Lecture I.5.4 - History of the Gods [New!]

A myth is a poetic image that points past itself to an ineffable truth and so it can’t be called a concept…. But a myth, a mythology is a total image of the universe which operates in a social context to shape the society and it operates in a physiological context to shape a coordinated, harmonious psyche. It points past society, the universe, and the psyche to this mystery that I’m speaking about. —Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell explores the original sources of various images of divinity in religions around the world. No experience, he reminds us, can be fully understood except by the person who has had that experience; and nowhere, he observes, is this limitation more apparent than in the context of religious experience. As a result, the poetic images used to describe such experiences are often misunderstood by others.

Running time: approx. 60 minutes