In Joseph Campbell's "hero's journey" from The Hero with a Thousand Faces, he talks about the goddess/woman/love interest in a story with a male lead in two ways:
- The meeting with the goddess, the portrayal of the hero's road to his love interest's heart as a sort of point of the whole story, with her affection being a prime motivator for him.
- Woman as a temptress, where he describes her as a manifestation of temptation and distraction, being a roadblock that the hero has to overcome in order to progress.
In the "Archetypal Story" (think of it as a story template) is the woman/goddess/love interest of the hero a sublime motivation/reward for the hero to go on his journey, or is she just a temptation to be overcome?