The Hero's Quest and the Cycles of Nature

<p> This examination of the heroic journey in world mythology casts the protagonist as a personification of nature--a botanical hero one might say--who begins the quest in a metaphorical seed-like state then sprouts into a period of verdant strength. But the hero must face a mythic underworld where he or she contends with mortality and sacrifice--embracing death as a part of life. For centuries humans have sought superiority over nature yet the botanical hero finds nothing is lost by recognizing that one is merely a part of nature. Instead a cyclical promise of continuous life is realized in which no element fully disappears and the hero's message is not to dwell on death.</p>