Christopher Vogler The Writers Journey
Chiron, Hercules got so frustrated at music lessons that he bashed in the head of his
music teacher Lycus with the first lyre ever made.
Sometimes a M e n t o r turns villain or betrays the hero. T h e movie The Tiger
Sanction shows an apparendy benevolent M e n t o r (George Kennedy) who surprisingly
turns on his student hero ( C l i n t Eastwood) and tries to kill him. T h e dwarf Regin,
in Nordic myth, is at first a M e n t o r to S i g u r d the Dragonslayer and helpfully
reforges his broken sword. But in the long run the helper turns out to be a double-
crosser. After the dragon is slain, R e g i n plots to kill S i g u r d and keep the treasure
for himself.
Rumpelstiltskin is initially a fairy-tale M e n t o r who helps the heroine by
making good on her father's boast that she can spin straw into gold. But the price he
demands for his gift is too high — he wants her baby. These stories teach us that not
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