“The latest incarnation of Oedipus, the continued romance of Beauty and the Beast, stand this afternoon on the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue, waiting for the traffic light to change.” — Joseph Campbell
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 Campbell’s revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In these pages, Campbell outlines the Hero’s Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world’s mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.
As part of the Joseph Campbell Foundation’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 artists—including authors, songwriters, game designers, and filmmakers—and continues to inspire all those interested in the inherent human need to tell stories.
Author(s): Joseph Campbell
Edition: 3
Publisher: Joseph Campbell Foundation
Year: 2020
Language: English
Tags: psychology;sociology;mythology;folklore;heroes
About the Collected Works of Joseph Campbell
Editor's Foreword to the 2020 Collected Works Edition
Notes on the Text
PREFACE TO THE 1949 EDITION
PROLOGUE - The Monomyth
1. Myth and Dream
2. Tragedy and Comedy
3. The Hero and the God
4. The World Navel
PART I - The Adventure of the Hero
CHAPTER I - Departure
1. The Call to Adventure
2. Refusal of the Call
3. Supernatural Aid
4. The Crossing of the First Threshold
5. The Belly of the Whale
CHAPTER II - Initiation
1. The Road of Trials
2. The Meeting with the Goddess
3. Woman as the Temptress
4. Atonement with the Father
5. Apotheosis
6. The Ultimate Boon
CHAPTER III - Return
1. Refusal of the Return
2. The Magic Flight
3. Rescue from Without
4. The Crossing of the Return Threshold
5. Master of the Two Worlds
6. Freedom to Live
CHAPTER IV - The Keys
PART II - The Cosmogonic Cycle
CHAPTER I - Emanations
1. From Psychology to Metaphysics
2. The Universal Round
3. Out of the Void — Space
4. Within Space — Life
5. The Breaking of the One into the Manifold
6. Folk Stories of Creation
CHAPTER II - The Virgin Birth
1. Mother Universe
2. Matrix of Destiny
3. Womb of Redemption
4. Folk Stories of Virgin Motherhood
CHAPTER III - Transformations of the Hero
1. The Primordial Hero and the Human
2. Childhood of the Human Hero
3. The Hero as Warrior
4. The Hero as Lover
5. The Hero as Emperor and as Tyrant
6. The Hero as World Redeemer
7. The Hero as Saint
8. Departure of the Hero
CHAPTER IV - Dissolutions
1. End of the Microcosm
2. End of the Macrocosm
EPILOGUE - Myth and Society
1. The Shapeshifter
2. The Function of Myth, Cult, and Meditation
3. The Hero Today
Annotated Bibliography
About Joseph Campbell
About the Joseph Campbell Foundation
Acknowledgements
Illustrations List
