![]() He’s left plagued by disease, sitting on a dung hill. The book’s first half deals with the archetypal hero’s journey that shows up universally in all cultures - a call to search for some treasure, the endurance of many trials, the winning of that treasure and the return of the hero, much changed, to his or her old setting.įor me, the epitome of Campbell’s look at the many ways this hero’s journey plays out in human mythology is his discussion of the Book of Job from the Hebrew Bible.Īccording to the Bible, Job is “a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil.” Nonetheless, God permits him to be beset by a host of afflictions, including the deaths of his children and the loss of his fortune. By contrast, the second half was heavy sledding. Perhaps it’s because such myths as virgin births don’t resonate with me.įor whatever reason, I read the first half of The Hero with a Thousand Faces with great excitement and enjoyment. Perhaps it’s because, intellectually, I can’t keep up with him. ![]() Perhaps this is why so much of it, particularly the second half, seems so esoteric and arcane. ![]() ![]() ![]() There is much about Joseph Campbell’s 1948 book The Hero with a Thousand Faces that I find problematic.Ĭampbell displays amazing erudition in this book and a vast knowledge of the mythologies, literatures and sacred writings of cultures from one end of the globe to the other. ![]()
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