Campbell’s Theory of Monomyth Analysis with a Glance at the Narrative of Jonah and the Fish

Joseph Campbell is one of the most significant contemporary theoreticians in the field of myths. Campbell presented his theory of monomyth according to the motifs and common mythic themes found in different cultures, and he discusses that myths follow uniform archetypes although they undertake transformation as they pass through different cultures and take newer forms. This paper sets to study the hero as the most important universal archetype and his transformation strand in the light of Campbell’s theory of monomyth; then it presents a mythological reading of the narrative of Jonah and his captivity in the mouth of a large fish based on the version of Jame’-al-Tavarikh and Campbell’s approach in order to achieve a deeper understanding of the transformation strand of the hero in this narrative.