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It is an intensely Jungian work, however, born out of the desire to find common archetypes in all the world's mythic traditions and no sooner was it written than Campbell realized his mistake and attempted to counter it with the writing of "The Masks of God," a book dedicated to the differences between the world's great religious traditions. It is the master text from which the entire myth movement in Hollywood emerged beginning in the late 1960s, and it is still spawning Hollywood special effects monstrosities.
Campbell had already edited Heinrich Zimmer's "The King and the Corpse," a book which now reads in retrospect like a rehearsal for "Hero," since in that book Zimmer recounts a series of myths from Indian and Arthurian and Arabic lore. But whereas in this book Zimmer recounts whole myths, the main problem with the "Hero" is that it cuts the myths up into bits and pieces so that the reader is only rarely ever treated to an entire story.Indeed, Campbell in this book is writing what he thinks is the one great story, the "monomyth," as he calls it, borrowing from Joyce, in which the great hero saves civilization by departing from it, journeying into the forest in order to contact and integrate the abyssal energies of nature and the supernatural and then to return to the society in order to reinvigorate it.
This was Campbell's first great book, published in 1949 (the same year, coincidentally, as Jean Gebser's "Ever Present Origin," Mircea Eliade's "Myth of the Eternal Return" and Erich Neumann's "Origins and History of Consciousness"). It is probably the easiest to read of all his works and makes the fewest demands on the reader.
It is difficult to believe, however, that every myth on the entire planet neatly fits into this schema; one senses, rather, that Campbell is really only talking about a particular kind of myth here, the myth of the dragon slaying warrior hero, the callow, naive young man who learns how to fight from the instructions of an old master and then sets off to slay monsters. This myth fits the myth of the solar hero from Buddha to Parzival, but one suspects here the projecting of linear thought structures from the rational consciousness structure of the Western mind onto the ancient stories from around the world."The Hero" is, despite its flaws, a great book, and it makes for especially good reading as an introduction to Campbell's work.
It is difficult, now, to imagine American culture without it. "The Masks of God," though four volumes, should be read together with "The Hero" for a more balanced view of the role of myth.SEE MY LECTURE ON CAMPBELL ON YOU TUBE--John David Ebert, author of Celluloid Heroes & Mechanical Dragons: Film as the Mythology of Electronic Society
Campbell takes us through the tragedies, comedies, adventures and redemption that form a common thread through human stories. The archetypes have universal patterns to their struggles, and I began to see a reflection of the paths of Odysseus or Buddha or Jesus in my own life.Every life is a hero's journey, or can be if we choose to see it that way.However, while Campbell is obviously deep and brilliant, he can also be a bit wordy and dry.
This should be the most interesting book ever written - after all, it purports to summarize myths across cultures with a mononmyth theory as the unifying force. He is hard NOT to put down. The problem is in the execution, and probably the underlying theory, which is certainly out-dated. Campbell writes poorly. And so, alas, as with earlier editions, I could not even plod through this tome. It is useless to my understanding of the world.
This book was very helpful in my own spiritual journey. It's worth all the time you'll spend reading it.
The Collector's Edition of this keepsake represents a fine presentation of a classic first released in 1949. THE HERO WITH A THOUSAND FACES is a journey blending modern psychology with comparative mythology, and this edition offers new audiences a fine hardcover packed with black and white illustration and detail.Diane C. DonovanCalifornia Bookwatch
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