Myths to Live By

by Joseph Campbell

  In 1938 he married one of his students, Jean Erdman, who would become a major presence in the emerging field of modern dance, first, as a star dancer in Martha Graham's fledgling troupe, and later, as dancer/choreographer of her own company.

  Even as he continued his teaching career, Joe's life continued to unfold serendipitously. In 1940, he was introduced to Swami Nikhilananda, who enlisted his help in producing a new translation of The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (published, 1942). Subsequently, Nikhilananda introduced Joe to the Indologist Heinrich Zimmer, who introduced him to a member of the editorial board at the Bollingen Foundation. Bollingen, which had been founded by Paul and Mary Mellon to "develop scholarship and research in the liberal arts and sciences and other fields of cultural endeavor generally," was embarking upon an ambitious publishing project, the Bollingen Series. Joe was invited to contribute an "Introduction and Commentary" to the first Bollingen publication, Where the Two Came to their Father: A Navaho War Ceremonial, text and paintings recorded by Maud Oakes, given by Jeff King (Bollingen Series, I: 1943).

  When Zimmer died unexpectedly in 1943 at the age of fifty-two, his widow, Christiana, and Mary Mellon asked Joe to oversee the publication of his unfinished works. Joe would eventually edit and complete four volumes from Zimmer's posthumous papers: Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization (Bollingen Series VI: 1946), The King and the Corpse (Bollingen Series XI: 1948), Philosophies of India (Bollingen Series XXVI: 1951), and a two-volume opus, The Art of Indian Asia (Bollingen Series XXXIX: 1955).

  Joe, meanwhile, followed his initial Bollingen contribution with a "Folkloristic Commentary" to Grimm's Fairy Tales (1944); he also co-authored (with Henry Morton Robinson) A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944), the first major study of James Joyce's notoriously complex novel.

  His first, full-length, solo authorial endeavor, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Bollingen Series XVII: 1949), was published to acclaim and brought him the first of numerous awards and honors—the National Institute of Arts and Letters Award for Contributions to Creative Literature. In this study of the myth of the hero, Campbell posits the existence of a Monomyth (a word he borrowed from James Joyce), a universal pattern that is the essence of, and common to, heroic tales in every culture. While outlining the basic stages of this mythic cycle, he also explores common variations in the hero's journey, which, he argues, is an operative metaphor, not only for an individual, but for a culture as well. The Hero would prove to have a major influence on generations of creative artists—from the Abstract Expressionists in the 1950s to contemporary film-makers today—and would, in time, come to be acclaimed as a classic.

  Joe would eventually author dozens of articles and numerous other books, including The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology (Vol. 1: 1959), Oriental Mythology (Vol. 2: 1962), Occidental Mythology (Vol. 3: 1964), and Creative Mythology (Vol. 4: 1968); The Flight of the Wild Gander: Explorations in the Mythological Dimension (1969); Myths to Live By (1972); The Mythic Image (1974); The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor as Myth and as Religion (1986); and five books in his four-volume, multi-part, unfinished Historical Atlas of World Mythology (1983-87).

  He was also a prolific editor. Over the years, he edited The Portable Arabian Nights (1952) and was general editor of the series Man and Myth (1953-1954), which included major works by Maya Deren ( Divine Horsemen: the Living Gods of Haiti, 1953), Carl Kerenyi ( The Gods of the Greeks, 1954), and Alan Watts ( Myth and Ritual in Christianity, 1954). He also edited The Portable Jung (1972), as well as six volumes of Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks (Bollingen Series XXX): Spirit and Nature (1954), The Mysteries (1955), Man and Time (1957), Spiritual Disciplines (1960), Man and Transformation (1964), and The Mystic Vision (1969).

  But his many publications notwithstanding, it was arguably as a public speaker that Joe had his greatest popular impact. From the time of his first public lecture in 1940—a talk at the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center entitled "Sri Ramakrishna's Message to the West"—it was apparent that he was an erudite but accessible lecturer, a gifted storyteller, and a witty raconteur. In the ensuing years, he was asked more and more often to speak at different venues on various topics. In 1956, he was invited to speak at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute; working without notes, he delivered two straight days of lectures. His talks were so well-received, he was invited back annually for the next seventeen years. In the mid-1950s, he also undertook a series of public lectures at the Cooper Union in New York City; these talks drew an ever-larger, increasingly diverse audience, and soon became a regular event.

  Joe first lectured at Esalen Institute in 1965. Each year thereafter, he returned to Big Sur to share his latest thoughts, insights, and stories. And as the years passed, he came to look forward more and more to his annual sojourns to the place he called "paradise on the Pacific Coast." Although he retired from teaching at Sarah Lawrence in 1972 to devote himself to his writing, he continued to undertake two month-long lecture tours each year.

  In 1985, Joe was awarded the National Arts Club Gold Medal of Honor in Literature. At the award ceremony, James Hillman remarked, "No one in our century—not Freud, not Thomas Mann, not Levi-Strauss—has so brought the mythical sense of the world and its eternal figures back into our everyday consciousness."

  Joseph Campbell died unexpectedly in 1987 after a brief struggle with cancer. In 1988, millions were introduced to his ideas by the broadcast on PBS of Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers, six hours of an electrifying conversation that the two men had videotaped over the course of several years. When he died, Newsweek magazine noted that "Campbell has become one of the rarest of intellectuals in American life: a serious thinker who has been embraced by the popular culture."

  In his later years, Joe was fond of recalling on how Schopenhauer, in his essay On the Apparent Intention in the Fate of the Individual, wrote of the curious feeling one can have, of there being an author somewhere writing the novel of our lives, in such a way that through events that seem to us to be chance happenings there is actually a plot unfolding of which we have no knowledge.

  Looking back over Joe's life, one cannot help but feel that it proves the truth Schopenhauer's observation.

  For more information on the works of Joseph Campbell, click here.

  About the Joseph Campbell Foundation

  The Joseph Campbell Foundation (JCF) is a not-for-profit corporation that continues the work of Joseph Campbell, exploring the fields of mythology and comparative religion. The Foundation is guided by three principal goals:

  First, the Foundation preserves, protects, and perpetuates Campbell’s pioneering work. This includes cataloging and archiving his works, developing new publications based on his works, directing the sale and distribution of his published works, protecting copyrights to his works, and increasing awareness of his works by making them available in digital formats on JCF’s Web site (www.jcf.org).

  Second, the Foundation promotes the study of mythology and comparative religion. This involves implementing and/or supporting diverse mythological education programs, supporting and/or sponsoring events designed to increase public awareness, donating Campbell’s archived works (principally to the Joseph Campbell and Marija Gimbutas Archive and Library), and utilizing JCF’s Web site as a forum for relevant cross-cultural dialogue.

  Third, the Foundation helps individuals enrich their lives by participating in a series of programs, including our global, Internet-based Associates program, our local international network of Mythological Roundtables, and our periodic Joseph Campbell–related events and activities.

  For more information on Joseph Campbell

  and the Joseph Campbell Foundation, contact:

  Joseph Campbell Foundation

  www.jcf.org

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  San Anselmo, CA 94979-0036

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  Illustration List

  Cover

  Cover art. Earthrise as seen from th
e moon. A.D. 1968. Photo: US National Atmospheric and Space Administration. Cover design: David Kudler. Series cover design and logo design: Richard Patterson and PH Studio. Cover: Copyright © 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  I - The Impact of Science on Myth

  Fig. 1.1. Vitruvian Man. Italy, c. A.D. 1485–1490. Pen and ink. Leonardo daVinci: "Vitruvian Man." Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice, Italy. Photo: Luc Viatour via lucnix.be. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 1.2. Planetary Spheres. Germany, facsimile of manuscript, ninth century A.D. Macrobian planetary diagram. Image: Richy via commons.wikimedia.org.

  Fig. 1.3. Dante and Mt. Purgatory. Italy, fresco, A.D. 1464. Domenico de Michelino: Dante before the Gates of Hell and Mt. Purgatory. The Duomo, Florenze, Italy. Note the celestial spheres with the planets above Dante's head.

  Fig. 1.4. Temple of the Sun. Mexico, Aztec, first–second century A.D. Teotihuacan - Pyramid of the Sun. Photo: Joel Bedford via Flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 1.5. Churning the Milky Sea. Cambodia, Khmer, bas-relief, twelfth century A.D. The Churning of the Ocean of Milk, depicted in bas-relief on the south of the east wall of Angkor Wat's third enclosure. Photo: Mark Alexander/markalexander01 via commons.wikimedia.org. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  II - The Emergence of Mankind

  Fig. 2.1. The Sorceror of Trois Frères. Ariège, France. Artist’s rendering of neolithic cave painting, c. 13,000 B.C. Drawing: George Armstrong. Copyright © 1983, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 2.2. Neanderthal Burial. France, Neanderthal, artist’s reconstruction, c. 60,000 B.C. Neanderthal burial. Drawing: George Armstrong. Copyright © 1983, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 2.3. Creation. Holland, paint on wood, c. A.D. 1500. Hieronymus Bosch: The Garden of Earthly Delights. Detail, "The Joining of Adam and Eve." The Prado, Madrid, Spain. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 2.4. Eden. Italy, fresco, A.D. 1508–1512. Michaelangelo Buonarroti: The Sistine Chapel. Detail, "The Temptation and the Fall." The Vatican, Rome, Italy. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 2.5. Fear Not. Japan, bronze, A.D. 751. Tōdaiji Temple, Nara, Japan. The Great Buddha (Sanskrit: Mahāvairocana; Japanese: Daibutsu) making the "No Fear" gesture. Photo: Photo: Christopher Schmidt/crschmidt via Flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 2.6. Threshold Guardians.. Japan, carved wood, A.D. 1203. Tōdaiji Temple, Nara, Japan. Thunder-hurling threshold guardians ( Kongō-rikishi). Photo: Copyright © 1985, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 2.7. Mountain Cairns. Tibet, 2006. "Tibet - Nam-Tso: Cairns and the mountain (Nyenchen Tanglha)." Photo: McKay Savage/mckaysavage via Flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 2.8. Ainu Bear Sacrifice. Japan, artist's reproduction of a print, nineteenth century A.D.. Ainu preparing a bear for “release.” Image: Edward Greey, The Bear-Worshippers of Yezo and the Island of Karafuto (Saghalin), or The Adventures of the Jewett Family and Their Friend Oto Nambo (Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1883).

  Fig. 2.9. Death of the Bear. Japan, artist's reproduction of a print, nineteenth century A.D.. Ainu dispatching the bear. Image: Greey, op.cit.

  Fig. 2.10. Venus of Laussel. France, artist’s rendition of bas-relief, c. 18,000 B.C. The Venus of Laussel. Musée d'Aquitaine, Bourdeaux, France.

  III - The Importance of Rites

  Fig. 3.1. Hopi Priest. United States, A.D. 1906. Edward S. Curtis: "The Snake Priest" (Hopi). Photo: Northwestern University Library, Edward S. Curtis's 'The North American Indian': the Photographic Images, 2001. Library of Congress - Edward S. Curtis's The North American Indian.

  Fig. 3.2. Starry Night. France, oil on canvas, A.D. 1889. Vincent van Gogh: The Starry Night. Museum of Modern Art, New York, United States. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 3.3. Tea Ceremony. Japan, 1958. Tea ceremony. Photo: Joseph Campbell. Copyright © 2008, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 3.4. Riderless Steed. United States, 1963. The state funeral of John F. Kennedy. John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. Photo: SP/4 David S. Schwartz, U. S. Army.

  Fig. 3.5. Constantine. Turkey, Byzantine mosaic, c. A.D 1000. Constantine the Great. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 3.6. Natural Music. United States, A.D. 2007. Muir Beach, Christmas. Photo: Sasha Kudler, Copyright © 2007, Sasha Kudler. Used with permission.

  IV - The Separation of East and West

  Fig. 4.1. Kālī astride Śiva. India, goache on paper, date uncertain. Kālī astride Śiva. Used with permission of a private collection.

  Fig. 4.2. Monster Slayer. Iraq, inlaid shell and lapis lazuli, Sumerian, c. 2650–2400 B.C.

  Fig. 4.3. Masks of God. Indonesia, Balinese wood carvings, A.D. 2008. Masks of Viṣṇu. Bali, Indonesia. Photo: Rudy Hermann/roodee via Flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 4.4. Beatrice Shows Paradise to Dante. Fresco, Germany, A.D. 1817–1827. Phillip Veit: Beatrice shows Dante Paradise. Casa Masimo, Rome, Italy. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 4.5. The Bliss of Your Own True Empire. Japan, stone statue, twelfth century A.D. Buddha. Usuki, Ōita, Kyūshū, Japan.

  Fig. 4.6. The Thinker. France, bronze, A.D. 1879–1889. Auguste Rodin: The Thinker. Musée Rodin, Paris, France. Photo: Andrew Horne, 2010 via commons.wikimedia.org.

  Fig. 4.7. Creation of Eve. Switzerland, oil on canvas, A.D. 1793. Johan Heinrich Füssli: The Creation of Eve (after Milton's Paradise Lost). Künsthalle, Hamburg, Germany. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  V - The Confrontation of East and West in Religion

  Fig. 5.1. Kandi Procession. Sri Lanka, A.D. 1956. Religious procession. Photo: Joseph Campbell. Copyright © 2002, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation. (Cf. Joseph Campbell, Sake & Satori: Asian Journals—Japan, New World Library, 2002, pp. 6–7.)

  Fig. 5.2. Leo Frobenius. Before A.D. 1920. Photo: US Library of Congress.

  Fig. 5.3. Martin Buber. Israel, c. A.D. 1950.

  Fig. 5.4. Kṛṣṇa and the Cowherds. India, ink and paper, c. A.D. 1740. Rāgmālā series: Kṛṣṇa playing his flute. Boston Museum of Fine Art, Boston, United States. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 5.5. Joseph Campbell in Japan. Japan, A.D. 1956. Joseph Campbell. Photo: Copyright © 2004, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 5.6. Kīrtimukha. Nepal. Kīrtimukha above entrance to Hindu temple in Kathmandu. Photo: Clemensmarabu via commons.wikimedia.org. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  VI - The Inspiration of Oriental Art

  Fig. 6.1. Perfection of Wisdom. India, ink on palm leaf, c. A.D. 1080. The Prajñāpāramitā ("perfection of wisdom") bodhisattva. Bodleian Library, Oxford, England. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 6.2. City of Dreams. Cambodia, early thirteenth century A.D. Buddhas. Bayon Temple, Angkor Thom, Cambodia. Photo: Henry Flower via commons.wikimedia.org. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 6.3. Cakras. Cakras. Artist's reperesentation of the cakras. Image: Copyright © 1996, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 6.4. Sukhāvatī. China, ink on silk, eighth century A.D. The Amitābha Buddha in the Pure Land to the West (Sansrit: Sukhāvatī). Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 6.5. The Way of Nature. Japan, woodblock, A.D. 1827. Hokusai: A Tour of the Waterfalls of the Provinces, "Amida Waterfall on the Kiso Road." Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke.DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 6.6. Yang and Yin. China, watercolors and ink, A.D. 1535. Ch'en Shun: "Mountains." Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  VII - Zen

  Fig. 7.1. The Nanzenji temple and garden. Japan, A.D.
1956. The Nanzenji temple and garden. Kyōto, Japan. Photo: Joseph Campbell. Copyright © 2002, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 7.2. Earth-touching Posture. Laos, bronze, seventeenth century A.D. Buddha making the Earth-touching gesture (Sanskrit: Bhumisparsha Mudrā). Wat Sisaket, Vientiane, Laos. Photo: Thomas Wanhoff/thomaswanhoff via Flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 7.3. Kuan-yin. Macao, bronze, twentieth century A.D. Kuan-yin. Photo: Tim Wang/jiazi via Flickr.com. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 7.4. Bodhidharma. Ink and paper, Japan, eighteenth century A.D. Hakuin: Bodhidharma. Photo: Bob Swain via picasaweb.google.com. Used under a Creative Commons: Attribution license.

  Fig. 7.5. The Open Circle. United States, 1995. Zen circle, or ensō. Image: ® The open-circle logo is a registered trademark of the Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  Fig. 7.6. Zen Garden. Japan, 1956. Zen garden. Kyōto, Japan. Photo: Joseph Campbell. Copyright © 2002, 2011, Joseph Campbell Foundation.

  VIII - The Mythology of Love

  Fig. 8.1. The Kiss. Austria, oil and gold leaf on canvas, A.D. 1907–1908. Gustav Klimt: "The Kiss." Belvedere Museum, Vienna, Austria. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 8.2. Kṛṣṇa and and the Young Wives. India, ink on paper, eighteenth century A.D. Kṛṣṇa and and the young wives. Photo: The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke. DVD-ROM, 2003.

  Fig. 8.3. Tristan and Iseult. United States, A.D. 2011. Tristan and Iseult drink the love potion. Image: Copyright ©, 2011 Gerald McDermott. Used with permission. (This piece was created for the Joseph Campbell video series Mythos III: The Shaping of the Western Tradition.)