The Power of the Mythic Hero

Joseph Campbell (1) describes the hero as "the man of self-achieved submission" who is "able to battle past his personal or historical limitations." Such a hero is presented in myth and in fiction as a person engaged upon a quest which Campbell (2) suggests will offer something of value to society regardless of whether or not the hero is ridiculous or sublime or whether his quest is successful or not. Further, all heroes exhibit different powers of action which helps to determine both the nature and outcome of their quest and its effects. These concepts will be discussed with respect to three monomythic heroes derived from Western literature -- Lancelot du Lak, Hamlet, and Don Quixote.

Lancelot du Lak, generally regarded as King Arthur's most valorous knight, embarked upon a quest for the Holy Grail partly in reparation for his sins. As described by Sir James Knowles (295), Lancelot's pursuit of the Grail was because "he had for fourteen years served but Queen Guinevere only, and forgotten God, and done great deeds of arms for her, and not for Heaven, and had little or nothing thanked God for the ho