One of the most prominent figures in mythology studies has been Joseph Campbell, an American mythologist. In 1949, he published a book titled The Hero With a Thousand Faces. In this book, he claimed that all heroes in the myth have common characteristics and they all usually go through the same journey to be heroes. He also called his idea as a monomyth, titled A Hero’s Journey. In 1979, George Lucas read his book and became influenced by the theory Campbell proposed. As a consequence, he created a scientific fiction movie Star Wars: A New Hope, which exemplifies as a modern expression of Campbell’s monomyth. Furthermore, Luke Skywalker, the hero George created in the movie truly echoes with Greek and Roman heroes in mythologies; as well as reflects Joseph Campbell’s monomyth in three specific stages: Departure, Initiation, and Return.
First of all, Luke Skywalker echoes with the departure stage with Campbell’s monomyth. At the beginning, Luke started his adventure by meeting the droid R2-D2. When he bought the droid, the droid played him a rescue message from Princess Leia which drives his curiosity to start the journey and fulfills his responsibility to rescue the princess. Similarly, Odysseus also fulfills both individual and communal responsibilities for his wife and his crew when he starts the journey. Then, he encountered the original master of the droid, Obi-Wan Kenobi and acquired a mentor for his journey. In myth about Hercules, when he faced the challenge of killing the Lernaean Hydra, he also received help from his cousin to prevent the Hydra grows new head when he cut them off. Therefore, some kind of help is always a necessary part of their journey. Additionally, Luke Skywalker then followed with Obi-Wan Kenobi to find the spaceship and finally decided to rescue Princess Leia since his home planet was destroyed by soldiers of the First Order. In Jason’s myth, his wife Medea also starts to go crazy, on a journey of “revenge” when he starts to plan her “revenge”. In this case, both heroes undergo the process from “Call to adventure” to ” Belly of a Whale”, separated from their known world and decided to start a journey lies with unknown challenges and dangerous.
Additionally, the most important part of the hero’s journey is the initiation stage where heroes faced all challenges and incredible consequences were made. After step onto the journey, Obi-Wan Kenobi started to teach Luke Skywalker necessary skills to become a hero. For example, he started to teach him how to masterly using lightsabers killing enemies. In Perseus’ case, before getting Medusa’s head, he needs to ask for weapons prevented being petrified by Medusa to accomplish his task. This stage usually trains a hero and provides them with the skills they need to possess for the tasks in the future. Then, after fighting over soldiers of the First Order, Luke meets Princess Leia and asks her for help. Quite similarly in Theseus’ case, when he married Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, she gave him wreath to help him get out of the labyrinth. This stage usually marks a significant encountering between the hero and a godly figure of the story. Next, there’s always some temptations that attempt to lead the hero off from the right path of the journey. In Luke’s case, he was tempted by the Dark Side to join the First Order. In Odysseus’ case, the lotus eaters, Circe, Calypso and the Sirens all tempted to make him not want to go home, which to make him give up his goal. This is usually the most crucial and significant stage who determines the fate and future of a hero. At the end of the stage, an apotheosis always occurs in a hero’s journey. For Luke’s case, recognizing his ability and his responsibility, he became a Jedi, a god-like figure in the story, it marked the maturity of a hero. Alike in Hercules’ story, he also had his body worshiped in the temple of Mt. Oeta and became a god-like figure. This stage reveals the ultimate success and consequences of the heroes after successfully accomplishing their tasks.
Lastly, the final stage return marks the end of a hero’s journey. At the beginning of this stage, heroes always refuse to end their journey because of some particular important reasons. In Luke’s case, he doesn’t want to return back to meet the Princess because he wants to avenge for Obi-Wan Kenobi, who saved him from Darth Vader and sacrificed for him. In the myth of Romulus and Remus, after Romulus accomplished his task, he also refused to go back to live in the city of his grandfather Amulius, instead, he wants to build a city which became a city of Rome. In these two cases, antagonist often makes hero refuse to return since there are crucial connections between them. Moreover, after accomplishing the task, the heroes always serve as the master between their physical world and the spiritual world. For Luke, after defeating the First Order, he not only became the commander of the Rebellion but also, he became more dexterous at using and controlling force in this journey. Similarly, after accomplishing all twelve labors, Heracles gained his awards – immortality and possessed both physical and spiritual body. Lastly, after all, the journey of a hero, they finally have the freedom to live. For instance, in Luke’s case, he had the opportunity to live with the rebellion and start another journey. As for Perseus, it occurs much earlier in his life. Specifically, he got his ability to live in the world when Danae was locked in the chamber. He made noise to get people’s attention thence wait for the rescue. This stage usually occurs somewhere in hero’s journey and it marks the start of a new journey.
In general, Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: A New Hope portrays himself as a hero and his journey of growing as a hero definitely corresponds to Joseph Campbell’s monomyth: A Hero’s Journey. More importantly, his journey resembles those of numerous Greek and Roman heroes from Classical Mythologies.