Week 5 ITAP - Story Development: The Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell made a revolutionary breakthrough in the field of mythology in his book "The Hero With a Thousand Faces" which asserted that everyone in the world is born with the same model in their subconscious of what constitutes a hero or a heroic journey ("quest").  He used this assertion to explain why people who speak different languages can enjoy the same stories.  This was also an idea put forward by a leading Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.

Jung developed these ideas for the purposes of treating the mentally ill by finding meanings to their dreams and visions which were terrifying them.

What Campbell did was to take Jungs' theories and made correlations to give a common structure to all the worlds religions and myths derived from the worlds cultures.  He found a common pattern in these stories and myths and called them the "Hero's Journey" aka "Monomyth"

These findings have been adapted in films such as "Star Wars" and "The Matrix" in order to condense the numerous ideas into a coherent single story.

Assuming this would apply to most film stories involving a "hero", I have attempted to apply his framework to the film " Gladiator" who for me is possibly the most iconic hero of modern cinema.

I - Departure

• The Call to Adventure - Dying Emperor Marcus Aurelius makes it his dying wish for Maximus to become Protector of Rome.
• Refusal of the Call - Evil son, Commodus attempts to execute Maximus but fails.
• Supernatural Aid - In requesting a "soldiers death", Maximus manages to escape to Spain to try and save his family.
• Crossing the first Threshold - Upon arriving at his home he finds his wife raped and burned to death.
• The Belly of the Whale - He is found almost dead and taken to North Africa and forced to fight as a gladiator.

 

II - Initiation

• Road of Trials - Maximus fights to survive in the "fleapit" arenas of North Africa.
• The Meeting with a Goddess - Maximus is briefly reacquainted with his former lover, Lucilla the Emperor's daughter.
• Temptation Away from the Truth - After defeating his enemy in the arena, he shouts "Are you not entertained?!!!!!" as a rebuke to the people who demand he kills for their pleasure.
• Atonement with the Father - Maximus allows Proximo his captor and owner to be his mentor and to give him the opportunity to meet Commodus face to face in order to take his revenge.
• Apeothesis - Maximus aka "The Spaniard" becomes a hero in the Colosseum in Rome and marshals the other gladiators to numerous victories.
• The Ultimate Boon - He is summoned before the emperor and reveals himself to be Maximus and that he will have his revenge. The soldiers cheer him!

III - Return

• Refusal of the Return - Maximus continues to become a legend with the people supporting him.
• Magic Flight - Lucilla hatches a plan for the escape of Maximus.
• The Rescue from Without - The roman soldiers refuse to kill Maximus during the final confrontation with Commodus.
• Crossing the Threshold -  Maximus kills  Commodus and has his revenge.
• Master of the World - The soldiers and gladiators triumphantly take Maximus from the Colosseum.
• Freedom to Live - Maximus is reunited with his dead family in the afterlife.

Common Mythic Elements

• Two Worlds - Life as a revered general and his life as a gladiator.
• The Mentor - Proximo
• The Oracle - Lucilla
• The Prophecy - Maximus will have his revenge in this life or the next.
• Failed Hero - Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
• Wearing Enemy's Skin - Maximus becomes a Roman gladiator
• Shapeshifter - Senator Gracchus
• Chasing a lone animal into the enchanted wood - Maximus fights Commodus in the Colosseum.