An American Professor of Literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. Campbell's most well-known work is his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero shared by world mythologies, termed the monomyth.
Questions tagged [joseph-campbell]
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Why, according to Joseph Campbell, is the monomyth so common?
The Wikipedia page on the Monomyth has these statements in the summary at the top:
Campbell held that numerous myths from disparate times and regions share fundamental structures and stages,
and
Campbell argues that classic myths from many…
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Are there any good ancient examples for the monomyth?
What's an ancient story that's a good example for the plot structure of the monomyth, meaning most of the stations are there?
In my youth I read the popular classical Greek myths as well as a few German (Grimms fairytales, Nibelungenlied) and…
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Did any ancient cultures or scholars recognize the Hero's Journey monomyth?
In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell talked about the monomyth, and the overarching structure of the Hero's Journey: the hero is called on an adventure, may have a helper, goes through various trials, passes thresholds, goes through a…
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What is the meaning or significance of the following Joseph Campbell quote?
And where we had thought to find an abomination we shall find a God.
Where we had thought to slay another we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outward we shall come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought…
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