Archetypal Quest
The Archetypal Quest Essay
The archetypal quest, also known as the hero’s journey is effective in revealing which ways a person’s values, ideas and ambitions can be explored and changed throughout society. The hero’s journey is a genre that is prominently seen through nearly every sort of text, written or visual, usually representing an internal or physical struggle to gain a sense of personal character, personal identity or achieving a goal that one has claimed to be unachievable. On occasions the composer of a narrative, film or story will alter the hero’s journey to challenge or perceive a variation to ones society. Mathew Vaughn’s film ‘Stardust’ and Homers epic ‘The Odyssey’ represent all aspects of the hero’s journey, including the original quest narrative of facing and overcoming multiple obstacles to obtain the reward in the end, whether the reward reflects a growth in self, realisation or a rare possession. In both texts, the characters Tristan from ‘Stardust’ and Telemachus from ‘The Odyssey’ undertake a hero’s journey which sees their transitioning from being a boy to becoming a man, and it is proven that the society which the hero lives, dictates the representation of the hero.
The cultural context of ‘The Odyssey’ is set in Ancient Greece, which differs from the film ‘Stardust’ which obtains a fantasy genre, but mirrors the 18th Century realm in England. The values of society in these two different time eras are somewhat similar, some of which being the value for family, justice (both of which proving to be more prominent in ‘The Odyssey’) and the value for status within the community.
Athene, the Greek goddess or war and wisdom, advises Telemachus to rid his house of the suitors, acting as his call to adventure. Typically, being a child, Telemachus refuses the call as he has insecurities about himself and believes that ‘no one will listen’ to him. Athene is a character that wants Telemachus to grow up; ‘You are no longer a child, you must put
The archetypal quest, also known as the hero’s journey is effective in revealing which ways a person’s values, ideas and ambitions can be explored and changed throughout society. The hero’s journey is a genre that is prominently seen through nearly every sort of text, written or visual, usually representing an internal or physical struggle to gain a sense of personal character, personal identity or achieving a goal that one has claimed to be unachievable. On occasions the composer of a narrative, film or story will alter the hero’s journey to challenge or perceive a variation to ones society. Mathew Vaughn’s film ‘Stardust’ and Homers epic ‘The Odyssey’ represent all aspects of the hero’s journey, including the original quest narrative of facing and overcoming multiple obstacles to obtain the reward in the end, whether the reward reflects a growth in self, realisation or a rare possession. In both texts, the characters Tristan from ‘Stardust’ and Telemachus from ‘The Odyssey’ undertake a hero’s journey which sees their transitioning from being a boy to becoming a man, and it is proven that the society which the hero lives, dictates the representation of the hero.
The cultural context of ‘The Odyssey’ is set in Ancient Greece, which differs from the film ‘Stardust’ which obtains a fantasy genre, but mirrors the 18th Century realm in England. The values of society in these two different time eras are somewhat similar, some of which being the value for family, justice (both of which proving to be more prominent in ‘The Odyssey’) and the value for status within the community.
Athene, the Greek goddess or war and wisdom, advises Telemachus to rid his house of the suitors, acting as his call to adventure. Typically, being a child, Telemachus refuses the call as he has insecurities about himself and believes that ‘no one will listen’ to him. Athene is a character that wants Telemachus to grow up; ‘You are no longer a child, you must put