, exaggerated drama and we find narratives of desire for justice, truth, virtue et al.

 

The Hero’s Journey: An American Rock Ballad:

Among myths, perhaps none is as exhilarating as those that revolve around conquerors and their pursuits. As these hero myths from different cultures reveal, they are quite alike. The hero who can hardly be bested in battle, the sorceresses and sorcerers who help or hinder, temptation with a view to betray and the dangerous voyages to the twilight zone – all these elements are seen in the fairy tales of different epochs and nations.

 This all inclusiveness is the premise of Joseph Campbell’s the “Hero’s Journey” Campbell, an American mythologist went through time perusing bits of myths from over the world. He accepted that all legend myths taken after a common design, which he called the "monomyth" or "Hero’s Travel." His 1949 book, The Legend with a Thousand Faces, laid out the repeating stages he distinguished in endless stories: In this case, there are the call to enterprise, the tests and dangers encountered, the helpers or guides, the supreme ordeal and the return of the hero.

The legacy of Campbell’s theory remains hard to overstate, especially when it comes to the motion picture industry. Star Wars was an adaptation of Campbell, where the director George Lucas himself admitted to drawing from the work to fashion the saga of Luke Skywalker, the contemporary hero, from idea to action.

 

The Selective Immortalities: Why the Monomyth Remains Relevant:

The narrative structure the hero’s journey starts with the hero living comfortably in the home or kingdom they know is called to the adventure. They go into the wilderness and suffer afflictions and tribulations as well as temptation throughout the journey. The hero comes close to death, with the help of the guides and fellow travellers acquires new skills or an object of value and changes for the better and completes the journey. The journey is completed when a final challenge is presented – it is the ultimate test and the hero must apply everything which he or she has acquired.

It may be useful here to recall the fact that people appreciate such structures, because this kind of story is truly human. It remains a story of development, struggle and change – which are aspects of life that most of us are familiar with one way or the other. This journey is our journey, that of the dear and longed-for hero we are each of us called upon to be.

 

Myths in Modern Times:

Although the Campbell’s theory has been endorsed by many scholars and academicians, the theory has not been received without criticism. There is a set of problems that still remains unresolved and it is about the appropriateness of the model of the Hero’s Journey for analysis of myths. As will be stressed later, myths are not mere fictions but are creations of societies for several reasons other than amusement. Thus, they are devices which convey ethical purposes, express cultural standards, and determine what it means to be alive.

Thus, myths are a living part of our world view even in the present epoch when the narrativeness of the culture dominates. Whether read with the mythological pantheon of the past, or the conspiracy and supernatural lore of the present, fiction is the people’s subconscious.

 

Conclusion: Bellfinch and Sons: The Wilderness Within and Without:

It is a striking truth that the wild is show at the heart of myths and legends. It symbolizes that which is strange, that which is unfamiliar, that which is the mammoth in each and each one of us. Be it magicians or pirates, be it in dark forests or on boundless seas, the wildness signifies both a territory of the external world and of life experience. Myths are a way of conveying the message of the evil that is outside the realm of civilization as well as within any individual’s personality.

One must observe that, when examining legends from the past, one gets a clearer perception of the present. These stories are not mere products of prehistoric societies but rather an account of peoples’ journey through life. The stories of heroes and monsters, thus, are indeed the stories of ourselves, our battles, and victories.