The Power of Myth
by Joseph Campbell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Joseph CampbellCollaborator: Bill Moyers
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1991-06-01
ISBN: 0385418868
Number of pages: 293
Publisher: Anchor
Book Reviews of The Power of Myth
Book Review: Campbell's cross
Summary: 4 Stars
The Power of Myth is a transcription of Bill Moyers' marvelous series of interviews with comparative mythology expert Joseph Campbell. In the Power of Myth, Joseph Campbell asserts that all salient mythological tales suggest a universal, transcendent, and most importantly spiritual reality of the human existence. According to Campbell, myths comprise a vast body of wisdom that recognize the essence of our transcendent existence, and that modern society should not arrogantly dismiss these expositions of the human experience as primitive tall-tales. More tersely, Campbell himself concluded, "Myths are clues to the spiritual potentialities of the human life." (5)
One conspicuous element of this book is Campbell's extraordinary knowledge of myths. Remembering this book is essentially an interview, for Campbell to quickly and successfully invoke myth after myth, tale after tale, book after book with both clarity and exactitude is simply astounding. Using his plethora of mythological invocations, Campbell asserts that one must comprehend religions and myths alike metaphorically rather than literally in order to glean their true significance. Surveying Native American and East Asian myths and religions, Campbell shows the power of symbols in elucidating the truth of those "spiritual potentialities."
However, Campbell seems to have a problematic relationship with monotheisms such as Christianity. Raised a Catholic, he continually suggests the need for the Monotheistic religions - Islam, Judaism, Christianity - to adapt from a dogmatic insistence on literal truth. Indeed, while Campbell constantly uses Christ to evoke the transcendent and spiritual messages of myths/religions, he also teases heresy by suggesting a metaphorical rather than literal significance of Christ. In fact, he asserts that Christ - like Buddha - merely experienced the spiritual being of existence with the greatest of magnitudes. His conspicuous allusions to gnostic descriptions of Christ further intimate what Campbell constantly dances around and what I believe he really wants to and - based on his thesis - should say: the explicit blasphemy that Christ is not the son of God, nor does one get to 'heaven' or 'spiritual bliss' only through him.
Christ is the principal example of another unfortunate trend within Campbell's allusions. This trend is the selective 'hand-picking' of stories and passages of mythological and religious tales/texts that suit Campbell's thesis. With Christ, Campbell discriminately invokes passages and axioms that reaffirm the spiritual/universal motifs of all religious/mythic traditions - "Love thy enemies," or the monistic/gnostic aphorism "He who drinks from my mouth will be as I am, and I shall be he." (69) Such quotations, while appropriate in buttressing Campbell's contention regarding the significance of a symbol, ignore Christ's specific and overt references to messianic stature, divinity, etc. This exclusion is understandable - Campbell does not believe such literal value to religion/myth.
Campbell remains inflexibly averse to acknowledging that many myths do not have this spiritual significance, nor do all myths evoke this spiritual/transcendent essence of human experience. In fact, many myths convey primarily aetiological and historical value, and while any scholar prone to over interpretation can 'infer' all the meaning he/she wants, this does not detract from the truth that not all myths conform to Campbell's thesis. When certain myths do contradict his premise, he simply dismisses them as 'folk tales' rather than myths. (Paul Bunyan is the example Moyers invokes)
Campbell adroitly and poetically ties together many spiritual themes and messages of disparate cultures and beliefs, and while I do believe in his essential premise regarding myth, his flagrant disdain for western society and its materialism does lead to a biased investigation of the past. At one point, Campbell exalts the Iroquois' and north-eastern Indians emphasis on 'return to the source' sacrifice of tribesmen. Telling how these tribes exercised complete and fatal torture upon war captives, and how exhibiting suffering through facial/oral displays was a sign of weakness, he recounts with disgusting admiration such a culture and the story of a young boy who was 'happy' toward such an end. It is this unhealthy nostalgia that leads him to other examples of ludicrous romanticism for the myths/cultures of our albeit more spiritual past. A great example is Campbell's absurd nostalgia for the spiritualism of the middle ages, at which point even Moyers stepped in and contested Campbell's claim, reminding him that the Middle Ages was a terrible and inegalitarian time. Not everything in our past - no matter how spiritual - was good, nor is everything in our present - however materialist - bad.
Ultimately all the faults of Campbell in this book must be forgiven for the simple fact that this book is an interview! Campbell was speaking extemporaneously at times, and could not and did not benefit from the circumspect contemplation, discretion, revision, etc. that one retains when writing at one's own leisure instead of speaking upon another's questioning. In the end, I agree with Campbell: turning our backs on our spiritual past is imprudent, just as is refusing to import spiritual meaning to our material existence simply due to the 'literal' inconsistencies/contradictions of past spiritual expositions and their present personal exponents. We could all benefit from a critical and metaphorical examination of the similarities of myths, which are so alarmingly similar as to suggest either cultural diffusion or the homogeneity of the human psyche. Campbell definitely leans towards the latter. I also agree with Campbell's heretical assertion that the major religions: must adapt, must relinquish their claims to literal truth and physical sovereignty, and must understand that they are one fabric of a vast veil under which lies man's true spiritual being.
Summary of The Power of Myth
Finally available in a popularly priced, non-illustrated, smaller-format edition, which is ideal for the college market and general reader alike, this extraordinary best-seller is a brilliant evocation of the noted scholar's teachings on mythology.Among his many gifts, Joseph Campbell's most impressive was the unique ability to take a contemporary situation, such as the murder and funeral of President John F. Kennedy, and help us understand its impact in the context of ancient mythology. Herein lies the power of The Power of Myth, showing how humans are apt to create and live out the themes of mythology. Based on a six-part PBS television series hosted by Bill Moyers, this classic is especially compelling because of its engaging question-and-answer format, creating an easy, conversational approach to complicated and esoteric topics. For example, when discussing the mythology of heroes, Campbell and Moyers smoothly segue from the Sumerian sky goddess Inanna to Star Wars' mercenary-turned-hero, Han Solo. Most impressive is Campbell's encyclopedic knowledge of myths, demonstrated in his ability to recall the details and archetypes of almost any story, from any point and history, and translate it into a lesson for spiritual living in the here and now. --Gail Hudson
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