Creative Mythology (the Masks of God, Volume 4) - (Collected Works of Joseph Campbell) by Joseph Campbell (Paperback)

About the Book

"In this fourth and final volume in The Masks of God series - Joseph Campbell's major work of comparative mythology - the preeminent mythologist looks at the birth of the individualistic mythology of the modern world as it developed in Europe beginning in the twelfth century"--

Book Synopsis

An updated edition of the beloved final volume in Joseph Campbell's monumental Masks of God series, Creative Mythology tells the inner story of humanity's entire philosophical, spiritual, and artistic history since the Dark Ages, ultimately positioning each of us as the creator of our own mythology.

In this fourth and final volume in The Masks of God series -- Joseph Campbell's major work of comparative mythology -- the preeminent mythologist looks at the birth of the modern, individualistic mythology as it developed in Europe beginning in the twelfth century. Tracing the disintegration of orthodox tradition up through the radical art and philosophies of the late twentieth century, Campbell arrives at an astonishing insight: modern humans are the first to witness the creation of myth and position themselves as the center of their own mythology.

Upon completing Creative Mythology, he wrote that his work on The Masks of God had confirmed his long-held belief in the unity of humanity, "which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony, with its themes announced, developed, amplified and turned about, distorted, reasserted, and, today, in a grand fortissimo of all sections sounding together, irresistibly advancing to some kind of mighty climax, out of which the next great movement will emerge."

Updated with new illustrations that support Campbell's perceptive analysis of human cultural evolution, this new edition of Creative Mythology remains as vital, revelatory, and urgent as the original did upon publication more than half a century ago.

Review Quotes

Praise for Creative Mythology and The Masks of God

"[Campbell] says things here that have not been so explicitly said anywhere else -- though every good artist has implied them -- and he says them with urgency, breadth and some of the most impressive scholarship of our time."
-- Gerald Sykes

"[The Masks of God is] the most comprehensive and the most imaginative treatment we have of a subject that sooner or later must claim every serious reader's attention."
-- The New York Times

About the Author

Joseph Campbell was an American author and teacher best known for his work in the field of comparative mythology. He was born in New York City in 1904, and from early childhood loved to read about American Indians and frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History, where he became captivated by the museum's collection of totem poles. From those days onward, Campbell's interest in mythology grew and deepened. He was educated at Columbia University, where he specialized in medieval literature, and, after earning a master's degree, continued his studies at universities in Paris and Munich.

Throughout his life, he traveled extensively and wrote prolifically, authoring many books, including the classic The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the four-volume series The Masks of God, Myths to Live By, The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, and the Historical Atlas of World Mythology. Campbell died in 1987. In 1988, a series of television interviews, Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers, introduced his views to millions of people.