Campbell, Joseph (1904-1987)

A prominent American authority on mythology and leading exponent of the idea of "myth" as an inherent characteristic of humanity. Campbell was born March 26, 1904, in New York City. He studied at Dartmouth College, (1921-22) and Columbia University (A.B., 1925; M.A., 1927). He did additional graduate study at the University of Paris and the University of Munich. He taught for a year at Canterbury School, New Mil-ford, Connecticut, before joining the faculty in the literature department at Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York (1934-72), where he taught until his retirement.

Campbell began his literary work as editor of the writings of his friend Heinrich Zimmer. His first independent work, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), examines a number of "hero" tales from around the world in which Campbell discerns the same basic outline. In the book he offers a thesis that myths provide instruction on how we should live, and says that the common themes of mythology throughout the world show these ideas are inherent in human biology. He also launches his search for what he terms the "monomyth," the single underlying story all the myths tell.

He followed The Hero with a Thousand Faces with a four-volume work, The Masks of God (1959-68), which traces the development of ancient mythology and argues for the need of a new worldwide mythology adaptable to the emerging worldwide culture.

Campbell's last years were spent writing the proposed six-volume Historical Atlas of World Mythology, of which only two volumes were completed. He did complete a series of interviews with Bill Moyers that were broadcast posthumously over the Public Broadcasting Service as "The Power of Myth." The television series brought Campbell's works a measure of acclaim the man himself never enjoyed in life.

Campbell died on October 31, 1987. His library and papers have been deposited at the Pacifica Institute in Santa Barbara, California.

Sources:

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero With a Thousand Faces. New York: Pantheon, 1949.

——. Historical Atlas of World Mythologies. 2 vols. New York: Harper, 1983-88.

——. The Masks of God. 6 vols. New York: Viking, 1959-68.

——. Myths to Live By. New York: Viking, 1972.