The Hero's Adventure: Power of Myth 1(1992)

Joseph Campbell

Long before medieval knights charged off to slay dragons, tales of heroic adventures were an integral part of all world cultures. Campbell challenges everyone to see the presence of a heroic journey in his or her own life.

"There is a typical hero sequence of actions which can be detected in stories from all over the world and from the many, many periods of history. It is essentially the one deed done by many, many different people. The hero or heroine is someone who has given his life to something bigger than himself or other than himself.... Losing yourself, giving yourself to another, that's a trial in itself, is it not? There is a big transformation of consciousness that's concerned. And what all the myths have to deal with is the transformation of consciousness--that you're thinking in this way, and you have now to think in that way."
"Well, how is the consciousness transformed?"
"By trials."
"The tests that the hero undergoes?"
"Tests or certain illuminating revelations. Trials and revelations are what it's all about."