PLEASE CHECK THIS OUT. Our own Aeronmelon is going through some shit at the moment and could use some help. Check it out here and consider an upvote or a comment to push it into activity. Sorry, not something I do often or will be spamming. But I care about my friend and if I can get a couple more eyes on his situation then I'm going to try to do what I can. (Last one I promise. Just twice)

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[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey

The Meeting with the Goddess - This is where the hero gains items given to him that will help him in the future.

Atonement with the Father/Abyss - In this step, the hero must confront and be initiated by whatever holds the ultimate power in their life. In many myths and stories, this is the father or a father figure who has life-and-death power. This is the center point of the journey. All the previous steps have been moving into this place, all that follow will move out from it. Although an encounter with a male entity most frequently symbolizes this step, it does not have to be a male—just someone or something with incredible power.

It all seems like a stretch to me. Someone found/created these in a story, maybe some other folks repeat the pattern, but some significant portion is just errors in our pattern recognition, people applying these themes post-hoc.

[–] lka1988@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

To be fair, in order to tell a "good" story, certain literary devices must be used in order for the characters and the plot to make sense. Otherwise it's just rambling. That's why classic stories are classics. But I do think you make a valid point in that these literary devices were noticed and defined much later on, as civilization evolved and rediscovered old stories (the older Greek epics, such as Homer's Odyssey, comes to mind); those literary devices can definitely be interpreted and even implemented in various ways depending on the author and reader.

This applies even with music. Take Chevelle, for example; their frontman, Pete, has written every single one of their songs to date. He doesn't follow the "traditional" lyrical style, and rarely uses rhymes. Yet somehow, they manage to knock out banger after banger. Also, Pete famously enjoys hearing how others interpret Chevelle songs. Same with Rush - Neil was a lyrical genius. My dad actually used one of their songs (The Trees) for a poem assignment in high school 😂

[–] Doc_Crankenstein@slrpnk.net 1 points 19 hours ago* (last edited 19 hours ago)

these literary devices were noticed and defined much later on

If you take any college level course in literature or drama you learn that this is exactly what it is. The "Hero's Journey" is a recognized pattern in popular storytelling across history, all the way back to Greek Theater, which has appeared across numerous different cultures.

It wasn't done on purpose. It's just a recognized trend that is so popular and pervasive it has gained a title and academic studies into its existence.