Jesus was not Joseph Campbell's hero

Answering a question on Quora:

Is the book of Matthew a monomyth?

In my opinion, the Gospel According to Matthew has some elements of a monomyth but lacks the most critical characteristic.

According to Wikipedia, monomyth is a term from narratology Narratology and Comparative mythology, popularized by Joseph Campbell as the Hero's journey. The monomyth, is the common template of stories that involve a hero who goes on an adventure, is victorious in a decisive crisis, and comes home changed or transformed.

Atheists believe Matthew is mythological, but it was intended as biographical; and good historical evidence supports that. While the book may be biographical, it remains narrative, so I would not exclude it from being a “hero’s journey” just because it is factual. There are better reasons.

Wikipedia includes a quote from Campbell that boils the Hero’s Journey cycle to such simple elements that Matthew could qualify as monomyth. However, that quote oversimplifies the cycle.

If you are familiar with Matthew and compare the events in Matthew to the graphic on Wikipedia’s page, you will find monomyth elements such as a mentor (God the Father), although mentorship precedes the narrative. Jesus of Nazareth has helpers (primarily the God the Holy Spirit), but his disciples are more dependents than helpers. Jesus of Nazareth gains victory over a climactic challenge — a torturous, humiliating death — resulting in the transformation of His body, but His character remains unchanged, since the core of His being was always fully formed. Jesus does not really return “home.” After His victory, He sporadically appears to His disciples to convince them of His victory and
deliver parting messages, but Matthew does not include the return home because "home" is God's throne. (The return home is described in Luke’s book, The Acts of the Apostles.)

Matthew lacks a self-revelation that transforms Jesus. Rather, Matthew turns much of the template upside down. Instead of being changed, Jesus changes the world. Specifically, Jesus transforms the relationship between God and humans. What people previously saw only through ceremonial metaphors and through clouded prophecies, they came to know historically and personally. What was previously conditional and superficial, He made unconditional and everlasting. (To support this statement, I would need to go into theological differences between Old Testament and New Testament salvation, which would stray off topic.)

Matthew does not qualify as monomyth. Rather than experiences transforming the Hero, the Hero’s experience enables transformation of the audience. The intent of Matthew is not to entertain readers with a transformed hero’s journey, but rather, to transform readers and send them on their own journeys.

Copyright 2020, Richard Wheeler. Permission granted for non-remunerated purposes, provided credit is given where credit is due.