The Mythic Dimension Selected Essays 1959-1987

by Campbell, Joseph

• ISBN13: 9781608684915
• ISBN10: 1608684911
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-03-14
• Publisher: New World Library

Summary

These 12 eclectic essays explore myth and its fascinating context in the human imagination — in the arts, literature, and culture, as well as in everyday life. The most recent title in New World Library’s Collected Works of Joseph Campbell 11-volume series, this new paperback edition features pieces that exhibit Campbell’s trademark thoughtfulness and intelligence. These essays explore the topic for which Campbell was best known: the many connections between myth and history, psychology, and the daily world. Drawing from such varied sources as Thomas Mann, the occult, Jungian and Freudian theory, and the Grateful Dead, these dynamic writings elucidate the many ways in which myth touches our lives, our psyches, and our relationship to the world.

Author Biography

Perhaps most responsible for bringing mythology to a mass audience, Joseph Campbell’s works rank among the classics in mythology and literature: Hero with a Thousand Faces, the four-volume The Masks of God, The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers, and many others. Among his many awards, Campbell received the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Contribution to Creative Literature and the 1985 Medal of Honor for Literature from the National Arts Club. A past president of the American Society for the Study of Religion, Campbell was professor emeritus at Sarah Lawrence College in New York until his death in 1987.

Table of Contents

Mythology and History
Comparative Mythology as an Introduction to Cross-Cultural Studies
The Historical Development of Mythology
Renewal Myths and Rites
Johann Jacob Bachofen
The Mystery Number Of The Goddess

Mythology and the Arts
Creativity
The Interpretation of Symbolic Forms
Mythological Themes in Creative Literature and Art
The Occult in Myth and Literature
Erotic Irony and Mythic Forms in the Art of Thomas Mann

Appendix: Reading list for Joseph Campbell’s Class on Mythology at Sarah Lawrence College
Notes
A Joseph Campbell Bibliography
Index
About the Author
About the Joseph Campbell Foundation