Myths to Live byThere is no one quite like Joseph Campbell. He knows the vast sweep of man's panoramic past as few men have evern known it. -The Village Voice 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. |
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MYTHS TO LIVE BY
User Review - KirkusCampbell, author of The Masks of God and a respected mythologist, conceived these essays originally as lectures for Cooper Union's Forum series. They still resonate with echos of the hall as he ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - millsge - LibraryThingVery few understand myth as does Campbell. Even fewer love myths as he does and even less understand how trenchant mythic truth really is. Read this book and attempt to live by these myths and you will affect society more than you can imagine. Read full review
Contents
The Impact of Science on Myth | 3 |
The Emergence of Mankind | 21 |
The Importance of Rites | 44 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown