Monomyth Home | Sitemap| Sunjata | Ramayana| Yamato
The Monomyth: Return
The hero again crosses the threshold of adventure and returns to the everyday world of daylight. The return usually takes the form of an awakening, rebirth, resurrection, or a simple emergence from a cave or forest. Sometimes the hero is pulled out of the adventure world by a force from the daylight world.
In Sunjata:
  • Sunjata now meets with his allies at Ka-ba on the Niger where he returns the individual kingdoms to their rightful rulers with great fanfare. After days of celebration, Sunjata assembles his own army and crosses the Niger to enter old Mali. When the whole army has crossed the river, Sunjata orders great sacrifices in order to thank god for a safe return to Mali. The villages give Sunjata an unprecedented welcome. Everywhere the army goes, they are mobbed by the joyous people of Mali. Finally, they arrive at the old capital of Niani which had been greatly damaged by Sumanguru. Sunjata enters his native city and begins the process of rebuilding. 
In Ramayana:
  •  
In Yamato:
  • Yamato Takeru's return is seen in the form of a magical resurrection or rebirth. He is reunited with his family one last time and then rises and soars into the sky. 

About the History Through Literature Project. . .

This website is maintained by the Office of Resources for International and Area Studies (ORIAS), a unit of International and Area Studies (IAS) at the University of California, Berkeley.