A tribute page to Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), the great mythology scholar and author of "Hero With a Thousand Faces" and "The Masks of God."
"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances within our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive."
--Joseph Campbell
"Myths are the 'masks of God', through which men everywhere have sought to relate themselves to the wonders of existence."
--Joseph Campbell
"Before PBS aired Joseph Campbell And The Power Of Myth with Bill Moyers in June of 1988, the mythologist/professor from Sarah Lawrence College was like a treasured secret, little known outside the academic and artistic worlds. A captivating raconteur and formidable scholar, Campbell wrote books such as “The Hero With a Thousand Faces,†“The Masks of God†and “The Mythic Image†that revealed the common themes in legends and tales from around the world, from the search for the Holy Grail to the Upanishads to Eskimo fairy tales to Star Wars. He showed how myths echo our deepest needs and dreams, guide us through life’s experiences, and symbolize the spiritual potentialities within us all.
"For those lucky enough to attend his classes, one former student described how Campbell’s “cyclone of energy blew across all the intellectual possibilities in the classroom.†When the PBS series -- consisting of six one-hour talks between Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers -- similarly enraptured a national audience and generated an unprecedented response, it was clear that the profound appeal of Campbell’s message reached far beyond the lecture halls of Sarah Lawrence...The program’s success brought a wide audience to Campbell's work, and one of his sayings, “follow your bliss,†became a pop catchphrase."
--Chris McGowan, from The Myth Is The Message: Bill Moyers Remembers Joseph Campbell & The Power Of Myth
