The Ramayana

Hindu / Indian · ~500-100 BCE (written); oral tradition far older

Prince Rama is exiled from his kingdom, loses his wife Sita to the demon king Ravana, wins the help of an army of vanaras, monkey-people whose greatest hero is the monkey god Hanuman, and fights to reclaim her. But upon reunion, he subjects Sita to a trial by fire to prove her purity, and later banishes her despite her innocence. A hero's journey that includes the hero's FAILURES of individuation.

The Ramayana doesn't idealize its hero. Rama is both the ideal and the flawed: his treatment of Sita reveals the Shadow within the Hero archetype. The greatest hero story in Hindu tradition includes the hero's moral failure. That's more honest than most Western hero narratives.

The pattern underneath: The Hero. The part of you that says yes to the hard thing.