Cinderella and Joseph Campbell - Hero...1,000 Faces

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 158735

---  "Bruce Alan Wilson" <bawilson at ...> wrote:
>
> Tesha:
> "oh, and btw - the Cinderella story I think you're 
> recalling is the one where the hero as a woman has no 
> power at all and has to wait for someone to save her - 
> ...
> 
> BAW:
> In point of fact there is a traditional Irish story 
> called "Cinder Lad".
>

bboyminn:

I just finished reading 'Hero of a Thousand Faces' by 
Joseph Campbell. Unfortunately it was a library books and
I don't have it here to quote, but it is fairly standard
for the Hero to live a life separate from his destiny 
until such time has he is ready to face that destiny. For
example, though I confess a slightly rusty memory, King 
Arthur was raised separate from the kingdom he would one 
day rule. He, Arthur, was a stable boy or some other such
lowly occupation until he 'pulled the sword from the 
stone' and revealed his true heroic nature. 

This is part of the mythical cycles of metaphorical death
and rebirth that are repeated again and again in the 
stories of all great epic heroes. In a sense, when 
Voldemort tried to kill Harry and failed, circumstances
forced Harry into a metaphorical death which was his life
at the Dursleys. Then when Hagrid came and informed him 
that he was a wizard, he was ready to face his destiny 
and was once again 'reborn' into the Wizard World.

In a sense, we see this in every book. In each book our
innocent character Harry is thrust into the world beyond
our world, into the mythical realm where he faces ordeal
and eventually returns with a 'boon'. By boon in this 
case it doesn't mean riches or a golden fleece, it means
Harry comes out of it older and wiser. As is classic in
Myths, when the Hero returns from a quest, he can never
be the same again. He has seen, metaphorically, the face
of god, he has seen the worlds beyond the world, and in 
returning from that enlightenment, he can never again be
who he was.

We certainly see this in the Harry Potter books. We see
it in the individual books and I suspect we will see it
across the story arc of the entire series. 

So, Harry at the Dursleys was necessary as it is for all
mythilogical Heroes. He must be separated from and 
unaware of his identity and his destiny.

I have said many times before in this group and others
that one of the reasons Harry Potter is so immensely
popular is because Harry is a true modern-day Myth. His
story is the universal story, a story that tells a 
universal underlying truth that can not be denied. Harry
story is the same story as King Arthur, or Merlin, or 
Hercules, or Jason and the Argonauts, or a dozen other
deep and timeless legends. The heart of every true myth
is the universal and undeniable truth that it teachers;
a very deep spiritual truth. 

So, regardless of how we feel about Dumbledore's choice,
he made the right choice to start a mythical hero on his
quest to fulfill his destiny.

Just passing it along.

Steve/bboyminn