From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine's Journey through Myth and Legend

Valerie Estelle Frankel

Jan 2014 · McFarland

About this ebook

Many are familiar with Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero's journey, the idea that every man from Moses to Hercules grows to adulthood while battling his alter-ego. This book explores the universal heroine's journey as she quests through world myth. Numerous stories from cultures as varied as Chile and Vietnam reveal heroines who battle for safety and identity, thereby upsetting popular notions of the passive, gentle heroine. Only after she has defeated her dark side and reintegrated can the heroine become the bestower of wisdom, the protecting queen and arch-crone.

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Ratings and reviews

Once you read this, you’ll never see the female journey the same way again. This book is a fascinating and engaging explanation into the feminine journey and a real treasure of storytelling. It’s at once academic in scope and yet accessible to the layman reader. It contains masterful storytelling and retelling of the myths that are used to support the thesis of the feminine journey. -San Francisco Book Review From Demeter and Persephone of ancient Greek mythology to the Armless Maiden of South Africa, Pele of Hawaiian legend, and the lesbian wise women of Native American folklore, this book gathers stories from around the world representing the heroine's journey. Frankel, a storyteller, essayist, and novelist, seeks to throw off the oppression of our culture's obsession with hero myths as she reveals the heroine's true role, not as the hero's reward, but as an embodiment of one of the goddess archetypes: magical maiden, life-source and creator mother, wise crone, and guardian angel. -Reference & Research Book News, Inc., p. 3-4, February 2011. Ever since I used Christopher Vogler's The Hero's Journey to plot my first novel, I have wanted this book. I sensed that my heroine's journey didn't quite fit the outline, and now Valerie Frankel shows why. In the Introduction, Ms. Frankel says, "The heroine's true role is to be neither hero nor his prize." Rather than conquering through war and battle, the heroine wins through patience, fortitude, and wit. Her goal is not to rescue the princess but--of interest to Romance writers--to re(gain) family. -Monterey Bay RWA News. The questing heroine, whether a Samoan mermaid or Mayan moon goddess, seeks enlightenment and strength through a quest of ordeals leading to symbolic death. Rather than a sword, she wields magic slippers, a mirror, a chalice. Only after she has defeated her dark side, the wicked witch, can the young woman grow into a bestower of wisdom, the protecting queen and arch-crone, in this universal journey. -Beacon News

very well written intro free sample; invites reader to know the details of the heroines journey and the obvious differences with male centred mythology

Awesomeness!!

About the author

Valerie Estelle Frankel teaches English at Mission College and San Jose City College. The author of 75 popular culture books and more than 100 stories and essays, she lives in Sunnyvale, California.