1. The African myths were obviously much shorter and easier to read than the Greek myths.  Compared with the Greek myths that were merely stories or trying to explain things, the African myths had morals to their stories.  They were more like fables.  They were short stories that tried to teach a lesson to the reader.2. The film that I have chosen is Back to the Future.  Marty McFly is the hero in this movie.  The Call to Adventure: In the beginning he is sent into the year 1955 by accident when he was driving the DeLorean and being chased by the Libyans.  This starts the chain of events.  He has "supernatural aid" when he meets the Doc Brown from the past.  He is the "old crone" who helps him out.  He helps him with his "trials" while he is in the past.  The Road of Trials: Marty's main problem in the past is when he encounters his parents and changes the course of history so that he might not exist in the future.  His main trial is to get his parents back together.  His mother is a "woman as temptress" when she begins to like him and makes his goal more difficult.  He also has trials to overcome with Biff Tannen.  He eventually does get his parents back together.  The Return: His final obstacle is getting back to the future.  With the help of Doc, Marty returns to 1985 in the DeLorean when the lightening strikes the clock tower.  When he returns he reunites with Jennifer so he "gets the girl".

The African myths differ greatly from the Greek myths in that the focus of the myths is purely on the animal kingdom.  They contained stories in which the animals portray human traits.  They are anthropomorphized so as to demonstrate that the lessons are applicable to everyday life.  This is different from the Greek myths in that those ones were much more drawn out as actual literary stories as well as mythical lessons.  The Greeks also portrayed their myths in tales of people or Gods not in the animal world.  The African myths are more focused on behavior influence while Greek myths offer a look at what is the correct moral behavior.In the movie the Thirteenth Warrior, Ahmed, the Arabic character of Antonio Banderas demonstrates a majority of the Hero qualifications as described by Campbell.  In the beginning of the movie Ahmed is called to the adventure when a Viking ship shows up on the shore that he is traveling along.  He enters the tent that they set up and eventually another ship comes bringing a messenger who has a quest.  The soothesayer of the Vikings says there must be 13 for the adventure and when it comes time for the 13vth member it is said that he must not be a Viking.  So by default it must be Ahmed.  Instead of refusing to go Ahmed heeds is call and goes with the Vikings on the quest to rescue a nation to the North.  In this the first threshold that must be crossed is the language barrior that exists between Ahmed and the Vikings.  This barrior is crossed while the geographic threshold is crossed from the Middle East to Scandinavia.  Upon arriving in the Northland it is the equivalent of arriving in the belly of the whale.  It is a place that is overrun by a group of mauraders of sort and the ruling system is powerless to stop it.  It creates an atmosphere that is of a dark world, which corresponds to how short the daylight hours are.  The road of trials begins the first night when they wait for the terror to come and fight it.  Here Ahmed kills one of the mauraders and stays in the fight in order to demonstrate that he his serious about continuing it.  He later makes atonement with the father prior to the last battle sequence.  He kneels down in the mud and prayers to God for forgiveness.  The apotheosis occurs after this when he joins in the Viking saying that essentially glorifies the acts of the brave since this will get one to Van Halla.  The Ultimate boon then occurs for the leader of the group when he is in the process of dying he defeats the leader of the mauraders.  It the becomes Ahmeds responsibility to immortalize him with words of his deeds.  It is after everything has happend that Ahmed chooses to return by crossing the threshold back to where he came from.

1.         The African myths are quite a bit different from the Greek myths but they do share some qualities.  All of the Greek myths stress honoring the gods.  We see this in the African myth “No-King-as-God” where a man is set up by the king for respecting god over the king.  However the divine protects the man and he is richly rewarded in the end.  The African myths vary from the Greek myths mostly in that they trey to teach a moral in every story.  This is not to say that the Greek myths lack moral completely, but that the morals are never specific and it is usually that in the end justice is served.  In African myths however, each story presents a specific moral.  This is illustrated by the myth “The Rabbit Steals the Elephants Dinner” where it is taught that stealing is wrong and that one can not get away with stealing forever.  Also the moral of being honest is taught in “The Rabbit Grows a Crop of Money”2.         J.R.R. Tolkien‘s “Lord of the Rings” is a prime example of Campbell’s definition of a hero in every character of the story.  We will focus however on the hobbits as a whole.  Their departure is not by their choice but by a great need that they rather not fulfill being quite and peace loving in general.  Their first threshold is at Weathertop where they are attacked and barely make it to Rivendale alive by the assistance of Arwin (could be symbolic of supernatural assistance).   The passing into darkness (belly of the whale) is their journey through the Mines of Moria.  From there, the Fellowship is broken and the hobbits are split up each with their own trials and victories.  Frodo and Sam quite literally get a flight to escape Mount Doom.  There is no refusal to return to the shire for the hobbits though they are sad to leave their companions.  When they arrive home they find that Sarumon has brought trouble to the shire and the hobbits prove that they are masters at peace and war in driving out Sarumon and restoring order in their home.  At this points all the hobbits regain their freedom to live peaceful lives in the shire save Frodo who must go into the west.

1.)I noticed that each African myth I read teached a lesson of morality.  In " The Rabbit Grows a Crop of Money" the moral is to not lie.  In " THe Bachelors and the Python" the moral is to hlep others.  In " The Rabbit Steals the Elephants Dinner" the moral is to not steal.  Each character that went against these morals was punished and those who obeyed them were blessed.  African myths tend to focus on teaching right and wrong.  Greek myth seems to focus more on explaining how and why certain things happen on earth.  African myth is less violent than Greek myth and it also contains much shorter stories.  2.)  I chose to look at Moses from the movie "Prince of Egypt" as my hero.  He is called to adventure by a burning bush (a sign from God).  He refuses the call by believing he is not capable of freeing his people.  He receives aid from God through a staff that can be used to show God's power.  His first challenge in Egypt is when he turns the Nile water into blood.  He comes close to dealth when walking through the parted sea.  He gathers his people and leaves Egypt but is followed by the Pharoh's army.  He is aided by God to get away from the army by splitting the sea.  Arrives at the "promise land" (A place of happiness and good land).  He put all his faith in God and believed his human body could do anything with his help.  He becomes the leader of the Israelites and is blessed with a good life.  Returns to normal life but still is a man of God.   

 I think that Greek myths opposed to African myths are based on different Gods, when African ones talk more about regular human.  I can see how the Greek myths relate to some stories in the bible compare to African myths.  For example one the African myths involved a snake who thought human about children and how to make children.  In the bible snake are portray as bad and demonic.   “Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire”, Departure: 1- Mad-Eye-Moody signed Harry potter up for different activities.  2-Refusal of the Call, since Harry potter his underage and is not allow to participate in those activities, the Dumbledore is angry and wonder who signed Harry up for those.  3- During the different tasks received help form Mad-Eye-Moody and is assisted by his parent’s ghosts and his Sirius Black his grand father.  4- For the first activity he had to get the gold egg away from a dangerous dragon and he succeeded.  The Trials and Victories of Initiation: 1-Some of the activities were very dangerous and Harry had to save his opponent.  2- Usually after trials Harry will meet up with the Dumbledore and talk.  3- Myrtle is a ghost who has a crush on Harry and usually come and mess with him while he is bathing. Return: 1- Harry had to complete the last activity in order to return.  2- Harry and his opponent completed the first task where they had to find a cup who will take them to the final task.  3- When Harry and his opponent got to the last round, they encounter trouble and Voldemort killed his opponent.  4- When Voldemort was attaching Harry potter, his parent’s ghost came to his rescue and distracted voldemort while Harry potter was trying to get the key and help his friend dead body to return to the real world.  5- Harry succeeded and brought the keys and his opponent body back as he promised to his father.  6- Harry won the challenge and his free. 

Well I don’t know if this is an exciting comparison…but the African myths were considerably shorts and easier to read.  I thought it was nice, a welcomed break from trying to decipher Homer all week.  In fact, stylistically, I thought of them were comprable with the fairytales we dealt with early this semester. The first story I read was of the Baboon and the Tortoise.  It reminded me of a fable you would tell a child.  Where the Greek stories of their Gods have complex vocabulary, concepts, and you need to be able to keep track of some nearly impossible names…this story was a fable, something like the fairytales we’ve dealt with, that you would tell your children to teach them “the moral of the story”. The use of animals seems the most obvious difference too me.  In Greek Mythology, the Gods have primarily human characteristics, whereas the African myths have the God’s as animals such as in the story of Thunder and Lightning, the are a sheep and a ram.  Also, within the same story the area in which it takes place is so restricted.  In the stories by the Greeks you have them wandering the whole earth on several occasions, whereas in this story out of Nigeria, they are exiled to the outskirts of the “village”.  Village implies a fairly small area.  Then, eventually they council and decided to banish them to “the sky”. I loved the simplicity of the “Bantu” story of how the world neared extinction.  Then after this happy little story of a woman having a son, who grew up, in one day mind you.  Then of course he gets eaten by the monster and such and becomes the hero by cutting his (and many others) way out.  I love that the story ends by saying simply, “ The world was repopulated again”.  This was almost a comical way to end the paragraph long “myth”. Having studied Photography for 2.5 years here at Purdue before changing into sociology, I gravitate towards Photography as my artist means of expression as well as what I tend to look towards when I’m asked to use a piece.  So, at the risk of making this comparison attempt considerably harder than it has to be…I’m choosing a photographic image. My image is a fairly famous one by Natalie Fobes and it’s title is “Exxon Valdez Clean Up”.  It was taken in 1989 and pictured in the foreground is a man wearing a fireman’s suit and working with a large group (pictured in the background) on the clean up crew.  I’m also intrigued by the fact that the main man in the image’s helmet reads “Don’t worry – be happy!”. So let’s see if I can take our young hero through our steps.  His departure probably began because he was in search of adventure.  Wanting to lend a helping hand, save some animals and stop further pollution of the waters in that area.  My best guess is that he may be a volunteer firefighter. I’d guess a volunteer since his uniform seems to be make shift.  There’s no sort of labeling of a department or anything, but the heavy duty hose indicates a knowledge of how to work that type of equipment.  So it was a sort of call or adventure.  Being asked to go out and save the animals…people from all over were asked to come and help (for those of you who don’t know, Exxon Valdez was an oil tanker that hit a reef and leaked somewhere between 11 and 30 million gallons of oil). In this type of situation the trials are fairly evident.  They were up against one of the heaviest amounts of water pollution the world has ever dealt with at one time.  Billions of animals were losing their lives and the contamination of the water could prove to bring forth any number of problems.  As for victories, eventually the combined efforts of the volunteer forces were able to regain some control over the spill and they did save some animals along the way. Return?  Well, as best as we know based entirely off an image this man was able to return home eventually.  I speculate that he returned safely, though probably somewhat emotionally bullied by the experience.  The volunteers that worked towards the clean up of the Exxon disaster were all met with much gratefulness and honor from their back home supporters.   So in some ways, this image did hold up with the hero criteria, though probably in quite a different way than many other hero stories would.  Also being that it’s an image and we can’t do much research on the people within it because their names are not included, it makes it hard to really know some of the details as well.

(1)  I think that there are a few different ways that the Greek and African myths differ.  The Africen myths tell tales of common actions, such as thunder and lightning, but have the "characters human or animal.  As for the Greek myths they take the supernatural to explain the natural, such as Poseidon anger causing the stormy, unsafe sea.  However, both types of myths use moral and life lessons as the messages of the story. The Africans are more simplistic in their story telling and writing than the Greeks, but the Greeks add depth and length to the story (they have more "fluffiness").  They are both similar because you have the untrustworthy vs the trustworthy/good vs evil. Examples of this are obvious in both types of myths.  Oh how Athena would have liked and been proud of the tortoise.(2) The movie Atlantis follows Campbell's qualifiationsfor a hero. Milo wants to discover Atlantis but no one will help. Then an elderly gentleman gives him all the equipment needed plus more. The first trial was to pass the sea monster, and then the team was to pass through the underground tunnel. Upon exiting he meets the supernatural aid of the Atlantis people. Then he discovers the city is dying and must solve the puzzle. On top of that he is to keep the team members from killing the people and stealing their life source. The bad guys take the Atlantis princess leaving Milo behind which gave him time to think of a way to stop them. Together, Milo, the good people from his team, and the Atlantis people gain victory and restore life to Atlantis.  In the end Milo stays behind at Atlantis (mainly for his girly friend) while the rest of the team returns with much money. This of course leaves everyone happy with love, pece, money, and fame. If you have seen this cartoon then you already know that Milo was a nervous person so reluctance yet courage and wisdom followed with him the whole way.

1. The African myths are more direct and succinct than the Greek myths. The structure of an African myth contains very few settings, characters, and plots. There is usually a lack of detail or explanation about why an event or choice is made, and there is a clear, sometimes directly stated message at the end of the myth. The Greek myths use parallels just as the African myths did where good choice vs. bad choice and their respective consequences can be found. However they are more complex with emotive sub-plots and explanations, all of which entangle more sex, violence, and character depth than the African myths. 2. For my film that depicts a hero with the proper Campbell qualifications I chose Beverly Hills Ninja starring Chris Farley. First the Call to Adventure occurs when Chris Farley as Haru the "White Ninja" is approached by Sally Jones at his temple and asked for help. He Refuses the Call at first sighting he is not a great ninja like his brother, Gobei, or his Sensei. However the old man Sensei encourages him to go and tells him how he can call on him for advice anywhere, this is the Supernatural Aid. The Crossing of the Threshold occurs when Haru witness his suspect commit a murder and is blamed himself, and then must travel to America which is going into the Belly of the Whale. The Road of trials are Haru's adventures and misadventures as he follows evidence in the case. Woman as the Temptress is apparent as he catches himself desiring Sally Jones, but must remain true to the task. The Atonement with the Father comes as he tells his Sensei how he always messes up, but the father states it is his heart that makes him strong. After saving Sally and solving the case, the Apotheosis happens as Haru attains the level of ninja and The Ultimate Boon is respect of his brother Gobei, a great ninja. Finally his Refusal of Return occurs as he does not go to live in the temple but to return to America with Sally Jones.

 The African myths I read were the stories of "No-King-as-God", "Thunder and Lightning", and "The Secret of Procreation". The myths, as many myths across cultures, are very much like those of the Greeks . Greek myths often rely heavily upon the works of the "gods" or those forces outside of human control. They also often explain why things in nature are the way they are. In The story of "No-King-As-God" we find a man defying the "king" and and eventually defeating him. The king in this story can be seen similar to a god and the man defeating him is like many Greak myths. The story of Hercules is a good example as a mortal or semi-mortal man defying the odds and defeating the gods. The story also contains a woman, in the case the man's wife, who is easily manipulated and decietful as many myths, such as the story of Helen of Troy, portray women. In the next two stories "Thunder and Lightning" and "The Story of Procreation" we find two African myths that attempt to define how things in nature occur. The story of Thunder and Lightning explain why lighting sometimes strikes and burns stuff up and what thunder is, in this case the mother attempting to control her son. The story of procreation is the story of how a python aided the humans in bearing children. These stories are very much like many Greek myths. Like Greek myths, Africans attempted to explain the unexplainable through divine intervention. In the Greek myth of Pandora we learn that the reason man has problems in his life is because a woman opened a box or that lightning is the anger of Zeus coming to punish people. 2) The movie I chose to follow along with Campbell's "Hero" qualifications is the movie "Gladiator." Separation or Departure1.      The Call to Adventure-  After being Rome's greatest general Maximus is betrayed. Maximus is then kidnapped against his will and then told he has to fight in the arena of die2.      Refusal of the Call; This happens we during his first fight in the arena when he at first refuses to fight as well as in the training beforehand where he just stands there while he is beaten.3.      Supernatural Aid : This comes from the old man who purchases him and tells him of how he can bbe great by being a vicious fighter in the arena.4.      The Crossing of the First Threshold: We see this when, after fighting for sometime, we see Maximus come out of the dungeon area and lay waste to all the gladiators he is supposed to be fighting in what is presumably Africa.5.      The Belly of the Whale: This occurs when he is taken to Rome to the Collesium where his trials begin and he is thrown into darkness.The Trials and Victories of Initiation 1.      The Road of Trials: Maximus fights a series of battles in the arena including the recreation of Scipio's battle in Africa as well as fighting the giant Gaul that is the best arena fighter ever.2.      The Meeting with the Goddess: This occurs when the sister of the Emperor seeks out Maximus and gives him aid in excaping and defeating the Emperor.3.      Woman as the Temptress: This does not really occur but you can sort of see it in that perhaps Maximus may be in love with the Emperor's sister but that can never be achieved.4.      Atonement with the Father: This does not really happen either except perhaps when he makes peace with the old man that bought him, who was a great gladiator himself, and the old man helps him in the end to escape by not letting the soldiers in during the slave revolt in the dungeon of the Colesium5.      Apotheosis; This happens in two parts. The first is when during the course of the Colesium fights Maximus' name is chanted and the crowd grows to love him. Many characters in the story refer to him as "god-like" because of his love from the people.6.      The Ultimate Boon= This happens out of order because his ultimate gift would be killing the emperor and returning to his family who was killed in the afterlife. But this does not happen until the end of the movie.Return1.      Refusal of the Return- This happens not by Maximus' own choice. When he is finally freed from captivity as a gladiator his plan is ruined when he learns the Emperor as learned of what is to happen. When he makes it outside of the walls he sees that his slave helper has been killed and that many soldiers are waiting for him.2.      The Magic Flight-This happens at the end of the movie when he finally kills the Emperor and is allowed to return to his family in the afterlife. This can also be seen in the revolt scene where he is running away with the help of his fellow gladiators keeping the guards at bay.3.      Rescue from Without- This occurs through the intervention of the Emperor's sister and Maximus' slave helper. They organize the revolt so that Maximus can escape and rejoin his army to overthrow the corrupt Emperor.4.      The Crossing of the Return Threshold- This really never happens because he never escapes and is eventually is killed for his efforts.5.      Master of the Two Worlds- This can be seen in that he conquers the living world by becoming famous and using that fame to kill the Emperor who originally betrayed him. Then he conquers death by getting into the afterlife and is allowed to be with his family once again.6.      Freedom to Live- This can be seen throught the reuniting with his family in the afterlife. All throughout the movie all he wanted to do was be with his family. It was the reason behind all the things that he did, including his revenge against the Emperor who had them killed. Thus by dying he is allowed to live in the way he wishes.

(1.) The differences between Greek myths and African myths seem readily apparent. The similarities may not be as striking, but are probably more profound. For instance, in Greek myth, gods are personified, and in African myth (I read the three involving the tortoise), animals are personified. It seems there is some sort of inherent need to project human nature onto both the preternatural and nature itself in an attempt to understand them. Many of the tales involve a journey which symbolizes birth and death and life in between. Also, the characters and circumstances are often distorted from logic or reality and contrived only to fulfill the author's intended moral. The authors of the myths also seem to assume their audiences will have prior knowledge of elements or characters within the story, and will relate accordingly to the underdog hero, the scavenging eagle, the noble tortoise, the beguiling goddess, or the slithery lizard. (2.) I chose the epic anime feature Akira for comparison with Campbell's Hero qualifications. Rather than choosing the film's protagonist, Kaneda, as the subject, I chose Tetsuo, the anti-hero. -Separation or Departure- (1.)      The Call to Adventure - Tetsuo rides into action against a rival motorcycle gang only to encounter a dark herald purely by chance, a geriatric child who, simply by appearing, nearly kills Tetsuo. (2.)      Refusal of the Call - Tetsuo survives his encounter with Number 26, and is hauled off to a military hospital. He escapes, and attempts to run away with his girlfriend, Kaori. They are attacked by the rival gang, and following the attack, he pushes away visions of his future and becomes catatonic. (3.)      Supernatural Aid (the unsuspected assistance that comes to one who has undertaken his proper adventure) - Tetsuo receives telepathic messages sent by both the life/energy force Akira, and another elderly child, the little wrinkled girl Number 25. They try to warn him of his impending doom. (4.)      The Crossing of the First Threshold - The first threshold is crossed when Tetsuo leaves reality and enters the A-room, a dreamscape nursery for Nos. 25, 26, and Number 27, who bears a striking resemblence to that obese pervert Louie Anderson. (5.)      The Belly of the Whale - Tetsuo dreams he is disintegrating. This disintegration is symbolic of his former self giving way to the power growing within him. No. 25 sees Tetsuo's disintegration as an omen of the inevitable destruction of Neo Tokyo. -The Trials and Victories of Initiation- (1.)      The Road of Trials - Tetsuo is attacked by the numbered children. They telekinetically assemble large demonic avatars from toys in the A-room, as they are far too old and frail to physically him. Tetsuo fends off the attack, and in so doing, realizes his power is greater than theirs combined. (2.)      The Meeting with the Goddess - The precognitive Number 25 once again communicates telepathically to Tetsuo, admonishing him of his wreckless use of power. Tetsuo disregards her warning and takes off to find Akira. (3.)      Woman as the Temptress - Number 25 uses the woman Kei as her avatar as Tetsuo approaches Akira. Speaking through Kei, Number 25 once again attempts to edify and enlighten Tetsuo to the big picture, but Tetsuo is entangled within his own self-created idiosynchratic distortion of reality. (4.)      Atonement with the Father - Kaneda, the closest thing Tetsuo has to a father or a brother, scoffs at Tetsuo's power displays, and belittles him. Tetsuo complains, "you always treated me like a little kid." Kaneda attacks Tetsuo to no avail, as Tetsuo's telekinesis is far more powerful than Kaneda's failing weapon. Kaneda screams out for Tetsuo to fight with his bare hands. "Feeling frustrated Kaneda?" Tetsuo asks. "Now do you know what it's like feeling little and helpless?" (5.)      Apotheosis - Tetsuo's power expands exponentially, beyond his control, beyond the control of the drugs administered to him at the military facility. (6.)      The Ultimate Boon - He approaches the "transcendental awakening" of Akira. -Return- (1.)      Refusal of the Return - Kaneda once again insists that Tetsuo "fight like a man." Tetsuo laughs maniacally, corrupted by his power. (2.)      The Magic Flight / (3.)      Rescue from Without - Kaneda gives chase to Tetsuo, trying to save him from himself. In this case, the opposition is the rescue. (4.)      The Crossing of the Return Threshold - Tetsuo crosses a threshold into memory and dreams, and eventually returns to the beginning of time, but does not return to the "real world." During his metamorphosis, Neo Tokyo is destroyed. (5.)      Master of the Two Worlds - The voice of No. 25 echoes through the chaos saying that one day, this great energy will be mastered in both the real world and the world of memories and dreams. (6.)      Freedom to Live - Nos. 25, 26, 27, and Number 28, Akira, along with Tetsuo, leave their corporeal bodies and become star children in a sort of 2001: A Space Odyssey ending, and promise to return and bestow the supreme energy on humanity once it can be harnessed.

1)The African myths seem to differ from the Greek myths in that they are more involved with the creation of nature and how everything came to be. Not to say that the Greek myths do not tell the same stories in their own way, but to me it seems that the Greeks tell more stories of morals and how to live life rather than how life came to be. The narrative structure of the African myth is also different than the Greek structure of their myths. The Greeks tended to tell long tales in verses, while the Africans tell their stories in short paragraph form. 2) A character that I think fits the "hero" role is the one that Bruce Willis play in the movie Armageddon. He fulfills almost every qualification that Campbell says a hero has. He gets his call to adventure when NASA asks him to help defeat the astroid, goes through refusal of the call, the road of trials, etc.

 1) The biggest and most obvious difference that I noticed between African myths and Greek myths are that in African myths there is more of an emphasis on actual creatures that were present during those times. The characters in these African myths often become an animal, and different animals are used to represent symbols, such as good and evil. In Greek myths there is more of focus on the strength of these superior Gods or beings. There is also more strange creatures used in Greek myths as opposed to real animals. I think that the African myths were also made more as fables or to teach specific lessons. There are some similarities among both myths, like how heros become, but those were the biggest differences that I could think of. 2) Off the top of my head, I chose to do Shaun from "Shaun of the Dead" as the hero from a film, and I do think that this character lives up to Campbell's critique for a hero. Once everyone starts turning into zombies Shaun is mostly scared for his own life, but he succeeds with a sort of unenthusiastic confidence since he feels he doesn't have much to live for anyways. He is called to action once he realizes that he must rescue his mum and his girlfriend. Shaun doesn't really have any supernatural aid, but he does figure out how to kill the zombies quickly. As most of his friends turn into zombies, including his best friend, Shaun faces ultimate tribulations. In the end Shaun tries to return to normal life with a new outlook on his own. The zombies, and his best friend remain living unliving among society doing such tasks as working at places like Walmart. In a sense this makes Shaun a master of two different worlds.

(1)  I read the African Myths "No-King-as-God", "Thunder and Lightning", and "The Origins of Procreation".  The main differnce is these myths and that of the Greek myths, is the Africian myths wer much shorter and this was not a lot of back story.  They cut right to the point and only put in what it seemed like the main character was doing.  Also due to the fact that supporting characters were not develpoed, the story was much easier to read and follow.(2) Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader)Seperation or DepartureA) Said to be the choosen one and will bring balance to the force.B) Anakin is a slave boy that is found by Qui-Gon and finds out he is the choosen one.C) Learns the ways of the Force by Obi-Wan and has a supernatural power now that he can controlD) First challenge is to help the Naboo pilots destroy the Trade Federation in the Battle over Naboo.E) Reaches the age where he can become a Jedi Knight and learn more about the force and how to control it.The Trials and Victories of InitiationA) Anakin saves Padme's life in Attack of the Clones in order to winover her loveB) When the Dark Side of the Force becomes strong, Anakin knows that by destiny he will be the one to bring the Force back into balance.C) Anakin's love for Padme is forbidden by the Jedi Code and if he is to marry her, we would be breaking the sacred code of the Jedi Order.D) Obi-Wan is Anakin's father figure but he feels as though he is holding Anakin back and feels Obi-Wan needs to let him train at a faster pace.E) When Anakin becomes a Jedi Knight, he feels that he is capable of being a Jedi Master and the Jedi Order should praise him since he is the choosen one.F) Builds a lightsaber in order to defend himself.  This skill is taught to him through the Force which requires no teaching from any of his mentorsReturnA) When Anakin learns of a way to save Padme's life from his dreams, he no longer is himself.  He will not return to the Light Side of the Force and falls to the Dark Side.B) Wipes out all of the Jedi since the Empire beleives they have become evil and no longer care about the empire.C) After his battle with Obi-Wan on Mustafar, Anakin is left for dead and the Emporer has to take him to a medical facility in order to restore his body to a living state.  This is wear Anakin gets his black armor and the good person of Anakin Skywalker is barried beneth the Dark Side Master Darth Vader.D) Even as Obi-Wan cut Anakin's legs and arm off, he still beleived that the Dark Side was the only way to save his wife Padme.E) Anakin shows the ability to pass between the Dark Side and the Light Side which is impossible but he is strong enough to do this task.F) Due to his turn back to the Light Side to save his son Luke Skywalker, Anakin is allowed to live on as a ghost and can watch over Luke for the rest of his life.

  The three African myths that I read seemed extremely similar to the Greek myths we read in class as well as other myths I have read previously.  As far as narrative structure goes, in the myths I read it seemed that the African myths were short and chopping and went straight to the point.  In the Greek myths they all seem to reference eachother in some one or include the whole family history of every character.  The African myths were a little easier to read because they didn't have all the family lineage and were easier to understand because of that.  The hero work I've chose to look at is Disney's movie of Hercules.  Here you have the young Hercules who was stolen from his parents in Olympus and Hades tried to poison him but only took away his immortality.  Hercules was raised in a small town and basically unheard of until he decides he wants to become a god again and works towards becoming a hero with his goat trainer.  He falls in love with a girl and must face several trials in order to gain her love and save a town.  When Hercules gives his life to save the girl he loves, he is given immortality but turns it down to remain on earth with his love.  I think Campbell's Hero mapping stays very true for Hercules's story as portrade by Disney.

1. I read the myths "No-King-as-God", "Thunder and Lightning", and "The Origins of Procreation" and I would say that overall, they are similar to Greek myths.  They all involve kings and queens, heaven and hell, and some sort of higher power.  Usually the myths gives some sort of supernatural ability to one person or another.  There are also many different symbols, some in which I read were represented in certain animals, etc.  I think that the narrative structure between the myths are pretty similar also.  I think that the African myths are more straightforward and to the point, as opposed to the Greek myths, in which numerous side stories always appear when you read them.  2. The hero I choose to put through Campbell's Hero qualifications is Spiderman.  I think that many of Campbell's steps correlate with this superhero's calling.  Spiderman first uses his powers for personal profit, but then gets called into action to avenge the death of his uncle (crossing the first threshold).  When Spiderman captures his uncle's killer, he believes that his call to adventure is to keep the city safe from evil.  Spiderman faces many trials along the road, including villains like Doc Oc, Green Goblin, Kingpin, etc., etc.  He is tempted many times to quit being Spiderman and return to the real world, but his heart is in defending the world from evil.  He is constantly trying to balance his superhero life with his normal life.  He finds it hard and troubling to be a normal person in the real world with all his responsibilities as a hero; an example being him trying to be with his love, Mary Jane.  In the end, Spiderman becomes accustomed to balancing both realms and has the freedom to live successfuly in both worlds.

1. The African myths that I read were “No-King-as-God,” “Thunder and Lightning” and “The Origins of Procreation.”  These stories just as many of the Greek myths explain why or how certain things happen.  “The Origins of Procreation” explains that a python was sent to teach men and women how to conceive children. When comparing the narrative structure of Greek and African Myths, it is noticeable that the African myths are not as long and much more simple in context than the Greek myths.  There seems also to be much more death and drama in the Greek myths when compared to the African myths.  Also, in Greek myths names are given to all of the characters and in the African myths the characters in the stories are just named by what they are-men, women, kings.2.  Throughout the movie The Lion King, Simba has many of the qualifications for Campbell’s definition of a hero.  He goes back to his homeland to remove Scar as king and undergoes many challenges along the way.  He wants to remove Scar as king, because Scar killed his father.  Simba even meets a lion girl during his journey.  Simba doesn’t have some of the qualifications though. For example, throughout his journey he gets help from people but no one that he gets help from are supreme beings.  So while Simba has many of the qualifications of Campbell’s definition of a hero, he lacks some.

1)  While reading the greek myths it seems that many of the stories deal with violence, sex, and more violence.  The greek myths seem to be stories that cary meaning of how civilization evolved and endured different topics, such as the ones I listed before.  The characters often take shape as superheroes, with their courage, strength, abilities, or knowledge/trickery.  They seem to have non-human powers, and that humans are weak and feeble compared to the gods.  The african stories seem to be on a level that is not suppose to create a difference in beings or proclaim a superior belief.  Rather they use animals, little boys, or other objects that are less threatening to the reader/listener.  This creates a softer image of the work and often times has a happy ending.  2)  As I stated in class I believe Fight Club is a great way to caputer the crossing of the return threshold.  Here is a story about a man having a battle within himself.  Tyler Durden has taken control of his thoughts, ideas, and has ultimately made him a person the narrator does not want to become.  What he first thought was a real person turned out to be himself, and he realized the battle between good and evil he created.  He was the good and he was the evil.. or maybe it was his brain that was the evil.  Anyway, the crossing of the return of the threshold sticks out when he has to shoot himself to make his evil half believe he is dead.  Though confusing at first, this once again shows how the good prevails, and how he was confused and was a "bad guy" through out most of the movie, turned out to be the hero.

I read Tortoise and the Lizard, The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle, and The marriage of the Mouse. I feel like these stories are very to the point and I really like them. They are not wordy and they are fun to read. Compared to greek myths these have very clear lesson to be learned. It does not focus on a hero and his adventures. It also does not use any fancy words or whimsical phrases. It is clear and to the point. The story that I choose is The Lion King with Simba being the hero.1.      Knowing he will be King one day2.      Running away after his father dies3.      Pumba and Timon help him4.      Returning to the Kingdom5.      Staying in the forest for a while  The Trials and Victories of Initiation1.      Fighting with Scar and the hyennas2.      Seeing Nala again4.      His fther talkes to him through the clouds6.      He wins back the Kingdom Return1. He desnt want to come back but knows that he has to because he needs to save the lions. Everyone wants his back exceot for Scar who is the bad guy. He wins  back the kingdom and saves the lion and the kingdom is back to normal.

1)  I read three tales from Central Africa – “The Bachelors and the Python”’, “The Rabbit Steals the Elephant’s Dinner”, and “The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle”.  Each of these stories is similar in that they each teach a lesson, a moral.  In each tale, there is an animal who does something wrong/evil and is rightly punished.  A moral is given at the end of each tale.  This is the main difference from Greek myths; Greek myths are used to explain why certain things happen, such as a snake shedding its skin or the change of seasons, rather than teach the difference between right and wrong.  These African myths are also much shorter and simpler than the Greek myths.  They are also less controversial; they have less death, adultery, etc.  2)  According to Campbell’s classification, Wesley from the movie The Princess Bride falls under the hero category.  In the movie, poor farm boy Wesley must leave his fiancée, Buttercup, to earn money for their wedding. While this is slightly unconventional, this is his Call to Adventure.  His Crossing of the First Threshold occurs when his boat is attacked by the Dread Pirate Roberts.  He is assumed dead, but he comes out alive and carries on the Dread Pirate Robert’s persona.  This is The Belly of the Whale.  The Road of Trials consists of everything from Buttercup being currently engaged to Prince Humperdinck to traveling through the dangerous Fireswamp.  However, Wesley is reunited with Buttercup – The Meeting with the Goddess.  The Ultimate Boon is achieved when Wesley steals Buttercup away from Prince Humperdinck.  Finally, Wesley and Buttercup are married, no longer worry about money, and live happily ever after – The Freedom to Live.

The African myths are like the Greek myths in that they give reasons for the way things are here on earth.  They both explain events in nature, like thunder and lightening for example.  Also both types show deep respect for the earth and all that inhabits it.  The big difference I noticed is the fact that instead of humanizing things in nature, they were in the form of animals.   I think Aladdin is a hero that meets these requirements.  I can’t get away from the Disney movies I guess! Separation or Departure

1. Aladdin finds the magic lamp
2. He doesn’t know if he believes what it is at first.
3. Genie comes out and is ready to grant him three wishes.
4. Making the wish to be a prince.
5. Taking the trip to the palace.

  Trials and Victories of Initiation

1. Jafar is always trying to find ways to undermine Aladdin’s efforts to marry Jasmine.
2. The first time he gets to talk to Jasmine and show her he really likes her.
3. He knows that they came from different worlds and it will be hard for them to be together.
4.  Aladdin and Genie have an argument, but they resolve it and work together.
5. Aladdin is treated like the prince that he is pretending to be.
6. Aladdin and Jafar fight and Aladdin conquers Jafar even when he is extremely powerful

  Return

1. Aladdin doesn’t think Jasmine’s father will let them be together after he discovered who he really is.
2. Aladdin does get to marry Jasmine.
3. They both get to live at the palace with everything they could ever need.
4. Aladdin does not really return to what he was before-so this one doesn’t apply as well.
5. Everyone knows where he came from, but Aladdin is still accepted.
6. He and Jasmine can live out the rest of their lives together without any worries.

1) The Greek myths often tell of a story about gods and how each one was created. They are stories about the powers and adventures of gods and often seem to be about revenge and seeking other great powers or earning some type of esteem. The African myths are stories mostly about how everyday things came into place. Such as the myth “Thunder and Lightening” which talks about how thunder and lightening came to be.  It relates everyday occurrence and everyday objects in order to make a more clear understanding for people. For example, how Thunder and Lightening were cast to the skies, but even to this day, once in a while Lightening gets angry and sets fire to something. African myths seem to use a lot of personification, in which they give inanimate objects human-like qualities (such as explaining Lightening and Thunder as living, breathing, things). Greek myths also seem to usually have a chronological structure, in which they take place some time long ago. Whereas the African myths I read really did not and again are more current. They also seem to be stories more about lessons or warnings about a particular thing or event. 2) The work I chose to apply Campbell’s  Hero qualific ation to is Batman & Robin. In this movie Bruce Wayne is “called to adventure” when his parents are killed and he seeks revenge on their behalf. Naturally he begins to rid the world of all evil doing, and the first time he helps an innocent person is his “the crossing of the first threshold”. I think of the Bat Cave as “The Belly of the Whale” in the sense that he is a normal working guy by day, but at night when crime takes places he goes into the Bat Cave and reappears as Batman. Also I think of his cape as “A Supernatural Aid”. When he is disguised in his cape, he is powerful and it provides him a sense of invisibility. He has to fight several villains including Poison Ivy, the “Woman as a Temptress” who is this beautiful woman who lures in men by blowing perfume from the palm of her hand. After fully enchanting them into her spell, she finishes by giving them the kiss of death in which poison is transfer from her lips to theirs. Also Alfred, the old butler, can be seen as the old man guiding Batman.

1.)    The African myths compare with the Greek myths in the fact that they are mythical explanations things that people could not explain or understand.  For example, the African story of thunder and lightning gives a magical twist on what we know now to be a scientific fact of nature.  Both civilizations, the Greek and African civilizations, were attempting to make sense of a world that was very mysterious and unknown to them.  The easiest way to make sense of things such as thunder and lightning, childbirth, and the story of Axes to explain how the world is suspended in space, is to compare it to something that humans can relate with.  During this time, they could relate best with stories about other humans.  The difference between the two different culture’s myths is that the African stories seem less controversial and less angry.  The Greek tales seem to focus on negative relationships that the God’s have with each other.  Adultery, murder, lust, and vanity seem to be common themes when it comes to the origin of the Gods.  The few African tales do not seem to focus on the same unattractive human traits.  Perhaps this helps us to see the differences in the behavior of members of each culture.  Perhaps the God’s in Greek myths are made to reflect the common behaviors that were apparent in ancient Greece.  Were the Greek more lustful and envious than African civilizations?  If the goal is to make each tale “relatable” to each group then perhaps these trends are true.   2.)    The “hero” that I have chosen to apply Campbell’s Hero qualifications to is Beowulf.  In the story, the mead hall named Herrot along with King Hrothgar and his warriors are threatened by a supernatural creature named Grendel.  King Hrothgar calls upon Beowulf, a great and powerful warrior, to protect the hall and to kill Grendel.  This is an example of the “Call to Adventure.”  Beowulf comes to the aide of the King and his warriors and kills Grendel by ripping his arm off, fatally wounding him.  The arm is then hung victoriously in the mead hall for all to see.  Beowulf is praised and celebrated by the men all through the night, unaware that a second demonic creature is waiting to seek revenge for the death of Grendel.  While many of the men are asleep, Grendel’s mother sneaks into the hall and devours one of Beowulf’s most trusted advisors.  Beowulf in turn seeks revenge for the death of his advisor and swims to the monster’s lair deep in a murky and demonic swamp, “the road of trials”.  Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother with a mystical sword which was once forged by a giant.  This sword is an example of a “Supernatural Aid.” He returns to the surface to be celebrated once again.  This is an example of the “Crossing of the Return Threshold” as well as the “Master of the Two Worlds.”  The story continues telling many of Beowulf’s triumphant accomplishments as well as his tragic death.Many of Campbell’s criteria do hold true throughout the story.  There are many more examples that are not listed below that make this a heroic tale as well.  I believe that Beowulf is the ultimate example of a hero and a perfect example of the heroic journey in literature.