About
Joseph Campbell, born in White Plains, New York, and died in Honolulu, Hawaii, was an American mythologist. After studying medieval literature at Columbia University, he taught at Sarah Lawrence College from 1934 to 1972. His work 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces' (1949) introduced the concept of the 'monomyth' or hero's journey, influenced by Carl Jung's psychology and Arnold van Gennep's rites of passage. He then published 'The Masks of God' (1959-1968), a vast comparative study of world mythologies. His interviews with Bill Moyers, broadcast on television in 1988 as 'The Power of Myth', achieved great posthumous success.
* 1904-03-26 — † 1987-10-28
Major works
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949)essay
- The Masks of God (1959-1968)essay series
- The Power of Myth (1988)interview book
Key milestones
- 1934Joined the literature faculty at Sarah Lawrence College, teaching there until 1972.
- 1949Published 'The Hero with a Thousand Faces', introducing the concept of the monomyth.
- 1988Posthumous broadcast of the television series 'The Power of Myth' with Bill Moyers.
Themes
Comparative mythologyHero's journeyArchetypesRites of passageDepth psychology
Sources: c250.columbia.edu · britannica.com · id.loc.gov