The Hero with a Thousand Faces Paperback

This Summer of 2017 I read the 1973 reprint of the 2nd edition (1969) published by the Princeton University Press as "Bollingen Series XVIII" of Campbell's celebrated The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Fourteen plates and twenty-one additional illustrations are sprinkled throughout the roughly 400 pages of prose. It was a dense read (usually the kind I like) requiring many underlinings to identify significant progressions in the argument and other assertions that needed pause to take in. I am somewhat well-versed in world religions and history, so while many of the stories given in illustration were new to me, their origin in history and geography was not. This circumstance would put the younger reader, particularly the college student who is not broadly read, at a disadvantage.Campbell's achievement is that of the explorer- having looked over the territory, he can report what he sees, the patterns he observes, the differences and similarities to the familiar terrain of his readers. This is where a choice is made, whether to relate the strange and new, stressing the differences to the point of alienating the reader (WHAT is he talking about?), or to relate the similar and familiar ("They love their children just as we do!") to the point of reinforcing familiar habits of thought underneath exotic costume. Campbell's achievement is to have straddled the middle, introducing us to the exotic range of myth material, and yet giving us a handle, a means of making that material significant. The means is psychoanalysis.The Freudian insight is that all humans share development, whether anal/genital/latent/etc., or sliced/diced in other ways, and the inexpressible truths which manifest as dreams to modern man are expressed in myth throughout history. Add to this the Jungian idea of archetypes, a sort of inherited memory which manifest in dream and myth exert psychic power. The Hero's journey mirrors every individual's path through life with its choices, challenges, stages, and encounters, the borders of many being ritualized in coming of age ceremonies. In such a way, Campbell's work seeks to identify the nexus between psychology, theology, history, anthropology and even literature. I include literature because Campbell's overall theory identifies what in literature (as in myth) touches our experience to elicit our interest and invest us in the story. It is no accident that one of the leading plot writer coaches, Martha Alderson (The Plot Whisperer), relies on Campbell's theory, and George Lucas of Star Wars fame has paid similar tribute to Campbell's work.Other than the collection of stories & details that illustrate the theory, I found the most interesting aspect of the book to be the "map" of the Hero's adventures, which mirrors to some extent every life's progression with its vistas, possibilities, and choices. This is discussed as departure, initiation, and return, which are played out against a context that may include emanations, virgin birth, and transformation. The existential challenge, it can be seen, is to discover the identity of the self, and the nature of the world the self must relate to. Hence the reciprocal quest of the hero to discover the world (cosmos/reality), thereby discovering the self, and/or discover the self, thereby understanding the world.It should be clear that Campbell explains theology and history (as well as by implication, literature) in terms of psychology. This provides a universal means for finding meaning in diverse cultures, and avoiding evaluating their truth claims. This is very appealing to the secular minded, and to those who maintain that no culture is "better" than another (the PBS perspective). Some reviewers have dismissed Campbell's work because the psychoanalytical theories on which he based his explanations are "discredited," by which they really mean, "out of fashion." While I have never accepted the Freudian theory and believe it, as well as Jung's developments, can be critiqued, yet I do not believe this vitiates the value of Campbell's work.What may be of more moment is the underlying concept of myth which is really a Janus word (a word with opposite meanings). This is illustrated in the opening example of myth where Campbell quotes Freud on the explanation of the the stork for where babies come from, and states that it is a story intended to convey a deep truth ("For we all know what a large bird symbolizes," Freud says with a wink). Does the stork story convey, or hide a truth? The ancient Greeks faced a similar dilemma, the term "myth" sometimes being used for stories that express inexpressible truths (or doctrines believed to be true), but as often as not, for outright lies. In the late 20th Century it became fashionable in the West to deny any metaphysical truths, and the popularity of Freud and Jung was that they seemed to account for metaphysical truths by confining them to the realm of psychology (meaning that good/evil is all in your head, but Jung at least held out the hope that they might transcend the individual). But I believe that collapse the metaphysical into the psychological is philosophically analogous to blinding oneself. You don't have to bother interpreting the things beyond one's proximity, but what a loss!The other reservation I have toward Campbell's work is whether he has interpreted his material adequately. He argues that Christian baptism, as a sacrament of rebirth implies a sacred marriage between water (female) and Spirit (fire/male). This is an illustration of how the psychological/mythic meaning is given priority over the historical/theological meaning. The interpretation is read into, rather than growing out of, the conscious meaning. If Campbell does this with material that I am familiar with, how can I be certain that he has faithfully conveyed (or even understood) other traditions in their own terms?One reviewer described Campbell as a Christian. Traditional Christianity would see this work as universalistic. Campbell's personal universalism may prefer Christian symbols, but the basic idea is that all religious truth is ultimately psychological truth, all in your head, the stuff of which Freudian dreams are made. If that sounds demeaning, consider that imagination is bigger than the universe; as Campbell claims, "Myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into human cultural manifestation." The traditional Christian response is St. Anselm's argument that God is that of which the greater cannot be imagined, and a God that transcends myth and psychology is infinitely greater than Campbell's psychological explanation.

If you're looking at this book then you probably already know who Joseph Campbell is and how vital his work is to the landscape of mythology, philosophy and worldwide culture.Joseph Campbell, I have felt is always deep reading, and sometimes you need to read it a few times to really take in everything he has to teach you. I think it's a book you could put on your nightstand, and read a little bit every night. And I think you can read it over and over.

All the way back in 1949, Joseph Campbell wrote a book titled The Hero With a Thousand Faces. The book contains hundreds of examples of stories from a wide range of mythology, including those from Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, Native American, and Greek (and countless other) canons.Campbell identifies similarities in style as well as structure between the great adventure stories/mythologies throughout human history. Famously, he determines specific characteristics about the hero and his or her journey, hence the term (coined by Campbell) familiar to readers and writers alike, The Hero’s Journey. In effect, there is a very specific set of rules governing what makes a great story. And just in case I wasn’t certain of the extent of Campbell’s research, the book contains over forty pages of endnotes and other references. The man put in the research time.Reading The Hero With a Thousand Faces came at the perfect time for me. I’d heard of it and seen it recommended to me on Amazon for quite some time, but I never took the time to actually read it. Actually, I “Wikipedia’d” it a few times, but that was the extent of that. But in finally reading the book, Campbell has helped me understand much better some of the ideas that I’ve been working out in my weekly “Books of the Bible” review posts. If you’ve read any of my recent Bible book reviews, you’ll immediately recognize that Campbell has already clearly written what I’m still trying to figure out for myself. For example:“For the symbols of mythology are not manufactured; they cannot be ordered, invented or permanently suppressed. They are spontaneous productions of the psyche…”Powerful stuff.Here are the rules governing the first great stage of the adventure story (some of it is paraphrased in my own words):The Call to AdventureInitial Refusal to Heed the CallSupernatural Aid/Mentor/“Old Man” (Old man is a direct quote from Campbell.)Crossing the First ThresholdBelly of the Whale (The Point When the Hero’s Death/Ultimate Failure seems Certain)Truly, Exodus would have been the perfect story to compare with Campbell’s ruleset, but I just wrote a review of Exodus last week, so I wanted to do something different. The Karate Kid might just might be the most perfect modern example of them all (and one of my favorite movies). So I thought it might be interesting to see just how closely the writers of this movie follow Campbell’s rules.Young New Jersey native Daniel is called to the great land of adventure (California) by his mother. He hates it there (his initial macro-reluctance to heed the call) and would like nothing more than to move back home. The only saving grace (besides a pretty girl) is a mentor (Mr. Myagi) that he meets when he arrives. After getting into some trouble with the local bullies, Daniel’s mentor signs him up for a karate tournament. Daniel is mortified and has no faith in his ability to survive a karate tournament like that (Micro-reluctance to Heed the Call), “I cannot believe… what you got me into back there!”But Daniel does as his mentor says and enters the tournament anyway (Crossing the First Threshold), where he manages to make it to the semifinals, further than he ever dreamed, before even hitting a snag. When he gets there, young bully Bobby cheats in a most despicable manner, kicking Daniel directly in the knee, damaging Daniel’s body seemingly beyond repair (into the Belly of the Whale, i.e., Daniel’s ultimate defeat seems certain). But just as soon as all hope is lost, Daniel’s mentor heals his leg through supernatural methods and Daniel comes back to win the tournament, his dignity, and the girl. Indeed, it’s a Hero’s Journey almost worthy of Moses.Note: There are other rules and further stages to the story that I haven’t included in this short review, but it seems to me that these are certainly the essential components to the modern story. Maybe some other time, I can write about the further stages and which stories they apply to (Lord of the Rings comes to mind).My final say on this book is as follows: If you’re a student of religion, mythology or philosophy, or if you are a writer (whether of music, poetry, or fiction), read this book. It contains a lot of good information.

I picked this up off the back of a podcast I watched recently on the art of storytelling. For a long time, I've had a fascination with Joseph Campbell. Probably his known quote is “Follow your bliss” which has remained as the background on my phone ever since I heard it.The Hero with a Thousand Faces is probably one of his most well-known works. In it he draws from myth and legend, the stories of the ancients, the Vedas, and verses from the bible and unpacks them in his unique way, showing us the underlying similarities each contains and uses them to describe the Hero’s Journey. A process in which an adventure is called to action, and goes through a series of challenges, and eventually returns home with his or her “treasure”. I can expand on this but its probably easier to watch a video on Youtube.If I’m completely honest I really struggled to get through this. I do not doubt that this isn't a brilliant book and Joseph’s concept has influenced all matter of individuals from songwriters, to movie producers to fellow authors. His work was truly groundbreaking for its time. But boy did I struggle, however I think that's more on me, I’ve always struggled with maintaining interest in myth and legend, ironic considering I’m fascinated by ancient Egypt. It also probably doesn't help that it was written 70+ years ago and how we speak has changed a lot since then. Then is no denying the importance of this book, and I'm glad I read it, but I for those interested it might be best to watch his Netflix series which was produced in the late 80s just before he passed away.I mean no disrespect to Joseph Campbell, I'm most likely just not intellectual enough to understand where he is coming from. And infact I am going to read Joesph Campbell on his Life and Work, a spin off of the documentary on Nelflix, as it was written much later and I still wish to learn more about his ideas. Funnily enough I actually found that on the side of the road while reading The Hero with a Thousand Faces, and its an old library book from Austin, TX, complete with classroom purchase orders for pizza, airline tickets, and old car hire receipts which are almost 20 years old.for more reviews please see my website everythingandnothing.co

I'd heard a lot about this book, and I'd previously read The Power of Myth which I really enjoyed. The idea of The Hero's Journey is very interesting, and clearly Campbell has a vast knowledge of mythology. However, I have to say this book was a bit of a let down.I found the book poorly written, and badly structured. I just couldn't get used to Campbell's writing style, his sentences are long and meandering, with asides within asides. Some paragraphs are composed of one single, unbroken sentence. He also jumps rapidly from story to story, then refers back haphazardly to stories he's previously mentioned. He never seems to fully articulate a point, he makes some vague allusions then jumps to another point. It almost seems like Campbell had so much knowledge that he just couldn't get it all on the page.I'd say overall that it's still worth reading, although it is a bit of a slog.

I've learnt how to read thanks to Mythology, a fascination for storytelling that only grew into a deep love for History, Literature and - last but not least - Philosophy. As the all Campbell work is centered around the importance of the monomyth, we see how the same pattern is applicable to any culture and any society, for all of them have ingrained at their core a common truth: universality.The most immediate takeaway from this book is in fact the similarity in the original message behind any religion or ritual or ancient myth, a path shared by any story we've ever told, in books, movies and beliefs. A primordial, seemingly innate, connection between the outer world and the human mind.Priceless read.

We have done a marvellous job at alienating ourselves from everything real; including ourselves.The consequences are becoming more obvious every day, yet, still we divert ourselves with trivia.One way to begin to reconnect ourselves with our essential selves, our own hero, may be through a thorough study and understanding of Campbell's work.As he mentions, because of our neglect and belittlement of mythology we have become half-creatures, 'the lines of communication between the conscious and the unconscious zones of the human psyche have all been cut, and we have been split in two.'This book helps us to begin to rebuild ourselves from the piteous state in which contemporary 'education' and upbringing (or lowbringing) has left us.

Just started getting into the Joseph Campbell collection, and this is the 2nd book I've read after The Power of Myth, which is a book where he's referencing his collective works. So I guess this is the first proper, in and of itself, book I've read from Campbell and I'm just blown away by such an extraordinary mind. Not just in the sense of the book itself, but his ability to release the extraordinary power of reflective thought within myself and, ultimately, the power within myself to become extraordinary. Myth seems to be a powerful agent, specifically if one is lacking faith. In themselves and in the world. And Campbell unravels the absolute necessity of Myth in the modern world, using supreme historical examples which highlight his points and overall message beautifully. This is one of those books you'd urge anyone to read at least once in their lifetime.