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No we might think that veil wolf and king arthur

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are pretty different after all they were separated by centuries

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and only one of them had to deal with the

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monsters and angry mother but they're both mythical heroes Bail

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wolf and arthur aren't the only ones in american mythology

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ist named joseph campbell read ancient miss that came from

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a lot of different societies Then once he left the

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library and got used to seeing sunlight again he proposed

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the concept of the mono myth the idea that all

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ancient mists are actually the same myth now he didn't

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quite mean this literally going back to bay wolf it's

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not like heart forever fought grendel's mom or bail wolf

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ever became king of england although bay wolf probably would've

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kicked But if being king what campbell meant was that

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all miss have a common structure which has three phases

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departure the initiation and the return Each one of these

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phases happened to the mythical heroes who depart from their

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normal lives going out into the world to achieve great

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things before returning back home Kind of like the process

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of going out to pick up a pizza except you

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Probably won't have to fight any hydra to get extra

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cheese on your pie What these three steps of the

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monuments are broken down further into smaller sub steps After

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all the story they left they did stuff they came

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back isn't exactly a turn hail that'll keep people seated

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around the campfire Things kick off in the ordinary world

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This is where the hero lives before they're great heroic

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adventure think luke skywalker on the family farm wishing he

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were elsewhere preferably not another farm Then comes the call

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to adventure something that shakes up the hero's situation pushing

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them to leave in order to face a challenge in

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luke's case it's almost literally a call Ah hologram from

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laos in the monument three the answering machine messages definitely

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count his calls The next stage is the refusal of

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the call The unknown can be scary in the hero

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having not yet done anything heroic might well be a

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scaredy cat Luckily this stage is followed by the meeting

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with the mentor an experienced figure who gives the hero

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training equipment or advice It'll help them on their journey

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for luke that's obi wan with his knowledge of the

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force on his lightsaber and his impeccable taste in brown

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cloaks Next comes the crossing of the threshold the hero

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committing to enter into the unknown by leaving home or

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space farm spending on story Next the hero is tested

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meaning allies and enemies in luke's case it means finding

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out that han solo and chewbacca are potential allies The

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weird guy in the bar who kept uttering threats on

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so much Then comes the approach where the hero in

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the allies prepare for the challenges ahead for luke it's

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partly doing some force training with a floating ball and

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partly getting dragged into the death star At least does

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death star didn't try to singer loose pants Next comes

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the ordeal now that the heroes deeply in this new

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world the battle really starts for luke That means rescuing

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leia and fighting off stormtroopers all while wearing a stolen

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uniform that was probably a bit tight at the waist

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Then comes the reward The hero faces death and takes

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hold of a treasure one in that battle In luke's

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case he faces death at the tentacles of a gross

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trash monster And the reward is tio continue living it's

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No briefcase full of gold but not a bad second

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place Next comes the road back where the hero is

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driven to actually complete the adventure for luke it means

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seeing obi wan sacrifice himself so that others can escape

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Which makes luc really want to join the rebels Attack

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on the death star though he might have signed up

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earlier if he'd just received the proper paperwork Next is

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the resurrection in the climax where the hero is tested

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one more time luke trusting the force and making the

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impossible three pointer and also you know blows up the

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death star that frees up a lot of real estate

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in outer space Finally comes the return with the elixir

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the hero comes back home or continues his journey with

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the knowledge or treasure that can transform the world Luckily

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luke came back with his knowledge of the force instead

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of ah really cool yo yo trick It might sound

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like a heap of steps but it sure tells a

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great story unless your audience has a really short attention

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span in which case you might want to stick with

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the classic He left he did stuff He came back

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