Synopses & Reviews
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 Campbelland#8217;s revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In these pages, Campbell outlines the Heroand#8217;s Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the worldand#8217;s mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.
As part of the Joseph Campbell Foundationand#8217;s Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, this third edition features expanded illustrations, a comprehensive bibliography, and more accessible sidebars.
As 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. The book has also profoundly influenced creative artistsand#151;including authors, songwriters, game designers, and filmmakersand#151;and continues to inspire all those interested in the inherent human need to tell stories.
Review
and#147;I have returned to no other book more often since leaving college than this one, and every time I discover new insight into the human journey. Every generation will find in
Hero wisdom for the ages.and#8221;
and#151; Bill Moyers
and#147;In the three decades since I discovered The Hero with a Thousand Faces, it has continued to fascinate and inspire me. Joseph Campbell peers through centuries and shows us that we are all connected by a basic need to hear stories and understand ourselves. As a book, it is wonderful to read; as illumination into the human condition, it is a revelation.and#8221;
and#151; George Lucas
and#147;Campbelland#8217;s words carry extraordinary weight, not only among scholars but among a wide range of other people who find his search down mythological pathways relevant to their lives today....The book for which he is most famous, The Hero with a Thousand Faces [is] a brilliant examination, through ancient hero myths, of manand#8217;s eternal struggle for identity.and#8221;
and#151; Time
and#147;In the long run, the most influential book of the twentieth century may turn out to be Joseph Campbelland#8217;s The Hero with a Thousand Faces.and#8221;
and#151; Christopher Vogler
Synopsis
This newly redesigned edition of Campbell's seminal 1949 work combines the insights of modern psychology with the author's revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. Illustrated.