Examining Archetypes: The Hero’s Journey

In this series, we will be looking closely at different archetypes. To kick things off, we will, of course start with the archetypal hero and the hero’s journey, through a study of Jaws, Star Wars, The Hunger Games, The Lord of the Rings, Beowulf, and The Odyssey. This article highlights key steps in the journey but the video goes into a much deeper breakdown.

Read on, hero! And, for a more detailed analysis, watch the companion video.

Every story, no matter how different in setting or style, shares a path that leads its hero from the ordinary to the extraordinary. The new educational video presentation, The Hero’s Journey, traces that path through three timeless works: Beowulf, The Hunger Games, and The Lord of the Rings.

The presentation explores how these stories, separated by centuries, cultures, and genres, all reflect the same mythic pattern. Each begins in a familiar world, moves through trials and transformation, and ends with a hero forever changed.

The Call to Adventure

In Beowulf, the young warrior hears of the monster Grendel and sets sail for Denmark. His call to adventure is one of duty and courage. In The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen’s call arrives at the reaping when she volunteers in place of her sister. For Frodo Baggins, it comes when he learns the truth of the One Ring and accepts the quest to destroy it.

The Ordeal

Each hero faces an ordeal that tests not only strength, but heart. Beowulf’s descent into the lair of Grendel’s mother mirrors Frodo’s struggle at Mount Doom and Katniss’s fight for survival in the arena. These moments define them not through victory, but through sacrifice and transformation.

The Return

In the end, all three heroes return changed. Beowulf’s kingdom is left to Wiglaf, his loyal companion, while Katniss and Frodo return home to find that peace comes at a cost. The world they left no longer fits who they have become. This return marks the true completion of the journey — the acceptance that change is the reward of growth.

Lessons That Endure

Through richly illustrated visuals and careful analysis, the video connects these ancient and modern tales to the enduring cycle of the Hero’s Journey. It reveals that the same forces driving Beowulf’s valor echo in Katniss’s defiance and Frodo’s quiet endurance.

Designed for classroom use, this presentation and its companion worksheet invite students to see literature not as a series of separate stories, but as part of a larger human tradition of courage, discovery, and transformation.

The journey never truly ends. It begins again each time a reader or viewer recognizes the hero within themselves.