Joseph Campbell

Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer and the husband of Jean Erdman. He taught literature at Sarah Lawrence College and studied comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work looked at many parts of the human condition.

Campbell’s most famous book is The Hero with a Thousand Faces, published in 1949. In this book, he talked about a common journey that heroes take in stories from all over the world. He called this journey the monomyth. He showed how many myths have similar patterns, with a main character who is the archetypal hero.

After The Hero with a Thousand Faces was published, many modern writers and artists started using Campbell’s ideas. He became famous in Hollywood when George Lucas said that Campbell’s ideas helped shape his Star Wars movies. One of Campbell’s best-remembered sayings is “Follow your bliss,” which many people use to encourage others to chase their dreams.

Life

Joseph Campbell was born on March 26, 1904, in White Plains, New York. His family came from Waltham, Massachusetts and New York, and they grew up in an upper-middle-class Irish Catholic home. He went to school in New Rochelle, New York and later studied at the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. He then attended Dartmouth College before moving to Columbia University, where he earned degrees in English literature and medieval literature.

During the Great Depression, Campbell lived simply in Woodstock, New York, where he spent time reading and thinking. He traveled to California and became friends with writer John Steinbeck. In 1934, Campbell began teaching at Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York. He married Jean Erdman, a dancer and choreographer, in 1938, and they lived in Greenwich Village in New York City.

Campbell took time off from teaching to travel to Asia, which changed how he understood Asian religion and myths. He retired from Sarah Lawrence College in 1972 after teaching there for 38 years. He died in Honolulu, Hawaii, on October 30, 1987.

Influences

Campbell talked a lot about writers like James Joyce and Thomas Mann, and the art of Pablo Picasso. He learned about them in Paris and wrote to Mann later.

The ideas of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche were very important to Campbell. His famous idea to "follow your bliss" came partly from old Hindu texts called the Upanishads, and maybe also from a novel called Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis.

Campbell was also influenced by anthropologist Leo Frobenius and his student Adolf Ellegard Jensen, as well as psychologists Abraham Maslow and Stanislav Grof. His ideas about myths and the human mind were shaped by the work of Sigmund Freud, but mostly by Carl Jung. Jung studied human psychology, especially dreams and symbols, and this was very important to Campbell. Jung was inspired by an old book called the Bardo Thodol, also known as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Campbell loved this book and said it gave him many important ideas.

Comparative mythology and theories

Monomyth

Campbell's idea of monomyth is that all myths are different versions of one big story. He thought there is a common pattern in these stories. This pattern is called "the hero's journey" and he wrote about it in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Campbell liked the writer James Joyce and used the word "monomyth" from Joyce's work. He also used ideas from Carl Jung about the human mind.

Functions of myth

Campbell said that myths have four important jobs in society. First, they help people feel wonder and gratitude for life. Second, they explain how the world works, like how seasons change. Third, they support the way people live together by telling stories that match their society's rules. Fourth, they guide people through different stages of life, helping them face challenges.

Evolution of myth

Campbell believed that myths change over time as societies develop. In early hunting societies, myths often focused on animals and nature. When people started farming, myths changed to focus on the earth and seasons. Later, in big civilizations, myths were inspired by stars and the idea that life follows a pattern. In medieval times, new stories about love and romance appeared, showing changes in how people thought about relationships.

Legacy

Joseph Campbell Foundation

In 1991, Joseph Campbell's wife, Jean Erdman, worked with his friend and editor, Robert Walter, to start the Joseph Campbell Foundation. The foundation helps by publishing Campbell's books and recordings. It also gives out awards and holds talks about myths, stories, and cultures.

Film and television

Many filmmakers have used Joseph Campbell's ideas. George Lucas, the maker of the Star Wars film, said that Campbell's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces helped shape the story of Star Wars. Lucas talked about this in a book called A Fire in the Mind. Later, Lucas met Campbell and they talked about stories. They even made a TV special together called The Power of Myth.

Other filmmakers, like the writer of The Lion King, have also used Campbell's ideas. Shows like Community and Rick and Morty talk about Campbell's way of thinking about stories.

Popular literature

Writers and game designers have used Campbell's ideas to create stories. The author of Watership Down used ideas from Campbell's books. Even famous writers like Dan Brown said Campbell's work inspired him.

"Follow your bliss"

One of Campbell's famous ideas was to "follow your bliss." He meant that if you do what makes you truly happy, you'll find the right path in life. He shared this idea with his students and it became popular, especially after the TV special The Power of Myth was shown in 1988.

Academic reception and criticism

Joseph Campbell’s ideas about myths and stories were studied and sometimes criticized by experts in folklore. Some folklorists said he only looked at stories that matched his ideas and ignored others. Others felt he wasn’t a true expert in folklore and that his work was too simple.

Some people also questioned his knowledge of certain languages and his views on different cultures. Writers had different opinions about his work, with some admiring him and others finding faults.

Works

Early collaborations

Main article: A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake

Joseph Campbell’s first book was Where the Two Came to Their Father (1943). It tells a story from the Navajo people about two heroes who visit their father, the Sun. They gain powers to fight monsters. Campbell added his own ideas to the story.

He was inspired by the writer James Joyce. One of his famous early books, A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944), helps readers understand Joyce’s tricky book Finnegans Wake. Another important book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), talks about a common pattern in stories about heroes all over the world, called the “hero’s journey.”

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Main article: The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Campbell wrote many stories in the beginning, but later he wrote more non-fiction. His book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) became very famous. It says that many well-known hero stories, like those of Krishna, Buddha, and Jesus, share similar ideas. The book helped people learn about comparing myths and stories from different cultures.

The Masks of God

From 1959 to 1968, Campbell wrote four books called The Masks of God. These books look at myths from many places and times. They show how myths change over history and in different cultures.

Historical Atlas of World Mythology

Main article: Historical Atlas of World Mythology

When Campbell died, he was working on a big project called Historical Atlas of World Mythology. He believed that myths change in four main ways over time. Only part of this project was finished when he died, and others helped finish some of it later.

The Power of Myth

Main article: The Power of Myth

Campbell became even more well-known when he worked with Bill Moyers on a TV series called The Power of Myth in 1988. They talked about big ideas in myths and religions. A book with their conversations was also very popular.

Collected Works

The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell is a big project to gather all of Campbell’s writing and talks. It includes many books, audio, and video recordings of his lectures.

Other books

Campbell wrote many other books about myths and stories. Some of these are:

• Where the Two Came to Their Father: A Navaho War Ceremonial (1943)
• The Flight of the Wild Gander (1968)
• Myths to Live By (1972)
• The Mythic Image (1974)
• The Inner Reaches of Outer Space (1986)
• Transformations of Myth Through Time (1990)
• And many more...

Interview books

Campbell also did many interviews that became books, like:

• The Power of Myth (1988) with Bill Moyers
• An Open Life (1989) with Michael Toms
• The Hero's Journey (1990)

Audio recordings

Campbell’s talks and lectures are available as audio recordings, such as:

• Mythology and the Individual
• The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers
• Transformation of Myth through Time

Video recordings

There are also video recordings of Campbell’s talks and films about his ideas, including:

• The Hero's Journey: A Biographical Portrait
• Sukhavati: A Mythic Journey
• Mythos

TV appearances

Campbell appeared on TV, including segments on Bill Moyers Journal in 1981.

Edited books

Campbell also helped edit many books by other authors, such as:

• The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942)
• Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization by Heinrich Zimmer
• The Portable Arabian Nights (1951)