The Hero with a Thousand Faces ANNOTATION
A look into the variety of hero myths and the similarities that run through different cultures by making use of psychology and folklore.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
The amazing, best-selling exploration of world myth and the individual soul's development that has changed millions of lives and was the focus of the recent Bill Moyers special on PBS.
SYNOPSIS
Although they are perceived as two different concepts, "fact" and "fiction" are really opposite sides of the same coin—two ways of expressing the same truth. According to the brilliant scholar and writer Joseph Campbell, myth is the way a culture becomes reconciled to the universal truths of human existence—the joys and sorrows, pains and pleasures of life. In short, it is a philosophical text, but one which reveals truth in symbolic terms.
This classic cross-cultural study examines the most basic myth of all. Portraying the archetypal hero in light of modern psychological ideas, Campbell uses fairy tale narratives across time to discuss the three stages of the heroic journey (departure, initiation, and return) and examines the macrocosm of the universe and the role the hero plays in its cycle of growth, dissolution, and redemption. A rich source of study for generations of readers and scholars. B&W illus.
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