

According to poet and author Robert Bly, a friend of Campbell, Campbell developed a systematic program of reading nine hours a day. After completing his master's degree, Campbell decided not to go forward with his plans to earn a doctorate instead, he went into the woods in upstate New York, reading deeply for five years. At Dartmouth College he studied biology and mathematics, but later transferred to Columbia University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1925 and a Master of Arts degree in 1927.Ĭampbell is considered by some to be one of the most famous autodidacts, or 'self-educators', and is sometimes seen as a poster child for this way of learning.

This led to Campbell's lifelong passion with myth and its similar, seemingly cohesive threads among all human cultures. He soon became versed in numerous aspects of Native American society, primarily in its mythology. As a child, Campbell became fascinated with Native American culture when his father took him to see the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Historical Atlas of World Mythology: (I.E.Joseph Campbell (March 26, 1904- October 30, 1987) was an American professor, writer, and orator best known for his work in the fields of comparative mythology and comparative religion.Ĭampbell was born and raised in New York City in an upper middle class Roman Catholic family.


The book has also profoundly influenced creative artists-including authors, songwriters, game designers, and filmmakers-and continues to inspire all those interested in the inherent human need to tell stories. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.Īs part of the Joseph Campbell Foundation’s Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, this third edition features expanded illustrations, a comprehensive bibliography, and more accessible sidebars.Īs relevant today as when it was first published, The Hero with a Thousand Faces continues to find new audiences in fields ranging from religion and anthropology to literature and film studies. In these pages, Campbell outlines the Hero’s Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world’s mythic traditions. Since its release in 1949, The Hero with a Thousand Faces has influenced millions of readers by combining the insights of modern psychology with Joseph Campbell’s revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on the corner of 42 nd Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change. Description Discover myth as old as humanity and as new as last night’s dream
