Part 2: Chapter 3, Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 Summary and Analysis

"The Hero as Warrior" At the beginning of this section, Campbell writes that "the place of the hero's birth, or the remote land of exile from which he returns to perform his adult deeds among men, is the mid-point or navel of the world ..." (see "Objects/Places - The World Navel"). As such, the hero-man can be seen as an incarnation of the wisdom contained in the world navel - "he is," Campbell writes, "the champion ... of things becoming." He is destined to remove the negative influence of the past (manifested in such symbolic forms, Campbell suggest, as dragons in the countryside, aged tyrants, disease, etc.) and bring his home and his world into newness of life. Here he cites several examples from legend, including that of the Christian St. Martha (who vanquished a dragon...