RITES OF PASSAGE:  e.g.  INITIATION, MARRIAGE, A PERILOUS JOURNEY, DEATH

This term has been applied, since 1909 (Van Gennep) to describe ceremonies and rituals that relate not only to initiation (passage from childhood to adulthood) but to other experiences of transition, including the passage from life to death.  It is used also in reference to myths that symbolize any such experience.  Van Gennep distinguished three stages in the rites of passage:

1) SEPARATION from the family or other societal group
2) MARGINALITY OR TRANSITION: the period while the initiand must successfully pass tests and accomplish tasks that will qualify him/her for
3) REINTEGRATION: the initiand becomes a member of the adult society, or the citizenry, or marriage.

Taking care not to apply it as a model of all myths or rituals, this pattern can be useful in describing numerous myths and ritual ceremonies in many cultures, including the Greek and Roman.

In the Odyssey one can follow the initiation of Telemachos, and, more important, the rite of passage of Odysseus, who embarks with his sailors after the fall of Troy, wanders at sea for ten long years replete with tests and perils, and finally returns to his home and re-founds his marriage, taking the roles of father, master of the palace, king, and husband.

IN PUBLIC RITUALS, THOSE WHO IMPERSONATE THE INITIAND IN AN ASSOCIATED MYTH REPRESENT, AS THEY PERFORM THE CEREMONY, NOT THEMSELVES BUT THE CLASS OF THE  INITIANDS IN THE COMMUNITY.