These 12 eclectic essays explore myth and its fascinating context in the human imagination — in the arts, literature, and culture, as well as in everyday life. The latest title in New World Library’s Collected Works of Joseph Campbell, this attractive cloth edition features pieces that exhibit Campbell’s trademark thoughtfulness and intelligence.

These essays explore the topic for which Campbell was best known: the many connections between myth and history, psychology, and the daily world. Drawing from such varied sources as Thomas Mann, the occult, Jungian and Freudian theory, and the Grateful Dead, these dynamic writings elucidate the many ways in which myth touches our lives, our psyches, and our relationship to the world.

Reviews:

If you have any sort of interest in mythology, then you have heard of Joseph Campbell. His works such as The Hero’s Journey [sic] and Myths of Light are required reading for university studies. His presentation of the cycle of the hero is absolutely legendary. He is one of my absolute favorite authors.

When a copy of The Mythic Dimension arrived at my door for me to review, I was thrilled. This book reprints a variety of Campbell’s essays and articles, originally published between 1959 and 1987. Amongst these pieces are solid foundational presentations that provide a really good overview of the study of mythology and the associated symbolism. I can see this book becoming a very popular text for university classes. — Dr. Tami Brady, TCM Reviews

At long last, after the long, night-sea journey, the whole of Mythos is complete and available for the first time. Acorn Media has released Mythos III: The Shaping of the Western Tradition on DVD. 

Filmed over the last years of his life, Mythos captures Joseph Campbell's final series of public talks, his retelling of humankind's "one great story." With the release of this third volume, the entire series will be seen for the first time as Campbell delivered them, and as he intended them to be seen. Once again, the programs are hosted by Oscar^®-award winner Susan Sarandon.

In Mythos I: The Shaping of Our Mythic Tradition, Campbell began by looking at the world’s most ancient myths and symbols, from the evolution of human consciousness to the prehistoric hunting plains to the civilizations of the Fertile Crescent and the classical world.

In Mythos II: The Shaping of the Eastern Tradition, he went on to explore these basic elements as they have expressed themselves in the great religions and philosophies of Asia.

Now, in Mythos III: The Shaping of the Western Tradition , he moves on to exploring these same mythological motifs as they have expressed themselves in Western culture. Where the emphasis in the previous programs has been on the evolution of the human species and cultures, now Campbell focusses on the artists, writers and thinkers who have had such a huge impact on the culture of the modern West.

Over half of this series is made up of material that has never been released in any form.

"[Western myths] represented something that is typical to Europe and nowhere else, and that is respect for the individual and the individual path, the individual way." --Joseph Campbell

During the final years of his life, Joseph Campbell embarked on a speaking tour in which he drew together all that he had learned about what he called the "one great story" of humanity. These remarkable talks were filmed and are presented in Mythos in the order and manner in which Campbell himself intended, with enhanced images and in minimally edited form.

Now, in Mythos III: The Shaping of the Western Tradition, he explores these same mythological motifs as they have expressed themselves in Western culture. Where the emphasis in the previous volumes has been on the evolution of the humanity and its cultures, Campbell concludes this series by focusing on the art, literature, and philosophy that have influenced the development of the individual in the modern West.

Mythos III Lectures and Description:

Love as the Guide: The Arthurian Romances
The Path of the Heart: Parzival and the Grail Quest
Beyond Time & Space: The Romantic Philosophers
Between Pairs of Opposites: Thomas Mann and The Magic Mountain
Into the Well of Myth: The Joseph Novels and Modern Myth 

Presented and Hosted by Academy Award®-Winner SUSAN SARANDON

Request Mythos III as our Thank You gift when you donate $40 to JCF