This system follows a common series of events, similar to the hero-quest, which many ancient heroes score very highly on, while more modern or realistic heroes rarely get scores above six out of twenty-two. The more incidents which match up with the scale, the higher the score.
1. The hero's mother is a royal virgin.
2. His father is a king or someone of great importance.
3. The father is often a near relative of the mother.
4. The circumstances of the hero's conception are unusual.
5. The hero is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or maternal grandfather, to kill him.
7. The hero is spirited away to safety.
8. He is raised by foster-parents in a distant place.
9. The hero does not know of his parentage and/or his childhood is a mystery.
10. On reaching manhood the hero returns or goes to his future kingdom.
11.He achieves a victory over the king and/or giant, dragon, or wild beast.
12. He marries a princess or important young woman, often the daughter of his predecessor.
13. The hero gains power, often becoming a king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully.
15. The hero prescribes laws or tries to make changes.
16. He later loses favor with the gods and or his people.
17. He is driven from from power and the city.
18. The hero meets with a mysterious death.
19. The hero dies at the top of a hill.
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him.
21. The hero's body is not buried.
22. The hero has one or more holy sepulchres (Kitaguchi).
Generally, the more ancient the hero, the higher the score will be (Kitaguchi). For example, Oedipus, Theseus and Dionysus score 21, 20 and 19, respectively (Kitaguchi). Biblical people and figures from non-Greek mythology score high as well, but are usually scored slightly lower than the Greek figures (Kitaguchi). It is interesting to note that the Greek heroes score highest considering that Greek mythology is considered to be the most developed and is also the most popular in the modern world (?Daily?).
