Campbells Monomyth theory in relation with the movie 300 and its relation with my life story
The stages of the HERO are:
1) THE HERO IS INTRODUCED IN HIS ORDINARY WORLD.
In Sparta the normal life is a life that is immersed in battle. Spartan customs are harsh. The Spartans inspect each infant born to ensure it is whole - if they were any deformities the baby is abandoned to die. They raise their boys in the school for discipline and fighting the agoge - in combat training, a small boy's loss of his weapon earns a bloody lip from the hand of his own father. At age 7, each young boy is torn from his mother and makes his own way in the wilderness, to return a man. Even the King endures this rite of passage. At age 15, young King-to-be Leonidas lures a wolf into a narrow passage so that he can kill it. He returns home to be crowned King
2) THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.
The hero is presented with a problem, challenge, or adventure.
Years later, a group was sent to the King Leonidas, a messenger visits King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) requesting Sparta's submission to King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro). The King didn't like the way that he was summoned; Insulted by their attitude, King Leonidas kicks the messengers into a well. Thus starting a war.
3) THE HERO IS RELUCTANT AT FIRST.
Often at this point, the hero balks at the threshold of adventure. After all, he or she is facing the greatest of all fears -- fear of the unknown.
The King became reluctant with the thought of going to war however he didn't want to submit to the forces of Xerxes. Acknowledging the threat of Xerxes's invasion force, he visits the Ephors (priests) to obtain their favor before sending the Spartan army in battle. He proposes to repel the numerically superior enemy by using the terrain of the Hot Gates of Thermopylae, funneling the Persians into a narrow pass between the rocks and the sea, where their immense numbers will "count for nothing." The Ephors, wary of the plan, consult the Oracle In her drugged trance she says that Sparta must not go to war, because they might interrupt the sacred Carneian festival. Leonidas departs in anger, and the priests receive their bribe of Xerxes' gold from the Spartan traitor, Theron (Dominic West), for their negative response.
4) THE HERO IS ENCOURAGED BY THE WISE OLD MAN OR WOMAN.
The mentor which can be a woman or an old man can only go so far with the hero. Eventually the hero must face the unknown by himself. Sometimes the wise old man is required to give the hero a swift kick in the pants to get the adventure going.
Leonidas is reluctant to defy the corrupt clergy outright, but his wife (Lena Headey) encourages him to think outside the box. Leonidas elects to take 300 of his best soldiers as his "bodyguard" on a leisurely walk to the strategic Hot Gates location. His wife says goodbye, telling him to come back "with his shield or on it", and gives him a necklace.
5) THE HERO PASSES THE FIRST THRESHOLD.
He fully enters the special world of his story for the first time. This is the moment at which the story takes off and the adventure gets going. The hero is now committed to his journey... and there's no turning back.
On the road they encounter other allies, who are shocked that the Spartans are sending such a small force. Leonidas asks the professions of the allied army, who are craftsmen and artisans. He points out that he has brought more soldiers than they. Joined by Arcadians and other Greeks, they arrive at Thermopylae. In sight of the approaching Persian army, they construct a wall to contain the Persians' advance. Strong storms destroy some of Xerxes fleet, but it is only a small percentage of the massive army they will face.
6) THE HERO ENCOUNTERS TESTS AND HELPERS.
The hero is forced to make allies and enemies in the special world, and to pass certain tests and challenges that are part of his training.
If we were to recall there was a Spartan tradition of killing the disfigured, A horribly disfigured man, Ephialtes (Andrew Tiernan), comes to see Leonidas to warn him of a disused goat path at the rear of his position. Ephialtes claims that his parents fled Sparta at his birth to save his life. He wanted to redeem them by fighting for Leonidas. Leonidas explains that each Spartan warrior is a key part of the phalanx, and asks Ephialtes toshow his abilities. When it becomes evident that he cannot, Leonidas gently tells him to care for the fallen instead. Ephialtes' fondest hopes are crushed
Persian emissary arrives, and finds that the corpses of the previous scouting party now make up part of the large rock wall. The Persian states that their arrows will blot out the sun, and the Spartans agree they will simply fight in the shade. The emissary's party is killed.
Prior to the battle the Persians demand that the Spartans drop their weapons and surrender. Leonidas refuses and challenges the Persians to come and take their weapons from them. With their tightly-knit defensive formation, the Spartans funnel the Persians into the narrow terrain, repeatedly rebuffing them and inflicting heavy casualties.
7) THE HERO REACHES THE INNERMOST CAVE
The hero comes at last to a dangerous place, often deep underground, where the object of his quest is hidden.
It is the hero entering the headquarters of his nemesis; and sometimes it's just the hero going into his or her own dream world to confront his or hers worst fears... and overcome them.
Xerxes, impressed with Spartan fighting skill, personally approaches Leonidas to persuade him to surrender. He promises Leonidas wealth and power in exchange for his submission and loyalty. Leonidas declines, promising instead to make the "God King" bleed, and turns to rejoin his army.
Dismayed at the refusal, Xerxes sends his masked personal guard, "The Immortals", which name the Spartans also prove false. The battles continue, with the Spartans prevailing over soldiers and animals drawn from the vast reaches of the Persian empire: from Mongolian barbarians and Eastern chemists to African rhinoceroses and Indian war elephants. However, some of the brave Spartan warriors became casualties, and it becomes clear that more will follow.
Ephialtes becomes a traitor and goes to Xerxes, and agrees to show the goat path to the Persians in exchange for a uniform, along with promises of women and wealth. Xerxes will grant Ephialtes his wish if he will kneel before the god king.
Back in Sparta, Queen Gorgo has been trying to convince the council to send help to Leonidas. A friendly councilman arranges for her to speak, but explains that she will need Theron on her side.
At the Hot Gates, the Spartans learn they have been betrayed, and know their fight is doomed. The Arcadians their allies retreat in the face of certain death. The Spartans refuse to follow. Leonidas orders a reluctant Dilios to return to Sparta and tell of their inevitable deaths.
Back in Sparta, Queen Gorgo makes her appeal to the council to send more troops to help the 300. Instead of supporting her as promised, Theron betrays her, accusing her of adultery. Enraged, Gorgo snatches a sword and stabs Theron, rupturing a bag of gold hidden in his robe.
8) THE HERO ENDURES THE SUPREME ORDEAL.
This is the moment at which the hero touches bottom. He faces the possibility of death, brought to the brink in a fight with a mythical beast.
This is a critical moment in any story, an ordeal in which the hero appears to die and is born again. It's a major source of the magic of the hero myth. What happens is that the audience has been led to identify with the hero. We are encouraged to experience the brink-of- -death feeling with the hero. We are temporarily depressed, and then we are revived by the hero's return from death.
You're never more alive than when you think you're going to die.
At the Hot Gates, as the Persians surround the Spartans, who have created a dome out of their shields. Leonidas stands along in front of the dome. Xerxes's general demands their surrender, declaring that Leonidas may keep his title as King of Sparta and become Warlord of all Greece, answerable only to Xerxes. Ephialtes urges this as well, to which Leonidas remarks, "May you live forever," an insult from a culture valuing death and valor in battle. Leonidas drops his shield and removes his helmet, seemingly bowing in submission. Stelios then bursts out of the dome and leaps over his king and kills the general. A furious Xerxes orders his troops to attack.
9) THE HERO SIEZES THE SWORD.
As Persian archers shoot the remaining Spartans, Leonidas rises like a hero and throws his spear at Xerxes, ripping open his cheek, thus making "the God-King bleed." Xerxes, visibly shaken by this reminder of his own mortality, watches as the remaining Spartans perish beneath the combined might of his army
10) THE ROAD BACK.
The hero's not out of the woods yet. Some of the best chase scenes come at this point, as the hero is pursued by the vengeful forces from whom he has stolen the elixir or the treasure. This is the chase as
Leonidas himself marks his final moments by telling his wife aloud that he loves her. A rain of arrows falls upon him and the screen goes black. Back in Sparta, Dilios gives the necklace to Queen Gorgo and tells her of her husband's fate.
11) RESURRECTION.
The hero emerges from the special world, transformed by his experience. There is often a replay here of the mock death-and-rebirth of stage 8, as the hero once again faces death and survives. Each ordeal wins him new command over the Force. He is transformed into a new being by his experience.
Concluding his tale before an audience of attentive Spartans, Dilios recounted the events, which transpired with the army of 300. He ignited the flame of the Spartans and provoked them to fight back. He declares that the 120,000-strong Persian army that narrowly defeated 300 Spartans now faces 10,000 Spartans commanding 30,000 Greeks.
12) RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.
The hero comes back to his ordinary world, but his adventure would be meaningless unless he brought back the elixir, treasure, or some lesson from the special world. Sometimes it's just knowledge or experience, but unless he comes back with the exlixir or some boon to mankind, he's doomed to repeat the adventure until he does. Sometimes the boon is treasure won on the quest, or love, or just the knowledge that the special world exists and can be survived. Sometimes it's just coming home with a good story to tell.
He Praised Leonidas's sacrifice and inspired the men of Sparta to avenge their fallen leader and army, Dilios leads the assembled Greek army into a fierce charge against the Persian army, igniting the Battle of Plataea.
What I learned from the movie and its relation to my Life Story:
My life story maybe a far cry from the bloody and gruesome sacrifice that happened in the story of Leonidas in 300. However I believe that after reading about Campbell it is actually a Guide to how we see stories of Heroism wherein there is a common pattern although conclusions vary and of course there are a lot of twists sometimes to make the viewers more interested and immersed in the story.
I always admired the Gung-ho attitude of the Spartans, the love for the country, their honor, countrymen, is admirable because we rarely see this in the modern life anymore.
My life has not always been perfect but I can say that I have been blessed with a loving Family, we were always cared for and given blessings that sometimes some people take for granted. I never had complaints about anything but as life has its many turns, we experience many things that sometimes we cannot explain.
Life may seem perfect but there will be people who are around to shatter that, use the energy to get through this and make the most out of it:
In the movie the Spartans were already at peace happy with their town their ruler but sadly they were perceived as a threat and a country to be conquered.
I have never experienced pitfalls, which I cannot solve and yet I am experiencing a family problem that is still unsolved. I admire Leonidas attitude of always facing his fears, leading his men to something that has a purpose. I wish I could apply his courage and face my fears as well. I have an older brother who is my one and only sibling. We always have been close before and I was always at his beck and call when we were younger because I love him whatever he requests I almost always give in, however I believe that sometimes the peace is broken when we change or the people around us make us change and I think that has happened to us. He became increasingly difficult to deal with ever since he had his own family, He never agreed to me getting married to my husband because he felt we were not ready, so I moved the wedding just to please him. (I was 28 years old at this time, on my 3rd year of pediatric residency so being mature shouldn't have been an issue my husband is 7 years my senior) However He still didn't attend the reception although he graced the mass. After that I felt that the closeness slowly teethered a bit, there were constant questions of my ability to raise my family, my husband had to endure not being spoken to. All of this I offered to God. I still respected my brother and loved him wholeheartedly but some of the pain never went away.
We were able to patch up things however there are so many conflicts to which I still have no resolution. Should I just accept defeat like Leonidas? But I believe while there is life there is a chance to do better to mend broken roads.
True courage takes diplomacy, violence does not help:
In the movie diplomacy was never seen it was the big bad wolf trying to conquer its new victim. It was a kill or be killed world. Thankfully this is not the case in the real world we live in now. As we all know history was quite different then, battles were to be won, countries were to be conquered so diplomacy was not heir priority it was about protecting your own and making a name and legacy to be known by the whole world. We are quite lucky that our world now is not this cutthroat anymore. Although the real world has a complex of problems too, violence should not be resorted anymore.
So I still believe in the power of communication, I am just summoning my strength and nerve to talk to my brother again after another misunderstanding we had with financial issues. Money should never be the object of quarrels and I know that however this time I felt that one should learn how to work hard to get their goals. So I decided not to give in even if my initial reaction was to just let it go. My mother has always been supportive at fault sometimes because it has caused my brother to be dependent on her even though he has his own family already. I understand that my mother only wants the best for us but sometimes she cannot say no to my brother that is why she used me to be the scapegoat and contradict my brother's wishes. It is a very difficult situation and this happened more than 6 months ago. My brother hasn't talked to me since. I am praying for some guidance and hopeful that God will show me the way or at least enlighten him that fighting does not help.
Carpe diem (Seize the day)
I believe that God has put everyone in this world for a purpose; I believe that my purpose is to be a good citizen, a good wife and mother to my children. I chose my calling of serving through medicine because I know that this is what I did best and it also fostered my love of children.
There have been a lot of deaths some of which were previously healthy, sudden deaths which can make us pause a while and re think our lives… are we serving our purpose? Are we living a full life? In the movie the soldiers were all able and well-bodied men who had a long life ahead of them if they did not die they left their families behind to serve and do what they know best. I believe that is my calling to be able to serve well, at the best of my ability. I want to seize life and get everything from it , take all the lessons that I can, learn from it and improve and evolve. So I am leaving my life story open ended and subject to changes, which I hope will be fruitful and leading to a happier ending. 4< but who is the Leader who penned this?>
Sorry sir failed to put my name -- leader liz medina
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