Yeah, we had to read "hero with..." in high school, and at the time it seemed too dense and esoteric. However, I have found recently that every time I watch a movie or read a book, those concepts of the hero and collective mythologies seem to crop up everywhere. I used to scoff at literary theory as pseudo-intellectualism, but its really interesting. Glad to see that there are people of similar literary tastes on this messageboard.
-harish