In the tale of King Arthur, he can certainly be classified as a hero. He fits almost every aspect of the hero cycle. He has an unusual birth, periods of initiation, countless obstacles that he faces, and he dies and ascends to a greater plane in the end. .
When Arthur was born, he was taken away from his parents King Uther Pendragon and his Queen, Igraine. This ultimately took Arthur out of line to be heir to the throne of Britain, but it had to be done because Arthur would have had many enemies and it would not have been safe for him to stay with his parents. He was given to Sir Ector who raised him as if he were his own son. This is part of Arthur's unusual birth because a baby in that time period is hardly ever given up to be raised by someone else, especially a baby of royalty. Arthur's birth was also very unique because elves were present as he was being born. As Merlin explained to Arthur, "They enchanted you with their strongest magic and presented you with special gifts. They gave you the courage and the strength to be the best of all knights. They gave you the intelligence to become a mighty king, combined with the generosity that would bring you lasting devotion and fame. And finally, they gave you the gift or a long life.".
Arthur can be considered to have two periods of initiation as a child. His first was before he became a king. He practiced with and looked up to both Sir Kay and Sir Ector. Arthur was just a squire, and had not learned everything he needed to know, and these two men, both older and wiser, were in the process of teaching Arthur to become a great knight.
After Arthur was crowned King of Britain, a noble named Merlin stood by his side. He helped Arthur through the rough times in the beginning of his reign. Merlin gave Arthur .
information about the future, although sometimes his stories were incomplete and sometimes he did not give Arthur the information at all.
