Myths to Live by

by Campbell, Joseph (Author); Fairchild, Johnson E. (Foreword by)

• ISBN13: 9780140194616
• ISBN10: 0140194614
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-02-01
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)

Summary

What is a properly functioning mythology and what are its functions? Can we use myths to help relieve our modern anxiety, or do they help foster it? In Myths to Live by, Joseph Campbell explores the enduring power of the universal myths that influence our lives daily and examines the myth-making process from the primitive past to the immediate present, retuning always to the source from which all mythology springs: the creative imagination. Campbell stresses that the borders dividing the Earth have been shattered; that myths and religions have always followed the certain basic archetypes and are no longer exclusive to a single people, region, or religion. He shows how we must recognize their common denominators and allow this knowledge to be of use in fulfilling human potential everywhere.

Author Biography

Joseph Campbell became interested in mythology during his childhood in New York, when he read books about American Indians and frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History, where he was fascinated by the museum's collection of totem poles. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia in 1925 and 1927 and went on to study medieval French and Sanskrit at the universities of Paris and Munich. After a period in California, where he encountered John Steinbeck and the biologist Ed Ricketts, he taught at the Canterbury School, then, in 1934, joined the literature department at Sarah Lawrence College, a post he retained for many years. During the 1940s and '50s, he helped Swami Nikhilananda to translate the Upanishads and The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The many books by Professor Campbell include The Hero with a Thousand Faces, The Flight of the Wild Gander, The Masks of God, and The Mythic Image. He edited The Portable Arabian Nights, The Portable Jung, and other works. He died in 1987.

Table of Contents

Foreword	v
Johnson E. Fairchild
Preface	vii
The Impact of Science on Myth	3	(18)
The Emergence of Mankind	21	(23)
The Importance of Rites	44	(17)
The Separation of East and West	61	(21)
The Confrontation of East and West in Religion	82	(23)
The Inspiration of Oriental Art	105	(21)
Zen	126	(22)
The Mythology of Love	148	(21)
Mythologies of War and Peace	169	(32)
Schizophrenia---the Inward Journey	201	(32)
The Moon Walk---the Outward Journey	233	(17)
Envoy: No More Horizons	250	(17)
Reference Notes	267	(4)
Index	271