Part 5 of MonomythDeath of Hero

1. Violent end (death may be symbolic)

2. If not death… this stage is when the hero almost “gives up”

3. Women weep and mourn for the loss (mother, sister, lover)

4. Land becomes infertile – drought, crops won’t grow, perpetual winter…(think Lion King, think Persephone)

5. Hope of resurrection is present6. Hero is a scapegoat, meaning

he takes the blame for mankind, faces the dragon, faces death for everyone else (the “martyr)

7. There is an element of self sacrifice

Part 6 of MonomythDescent to the Underworld

1. Hero enters a womb-like place (to be reborn later as a new being)

– Belly the whale (Joan of Arc, Pinnochio)

– Tomb– Valley of the Shadow– Hades (Hercules)– Hell (Moses, Jesus)

2. Hero often has to rescue someone from underworld

– Hercules rescues Theseus– Jesus brings back Adam– Orpheus goes to rescue Eurydice

3. The descent is the low point in a hero’s life. Only after the descent can the hero truly realize his true self.

4. With great suffering comes greatness

Part 7 of MonomythResurrections and Rebirth

• Hero completes the cycle of nature by being reborn

• Hero has faced death and won

• Hero emerges in a new form

• Hero escapes from the underworld

• Where was the “underworld” in Lion King?