Ancient Mythology, Legends, Heroes and Star Wars

            As a young boy, the hero performs incredible feats of daring, intuition and skill.  He wins a deadly high-stakes race against world-class opponents much older than him.  He finds and forms an alliance with disguised warriors from another place.  Later, he gets onboard an enemy ship during a fierce battle and single-handedly destroys it despite an army against him.  His luck seems uncanny and his potential seems unlimited.  As he gets older his reputation precedes him with acts such as being assigned to the personal guard of a queen, rescuing his own mentor from the clutches of a very-well armed and evil adversary, and helping to direct the successful military actions of a ship in combat.  He participates in countless battles and engagements and his prowess becomes arrogance.  As a young man, he is accepted into an ancient and secret order of powerful warrior knights.  Ultimately, politics intervenes in the story and his arrogance drives his lust for power as he falls to the dark side (10. Star Wars, Wiki).

            While the preceding synopsis could be confused with an ancient Greek or medieval tale of heroism, this is far from this story’s cultural reference.  This is the story of Anakin Skywalker, otherwise known as Darth Vader, in the epic movies of the Star Wars trilogy.  Homer’s The Odyssey shows us the heroes Odysseus and his son, Telemachus (7. The Odyssey, Book 1).  Both venture for the same cause, Odysseus’s return to and reclamation of his home and family.  Telemachus seeks to find his father and return him to his former status.  Meanwhile, Odysseus had been seduced by a god who probably did not have Odysseus’s well-being in mind.  The god’s intentions were largely self-serving.  Similarly in Star Wars, Anakin is seduced by a Sith Lord to become his apprentice and aid him in controlling the galaxy.  Luke, Anakin’s son, goes on a quest to find his father and bring an end to the dark side’s rule. 

            During the course of his journey, which takes place over several movie installments, Luke’s transformation into a Jedi knight seems to mirror that of his father (14. Origins - Journey).  This includes an internal struggle of resisting the temptation to turn to the dark side, which Luke won.  Anakin’s internal struggle is prompted by the Sith Lord Palpatine who probably did not have Anakin’s well-being in mind.  Palpatine’s intentions were most likely self-serving.  Since Luke won the battle for his soul, he emerges as the most powerful of both light and dark knights (1. Mythology, Greydanus).   Furthermore, he not only succeeds in this internal dilemma where his father failed, he is able to help his father overcome his devotion to the dark side which has kept his father from his former status.  In the Iliad, Hector and Achilles fought as mortal enemies.  In Star Wars, Luke and Darth Vader endure an on-going war on either side.

            Light and dark are terms characterizing both sides of the war in Star Wars.  Both sides believe that they are right.  While it would be easy to characterize good and evil from these two opposing sides, the relationship between these adversarial groups is complex.  Lord Palpatine, Darth Vader, and other Siths are portrayed as power-hungry yet do not actively and continuously seek out war.  In Episode III, Palpatine gives instructions to the newly lorded Darth Vader with a final reminder that there would finally be peace in the galaxy after the recent tumultuous civil war.  Conversely, there are several cases of Jedi who became very powerful and then turned to the dark side in order to attain further powers.  This dichotomy of light and dark, Jedi and Sith, good and bad actions, and war and peace is continued throughout the epic and defines the morality of each sub-story within the epic.

            Timeless conflict between these light and dark sides of the same force overlays the story.  Many aspects of these sides can be related by Taoist thought and especially the almost harmonious conflict between light and dark.  While each side seeks and plots the demise of the other, there can be no definitive light without a definitive dark and vice versa (11. Philosophy and Religion, Wiki).  Light and dark is also known as Yin and Yang in Taoism as a swirling circle of white and black with a spot of black in the white side and a spot of white in the black side.  This could also be referenced in the film by the use of similar color schemes to define the Jedi and Sith sides.  With few exceptions, the Jedi dress in white and light earthy colored Samurai-like garments.  In fact, the concept of the Jedi was derived partially from the Japanese Samurai.  Conversely, the Sith dress almost exclusively in black or dark shadowy colors.  However, there is a huge white spot in the Sith empire side as the Storm Troopers uniforms are almost completely bright white.

            Within the entire epic of the film, there are an assortment of battles for dominance and political maneuvering (1. Mythology, Greydanus).  Yin and Yang is also found within the complexity of the story at this level.  In Episode I, the Trade and Commerce Guild of planets has a dispute with several other planets including the home world of Queen Padme, a staunch supporter of the Republic and an influential speaker in the Galactic Senate, not to mention the future love interest of Anakin.  Greed and a hunger for power seem to define the Guild and its leadership.  The Guild’s army, largely composed of droid robots, seems to further the impression that the Guild is a force of evil in the universe.  Thus we find Jedi Obi-Wan and his mentor, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, deployed at the authority of the Republic by the Jedi Council to the Guild’s massive space armada.  However, the Guild’s actions are directed by the Sith Lord Palpatine in disguise, and so it is left to question exactly how evil the Guild itself actually is.

            Similarly, in The Iliad, the forces of Troy and those led by King Agamemnon are locked in combat during a siege of Troy.  The king of the besieged city takes bad advice and decides to base a military strategy around the perceived will of a god, as opposed to formulating a strategy from a realistic view of the battlefield.  Acting in lieu of more diplomatic means to retake the stolen Helen and made egotistical by the service of the super-soldier Achilles in his army, Agamemnon doesn’t believe that Troy will present an easy, glorious, and just victory in conquest and begins a long and bloody war at the city’s walls that takes the lives of main characters on both sides including his own.  Good and evil are mingled and difficult to disentangle in The Iliad’s structure.  By contrast, Star Wars may be somewhat less balanced between the two opposing sides; however the story structure is similarly entangled.

            Further complicating the contrast between good and evil in Star Wars are certain analogies to common and popular religions.  Anakin’s mother is impregnated by the force and without a father, thus making reference to the Virgin Mary’s birth of Jesus.  Although the idea of a virgin birth of a savior or religious figure is not singular to Christianity, it is close enough in this sense to evoke a clear relationship in popular culture (11. Philosophy and Religion, Wiki).  Anakin’s birth portends his importance to the universe and the ongoing struggle between light and dark.  Ironically, after Anakin’s transformation into a powerful Jedi knight, he turns into Darth Vader, one of the most powerful Sith Lords in the galaxy second only to the rule of Lord Palpatine.  Good and evil, light and dark, are again sent into disarray when Darth Vader kills Palpatine at the end of the epic and reverts to being on the light side.  This is perpendicular to the Iliad where Achilles wants to kill Agamemnon but does not end up doing so.  Whereas in Star Wars Darth Vader follows Palpatine loyally, but does end up killing him. 

            Religious references continue as Eastern and Western cultures meet as do the light and dark forces in Star Wars.  Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist monks live by strict codes which permeate almost every aspect of their lives (9. Britain, Wiki).  Similarly, the Jedi knights live by strict codes which parallel these ancient religions.  This includes several key Jedi characters living lives of solitude as hermits.  Jedi code also prohibits romantic love which is in direct relevance to the Catholic vows of celibacy.  In Episode III, Yoda instructs Anakin to not mourn for the dead and to neither feel anger nor sorrow for a loss.  Yoda goes on to say that Jedi knights must train themselves to let go of what they fear to lose (5. Quotes).  Detachment and objectivity in place of passion, seen as the gateway to destruction, are tenets of Jedi thinking and are tenets of Zen thinking as well (13. The Force, the Tao and the Butterfly). 

            Interestingly, the Sith derive their power from their own passions.  Thus the more passionately a Sith feels, the more powerful they become.  Both Zen and Jedi thinking predict that this passion-based lifestyle leads to dark results.  Warrior monks in many cultures are seen to have this Zen-like objective philosophy as seen in groups ranging from Chinese Shaolin Kung-Fu to the medieval Templar Knights.  Removing oneself from the situation and making oneself feel emotionless is seen as key to conquering the matter at hand.  Whereas the Sith do not hide these emotions and show them openly, often laughing and becoming enraged or spirited in the face of their opponent (3. Force, Wiki).  Critics of Zen often say that life loses meaning without emotions.  However, they fail to understand the entirety of Zen as being the basis for life not just enjoyment.  You have to conquer yourself and your own emotions before you can do anything great.  Thus the dark side is considered easier to access and grasp but less powerful.  Even the Sith must control their own emotions in one of their greatest powers – that of manipulation.

            According to George Lucas, creator of Star Wars, this epic was influenced in part by Joseph Campbell and his concept of the monomyth (12. Campbell, Wiki).  Campbell pieced together his monomyth idea based on research of heroes and heroism from nearly every end of the literary world (4. Comparative Mythology, Wiki).  Of the 17 stages proposed in Campbell’s monomyth, several are very clearly referenced.  Both of the first stages, ‘the call to adventure’ and ‘denial of the call’, compose the first half hour of the original movie where Luke Skywalker meets Obi Wan Kenobi (whom he refers to as an old wizard and hermit), learns of his father’s status as a powerful Jedi, learns that Obi Wan wants him to help save Princess Leia, and initially turns down this request.  The third and fourth stages, ‘supernatural aid’ and ‘crossing of the first threshold’ occur as Luke is invariably aligned with Obi Wan who has unexplained but real powers over nature and mind (14. Origins - Journey). 

            References to the monomyth continue almost rhythmically throughout the movies and throughout the entire epic (8. Monomyth, Wiki).  The stage ‘atonement with the father’ appears at several points in the epic including Luke’s encounter within the evil tree on Yoda’s planet with the Darth Vader apparition, Luke’s quest to rescue his father from the dark side, and Anakin’s own emptiness for a father figure.  Initiation, and its sub-stage ‘the road of trials’, are seen in both Anakin’s and Luke’s different paths of transformation into Jedi knights through various forms of education and experience.  ‘Apotheosis’ is reflected as Luke is able to perform Jedi feats of telekinesis as first recognized in the movie scene where he defeats the giant snow creature by mentally removing his light-saber from the cave floor to where he is hanging.  ‘The magic flight’ is referenced in many scenes where the heroes must flee pursuers by spacecraft.  However the flight stage is particularly pertinent to Anakin’s childhood journey from his home planet (and his mother) with Obi Wan, and is also pertinent and parallel to Luke’s spaceflight from his own planet also with Obi Wan and Han Solo.  Both flights, though several movies and many years apart, are with Obi Wan taking a young member of the Skywalker clan on a quest to be a Jedi.

            Heroism is a powerful part of a story and Campbell’s intuition about the power that a heroic tale holds over an audience is on display in these movies.  Star Wars not only incorporates heroism, it embodies this ideal as the basis for nearly every part of the epic.  Fans of the epic can be so captivated by its tale and imagery that they constantly demand further information on the fictional characters and their worlds.  Despite George Lucas’s vast media empire related to Star Wars merchandising and storytelling, die-hard fans hold Star Wars club meetings both in-person and online, dress in character costumes at conventions, and even distribute their own fan fiction (6. Interview, Wiki).  Government census takers have even been subject to the Star Wars mania as people have officially declared their religion to be Jedi.  

            This leads us to another aspect of the relationship between ancient and modern mythology.  Homer wrote the Odyssey as a follow-up to the Iliad.  He was so impressed with the Iliad that he wrote another story relating to it, and he likely had to go through various revisions of it before settling on the version we know today.  Similarly, George Lucas began with a loosely made story in the 1970’s and spent many years on a formula for his vision of futuristic fictional world and its assortment of outlandish characters.  However, his brand of storytelling proved extremely profitable thereby allowing him to make additions to the story during the following 6 years (10. Star Wars, Wiki).  Many years later at the end of the 1990’s, Star Wars continued its mass popularity and Lucas wisely decided that the time was right to put out another round of movies for a few years.  His timing was excellent and the movies not only greatly increased his current fan base but also allowed him to finish the epic story.  Star Wars has become so entrenched as an aspect of modern culture that there is even a Disney World ride attraction based on the story (2. Star Tours, Wiki).

            We know ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, European, and Asian classics in today’s society as being timeless works.  Similarly such modern mythology as represented in science fiction classics such as the epic movies of Star Wars may continue in cultural and storytelling references for untold time.  Whether in front of the city walls of Troy, at a round table, by the pillars of Buddhism, the harmony of the Tao, or in the vast empty reaches of the galaxy, the most intriguing of tales are also those most likely to survive the ages.  Comparative mythology, as a field of literary research encompassing Joseph Campbell’s work on the monomyth idea, holds that these stories are inevitably related due to some basic pattern in the human spirit which transcends geography and time.  But the older or more foreign legend is not necessarily the more popular or entertaining legend.  Therefore, Star Wars does not need to be judged by ancient mythology but rather given its own unique merits among the myths and legends of modern culture.

References:

1. Greydanus, Steven.  “An American Mythology: Why Star Wars Still Matters.”  Decent Films.  http://www.decentfilms.com/sections/articles/starwars.html
2. “Star Tours.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Tours
3. “(Force) Star Wars.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Force_(Star_Wars)
4. “Comparative Mythology.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_mythology
5. “Star Wars Quotes.”  http://www.angelsrealm.com/starwarsquotes.htm
6. Panelli, Chris. Personal Interview, Star Wars fan.  10 June, 2009.
7. The Odyssey. (Homer, circa 800 BCE).  http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html
8.  “Monomyth.”  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth
9. “Matter of Britain.”  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthurian
10.   “Star Wars.”  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars
11.   “Philosophy and Religion in Star Wars.”  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_and_religion_in_Star_Wars
12.  “Joseph Campbell.”  Wikipedia.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Campbell
13.   “Star Wars: The Force, the Tao and the Butterfly.”  http://www.scifidimensions.com/Jun01/forcetaobutterfly.htm
14.   “Star Wars Origins – Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey.”  http://www.moongadget.com/origins/myth.html