Archetypal Hero's Journey In Fairy Tales

Folklore is an important aspect of cultures around the world. Folklore is the traditional beliefs, myths, legends, and fairy tales spread via the word of mouth. Legends are based on historical facts or beings, but the characters or events are exaggerated. Myths are based on religion, they feature supernatural beings or creators, and they usually explain a natural phenomenon. Fairy Tales have a fantastic element, generally presenting magic, imaginary creatures, and good versus evil. Italian folklore is steeped in all categories of folklore, but the historical significance of legends has the greatest concentration. History is a value that is dear to family in Italy. The past is important to the bedrock of Italian folklore because history is believed

The journey signifies the life of a notable person or animal. The basis of this is to help show the growth of a hero throughout his quest and portray the fate of the remarkable idol. The archetypal hero’s journey is important to folklore because in order to thoroughly understand the context in folklore stories, a backstory is needed. The hero’s journey helps the reader connect with the story by comprehending the hero’s emotions and actions before the lore took place. The journey relates the conflicts to the reader themselves. “The Horse and the Olive”, a myth, falls into 5 stages of the archetypal hero’s journey. In phase one, the “Ordinary World”, the background is shown as the growing or thriving village. In phase two, the “Call to Adventure”, Neptune and Athena arrive at the town and ask the town to choose between the gods in exchange for protecting the village. In phase three, the “Refusal of the Call”, the small city is unable to choose between Athena, the goddess of wisdom, or Neptune, the god of the sea. In phase six, the “Tests, Allies, and Enemies”, in effect of the town’s indecisiveness and doubt, Neptune and Athena are tested with the task of gifting the town. In phase nine, the “Reward”, Athena was awarded the town and it was named Athens.Greek and Italian folklore are very similar, so the rumored backstory of Athens is significant to Italians because Athens is Greece’s capital.There is not a story without a journey, therefore the story behind Athens becomes the journey of the Italians