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Self Made: Leo & the Hero’s Journey
There’s a certain classic story we’ve heard a thousand times: the call to action which thrusts characters onto perilous paths, plunges them into the underworld, and ultimately results in their return as a celebrated hero. It’s a favourite format of filmmakers and storytellers, but it originated in myth. The Hellenistic world brought us countless tales of men made immortal, but astrology has a special place for one in particular. During his time on earth he slayed many of the beasts we still see in the heavens today. His trials resulted in the constellations of Cancer, Draco, Hydra, and Sagitta, but there is perhaps no better reminder of the transformative powers of self-sovereignty than Leo, the Nemean Lion.
To say Heracles was entirely self made is not completely accurate — he was the great-grandson of Perseus, Gorgon-Slayer and Maiden-Rescuer, already considered a great hero in his own time. But this didn’t mean he was born on a heroic pedestal — Heracles’ lineage only assured his life would be full of trials. Perseus’ line had split two ways and the gods had taken bets on which side would produce the next Son of Greece, a High King who would rule some of the empire’s oldest strongholds. This is where his troubles began. Not only was her money on the other side, but Hera, Queen of the Gods and long-suffering wife of Zeus, knew that the unborn Alcides (originally named for his…
