The Power of Myth
Ratings28
Average rating4
15
Ratings28
Average rating4
Joseph Campbell, who died on October 31, 1987, was the world's foremost authority on mythology, a preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher whose work has had a profound influence on millions. To him, mythology was "the song of the universe, the music of the spheres."
In The Power of Myth, he and distinguished journalist Bill Moyers offer a brilliant combination of wisdom and wit in conversations that range from modern marriage ("Marriage is a relationship. When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you're sacrificing not to each other but to unity in a relationship") to virgin births, from savior figures to heroic figures such as Luke Skywalker from Star Wars ("...By overcoming the dark passions, the hero symbolizes our ability to control the irrational savages within us.")
The Power of Myth is a great summing up of Joseph Campbell's work, sure to stand alongside his two celebrated classics The Hero With a Thousand Faces and The Masks of God and his recent The Atlas of World Mythology.
Featured Series
1 primary book2 released booksJoseph Campbell and Power of Myth is a 2-book series with 1 primary work first released in 1988 with contributions by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers.
Reviews with the most likes.
Required reading for anyone with any interest in humanity. What a force Joseph Campbell was.
Read the book, and watch the accompanying series.
While the content hit a lot of interesting points, I could not get behind the structure of the series. Framing the discussion as a conversation made it feel disorganized. Also, i'm not sure if some details have aged well- thinking of “the Indians and their primitive ways” and the psychoanalysing. I am intrigued to read more of Campbell but it isnt free from critique for me.
This disappointed me. I had heard so much about Campbell with George Lucas adapting the hero journey into Star Wars but in this series of interviews, Campbell is all over the place. Just trying to follow his definition of “consciousness” drove me crazy. It included everything from a inanimate objects “leaf following the sun” having consciousness to “going into a church changes your consciousness”. In the 80's he complains about how children are barbarians with no respect for ritual. He even complains about the Catholic church removing rituals by changing wording to be more modern. He offers some insights into and examples of multi-cultural myths being related but his commentary just comes off as a grump man screaming “myths are dead”
One of the best works I've ever read! Has so many gems of knowledge that you can incorporate into your everyday life and philosophies.
