It's just another way to describe the hero's journey, which is about ego death (facing our "demons") and rebuilding ourselves into better versions of ourselves. Ancient people didn't have modern psychology, so they used metaphor, simile and allegory. A more modern version would be Steppenwolf, by Hesse.
At that time, it was their best understanding, sure. I'm saying there's a reason various archetypes have very human qualities. Also humans don't tend to work through their own stuff with regular rewards and everyday punishment of dealing with the backlash. But the rewards are divine, indeed.