- The Hero with a Thousand Faces (The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell)

The collection of stories deconstructed by Campbell weave together what he calls the mono-myth. The mono-myth is the constituents of elements used to construct the fundamental framework for creation stories, literature in general, and theology. For those who are attempting to navigate through a life filled with tragedy and obstacles learning these symbolic representations may give you the inspiration to continue enduring as you undertake the hero’s journey. This book is cited numerous times in respected literature pertaining to sociology, behavioral psychology, and evolutional psychology. For that reason (among many others) it was a MUST read for me. If you are equally enthusiastic about those subject then this book will certainly keep you captivated throughout. I would definitely place this book as a significant piece of work for understanding the primordial mind (emotional mind. The Elephant to the Rider). •SUMMARY• The book takes us through a journey of stories that have been constructed from behavioral patterned observed by a self-conscience organism, humans. We later assigned significance to those patterns, constructing patterns to them. Those patterns then transcended beyond the representations of specific events and evolve into psychological representations for life at a high-level. Like a tarot card or astrology reading that could be broadly applied to nearly everyone, the symbolic representation in these stories are fluid and relevant differently subject to a particular culture. In the prologue, he suggests that our intrinsic desire to connect with our ancestral spirit (which is the lessons encoding into our mind throughout the mind's evolution) is elemental to the nourishment of the success of survival. •PART 1• The call to action engenders the hero to begin his journey beyond his real of comfort and the constraints of society. The hero is introduced to multiple trials and tribulations along the journey. Once the hero is triumphant he passes the threshold and moves onto a new world of knowledge. Upon the end of his voluntary voyage into the unknown, he must invoke his life changing-boon. “The Keys” commentates how the secular perspective towards mythology catalyzes in the removal of its primary utility which is to episodically represent symbolism. The symbolism is the suggested narrative that we act out to tend towards Peterson’s heaven — for example. •PART 2• Campell cites Jung often, especially his main idea of the collective unconscious construction of archetypes and symbols. These symbols can characterize many things but the common elements consist of fear, hope, good, evil, and other fundamental elements for survival observed and encapsulated by the narrative. Emphasis on both the creator’s sexes aspects is depicted by stories and mythology. The sequence of life from the virgin birth to death; mainly, mortality is a quintessential component needed for the exploratory character to become the hero. During the hero’s journey s/he has the ability to become one of the various options: the warrior, the lover, the emperor/tyrant, the world redeemer, or the saint. There are two types of deaths that mythologies describe, the first is personal (microcosm), and the second is universal(macrocosm). The birth, life, thriving and death/parish.

If, like me, you’ve heard the term “hero’s journey” but didn’t really know what it was all about, this, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, is the definitive book by comparative mythologist Joseph Campbell. Although it’s by no means an easy read, it is well worth the investment of time and study if you want to learn the expanded definition of a hero according to a general consensus of world cultures. First, it’s important to recognize that the hero’s journey belongs to the greater fabric of mythology. In the book’s prologue, Campbell states without reservation that myth is the basic expression of all human culture: “It would not be too much to say that myth is the secret opening through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos pour into the human cultural manifestation. Religions, philosophies, arts, the social forms of primitive and historic man, prime discoveries in science and technology, the very dreams that blister sleep, boil up from the basic, magic ring of myth.” With these words, Campbell gives the reader fair warning that this book is not a mere collection of fairy tales, nor is it an attempt to contain mythology as a separate discipline. Myth, according to the author, touches every part of the human experience. It is not meant to be contained. The Hero with a Thousand Faces, therefore, is Campbell’s exploration of just one aspect of myth, the hero’s journey. In this “composite adventure,” as he calls it, the author relates “the tales of a number of the world’s symbolic carriers of the destiny of Everyman.” Even focusing on just one aspect of myth is a heavy undertaking, and Campbell acknowledges that he is only describing “a few striking examples from a number of widely scattered, representative traditions” to illustrate the common elements of the hero’s journey appearing in many cultures around the world. Part I, “The Adventure of the Hero,” delineates the hero’s journey in three basic phases: Departure, Initiation, and Return. Part 2, “The Cosmogonic Cycle,” explores myths about the world’s creation and destruction, a macrocosm of the hero’s journey. Considering the extraordinary scope of material at hand, Campbell offers readers a well-curated overview of various traditional depictions of the quintessential hero. Some of the heroes described in the book are well-known cultural and religious icons, including Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, Perseus, and Osiris. Many others, such as the Pueblo Water Jar Boy (one of the oddest and most humorous stories in my opinion), may be unfamiliar to readers. This book is not only informative for mythology students and enthusiasts, but also very helpful for fiction writers. If you can understand what cultures all over the world have lauded as a hero for thousands of years, you can infuse your protagonist with some or all of these qualities and create an engaging story that touches on the deepest longings and fears of the human experience. Note: If you've never read Joseph Campbell before, I recommend starting with The Power of Myth, based on a 1988 PBS miniseries in which Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell discuss applications of mythology to contemporary life. Because the text of the book is drawn from these Moyers' interviews with Campbell, reading it is like listening in on a conversation between friends, and it's a great way to ease into Campbell's work.

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 Adventure Initial Refusal to Heed the Call Supernatural Aid/Mentor/“Old Man” (Old man is a direct quote from Campbell.) Crossing the First Threshold Belly 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.

Having read Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces as a necessary requirement in my worldbuilding course in college, this work is an invaluable treasure when it comes to not only understanding the formula of the monomyth and how it has applied to timeless myths and modern media alike, but how in order to further the application of the omnipresent cosmogonic cycle within your own work as a professional creative mind when developing stories and plotlines for your own purposes. In essence, the entire book itself is a showcase of interwoven examples of the common thread of themes and actions that compose the body of the world’s tales, and how this relates back to us as humans searching for ourselves in our own creations. As many others have already stated, this book is a dense read and can initially be quite difficult to get into, let alone to finish to the end (which I can admit to struggling to myself.) Campbell has a writing style that tends to float along from tale to tale, taking its time amid embellished description to get to its point in introducing new sources, which is difficult to adjust to at best and infuriating at worst. I believe it was put aptly by previous reviewer Joshua Tolerson that the issue lies within the cadence and word choice and that while the information within the book is incredibly valuable, it’s a slog to get through even if you’re interested in mythology. This is not a casual read by any means and requires a focused lens, which is ironic considering that in the book’s preface Campbell mentions wanting to achieve his book’s goal by “bringing together a multitude of not-too-difficult examples and letting the ancient meaning become apparent of itself.” 23 pages of endnotes may make one beg to differ on the front of complexity, and I can’t help but to agree that the meandering, flowery style of this book does take away a tad from the impact of the overall experience. In my own personal usage outside of getting a good read, this book acts a great basis for writers, illustrators, and other narrative professions to use as a kind of springboard from which we can build a new generation of media upon the skeleton of the old, and the ashes of our ancestors’. I say springboard and not mold because I found while reading this that there a few concepts that have been rapidly outdated (like heavy reliance on the archaic psychoanalysis of Freud) and it would serve us well to twist and subvert these into newer forms, both furthering and reinventing the monomyth as has been done before, and will continue to be done over and over. Despite its uniquely dual informative and exasperating nature, I do still believe this book has found a worthy place upon my shelf. It will serve as grand referential material in the future as I continue my career and continue to build my own worlds and mythologies in my budding professional work that is at its heart—as are all stories—tied to the eternal monomyth and cosmogonic cycle established in Campbell’s tome.

This classic work of Joseph Campbell deals with two ideas: the monomyth and the cosmogonic cycle. The monomyth (also known as the hero’s journey) is a mythological archetypal story found around the world. Campbell’s at-the-time novel work systemizes the understanding of the monomyth. According to him, the monomyth has three major rites of passage: separation, initiation and return. Under these rites of passage Campbell develops his systematization of mythic understanding. Under the part of separation are five themes: (1) The Call to Adventure, (2) Refusal of the Call, (3) Supernatural Aid, (4) The Crossing of the First Threshold, and (5) The Belly of the Whale. Under initiation are six themes: (1) The Road to Trials, (2) The Meeting with the Goddess, (3) Woman as the Temptress, (4) Atonement with the Father, (5) Apotheosis, and (6) The Ultimate Boon. Under the part of return are also six themes: (1) Refusal of the Return, (2) The Magic Flight, (3) Rescue from Without, (4) The Crossing of the Return Threshold, (5) Master of the Two Worlds, and (6) Freedom to Live. According to Campbell, myths shouldn’t be understood as scientific of historical thought, for it renders the story from its deeper interpretations and understanding. Using his systematization of the monomyth we can look at old myths in a new light. The author uses the scientific research of noted scholars such as Sigmund Freud, Carl G. Jung, Wilhelm Stekel, Otto Rank, Karl Abraham and Géza Róheim. His arguments are wisely and adamantly placed, making it impossible to refute his scholarly research as mere superstition. The book, although it provides explanations to well known myths, is of intermediate difficulty to read. It isn’t lengthy as James Frazer’s work (and doesn’t even give exhaustible examples of myths) but his argumentation and connection of different themes, motifs and archetypes between stories with eons between is difficult to grasp at first. Even when Campbell is exclusively describing a part of the hero’s journey, all the mythological themes are connected, and therefore it is important to keep in mind all the aspects of the journey at once. His perspective isn’t orthodox in nature, so you will find similarities between characters of various myths, such as Buddha and Jesus. The other part of his analysis is the cosmogonic cycle. In there he polishes is thesis developed in the monomyth part, focused in the understanding of the cycles of death and rebirth. The book contains endnotes, footnotes, an index and a bibliography divided in four parts: his main bibliography, editions of sacred texts he cited, journals and works he cited without information on edition. It is well written and maintains the thesis it puts forth at the introduction. It is a highly recommended book for those interested in story and myth. Those who read Mircea Eliade, James Frazer or Carl G. Jung will find it in their interest to dig into this book.

This book will make your feel smarter.

Very good book to read and get knowledge

In his 1949 book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces,” literary scholar and cultural anthropologist Joseph Campbell outlines his theory of the monomyth through a comparative study of world mythology and folklore using psychological and anthropological methods. In his original preface, Campbell writes, “There are of course differences between the numerous mythologies and religions of mankind, but this is a book about the similarities; and once these are understood the differences will be found to be much less great than is popularly (and politically) supposed” (pg. xiii). He hoped that such a study would help those seeking to support unification and “human mutual understanding” in the immediate postwar and early Cold War years. Describing the role of mythology in societies across time, Campbell writes, “It has always been the prime function of mythology and rite to supply the symbols that carry the human spirit forward, in counteraction to those constant human fantasies that tend to tie it back” (pg. 7). He continues, “The archetypes to be discovered and assimilated are precisely those that have inspired, throughout the annals of human culture, the basic images of ritual, mythology, and vision” (pg. 14). Laying out the structure of the monomyth – and the hero’s journey – Campbell writes, “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man” (pg. 23). Campbell continues, “There will be found astonishingly little variation in the morphology of the adventure, the character roles involved, the victories gained. If one or another of the basic elements of the archetypal pattern is omitted from a given fairy tale, legend, ritual, or myth, it is bound to be somehow or other implied – and the omission itself can speak volumes for the history and pathology of the example” (pg. 30). In addition to summarizing elements of mythology and folklore from throughout the world, Campbell draws upon Freud, Jung, and psychoanalysis in his examination of the tropes common to the hero’s journey. Though these theories no longer play a large role in contemporary psychology, English and literature scholars continue to draw upon them even now. Even those unfamiliar with “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” will find the text familiar. Campbell’s work has influenced several storytellers from the mid-twentieth century onward, with George Lucas as the most notable. According to journalist Bill Moyers, Joseph Campbell said that “the best student he ever had was George Lucas.” Elements of the monomyth run through “Star Wars” for those looking at the story structure. This text is a must-read for those interested in mythology, folklore, and cultural anthropology.

awesome

This is a classic for writers and storytellers and I'm ashamed to say I've only just read it at the age of 56. However, like many profound books, it's a book that means much more when one's ready for it. I'm not sure if I'd read it younger, or at a calm period in my life, that it would have had such an impact, although it's wonderfully researched and beautifully written and would be illuminating on a purely academic level. I read it after going through one of those periods where life throws up one thing after another until it seems more than just coincidence - like some sort of extreme test of one's strength. It helped me to assimilate the experience - recognising the hero's journey in my own, with its entry into dark places, its ordeals, and the eventual emergence with invisible treasure. Looking for the treasure helped me to make meaning from what I had experienced and focus on the positive instead of the negative. Since then I have looked up the myths and started reading some of the books he uses as sources, which is also proving fascinating. It's a book I will read again and again because I know I will find deeper meanings in it with each reading, and it has also given me an insight into the themes of my own life and writing, and sources for stories to tell.

A must read. I recommend it as a storyteller and as a person who enjoys reading.

Excelente producto 👍🏼

Existem livros que mudam sua perspectiva sobre a maneira como você entende a sua vida. The Hero with a Thousand Faces definitivamente é um deles. Vale muito a pena. Se você lê inglês tranquilamente essa edição é bem melhor que a brasileira, capa dura, diagramação e ilustrações excelentes.