Researchers Uncover Why The Odyssey Endures

More than two and a half millennia after The Odyssey was first told, its story of a hero trying to get home still resonates with audiences.

The narrative framework, widely known as the hero’s journey, has shaped modern fiction from Star Wars to Barbie. It does more than entertain — it helps people make sense of their own lives. By seeing themselves as the Odysseus of their own stories, individuals can find greater meaning.

“If your life story felt similar to a familiar type of story, that would feel comfortable and coherent,” said Ben Rogers, who studies these narratives at Boston College. “That’s a big aspect of finding your life meaningful.”

The seven steps that matter most

The term was popularized by mythologist Joseph Campbell, who drew on the work of psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Campbell argued it is a universal structure, or “monomyth,” found in ancient myths across the world, including the Epic of Gilgamesh from around 2100 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia.

Campbell’s original model listed 17 steps. A 2023 study by Rogers and his team condensed that to seven core elements: a protagonist, a shift, a quest, allies, a challenge, a transformation and a legacy. Researchers collected life stories from more than 1,200 people and asked them to report their sense of meaning, life satisfaction and level of depression.

People who included more of the seven elements in their personal narratives reported more meaning in life and less depression. The team also found that prompting individuals to “restory” their lives as hero’s journey narratives could improve well‑being.

Two of the steps stood out as the most important: challenge and transformation. “The heart of it, the most predictive part of it, is that central challenge and then transformation,” Rogers said.

In popular stories, the transformation step can be fantastical — a superhero gaining new powers. Yet participants described mostly psychological changes: gaining emotional intelligence or experiencing a cognitive shift toward a new perspective. “That is really one of the key parts of what makes a life meaningful,” he added.

A counterpoint to the hero narrative

While casting oneself as the hero can be helpful, not everyone agrees it is the best approach. A 2025 paper in American Psychologist argued that having a robust self‑narrative drawn from popular literature is not the only path to meaning — and that it can even hold people back.

“A counterpoint was missing to more dominant storyline about the importance of stories and hero’s journey — and particularly, I think, in the U.S. and Western contexts,” said Daniel Newark, a co‑author who studies decision‑making and identity at HEC Paris. “I think there is, by definition, self‑focus to these stories.”

Some people may not resonate with putting themselves at the center of their life stories. Certain narratives can even be detrimental, such as those that focus on a victim persona or a lack of agency. These self‑stories can lock people in place and lead them to ruminate on their own disempowerment.