Joseph Campbell's The Masks of God

Joseph Campbell, in Primitive Mythology: The Masks of God, argues that humankind, despite its many differences, has historically shown more similarities overall. Specifically, the author believes, from his analysis of the evidence, that there is a "unity of the race of man, not only in its biology but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded in the manner of a single symphony." He further argues that the future holds "the next great movement" in this symphony, with the same "motifs" as in the past. Although his book is positive in its assessment of human advances, he nevertheless notes that there is no assurance that the future of the human race will be bright. This symphony of unity and its motifs "might be put to use by reasonable men to reasonable ends---or by poets to poetic ends---or by madmen to nonsense and disaster" (Campbell, 1991, v).

Campbell seeks to find a natural history of the human race, and in that search he finds a unity of themes running through all civilizations and religions:

The comparative study of the mythologies of the world compels us to view the cultural history of mankind as a unit; for we that such themes as the fire-theft, deluge, land of the dead, virgin birth, and resurrected hero have a worldwide distribution---appearing everywhere in new combinations while remaining . . . only a few and always the same (Campbell, 1991, 3).

Campbell's basic message, then, is that there is nothing new under the sun. He concludes that civi

Related Essays

Max Weber and Religion .... Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of ....: Occidental Mythology. .... Louis F., Bourke, Myles M., Skehan, Patrick W., Hartdegen, Stephen J., and Sloyan, Gerard S., eds. .... (2495 10 )

Major Religions of India .... Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of ....: Occidental Mythology. New York: Penguin, 1964. Ellwood, Robert S. Many Peoples, Many Faiths. .... (1423 6 )

Creation Stories and Genesis .... form[s] a nucleus of themes and motifs which continue . . . .... Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of ....: Occidental Mythology. New York: Penguih, 1978. .... (2466 10 )

Non-Western Religions .... Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of ....: Occidental Mythology. New York: Viking, 1962. .... Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1953. Ellwood, Robert S. Many Peoples, Many Faiths. .... (2068 8 )

Psychological Construct of the Death Instinct .... Joseph Campbell cites rites of initiation in Greek culture that involved the death of Demeter's son Plutus .... New York: Campbell, J. (1964). .... Freud, S. (1930; 1962 .... (4847 19 )

The Arthurian Tradition in Literature .... Waite views this as evidence that the text "tend(s] to set the Custodians [ie, knights] of the Holy .... Campbell, Joseph. The Masks of ....: Occidental Mythology. .... (4245 17 )

a larger---all their shining pantheons but the flickering modes of a "timeless schema" that is no schema (Campbell, 1991, 18). The problem with Campbell's perspective is that as he moves further and further away from the differentiating specifics of "local traditions" in order to approach this new synthesis of mythologies, he risks losing contact with the unique qualities of those local traditions. He asks the reader to join with him in seeing these traditions as "passing forms" to be replaced by a more objective and united overview. The result, again, is a scientific perspective on mythology---rather than mythologies---which guts those mythologies of the very characteristics which makes them special, impassioned, and most human. Campbell explores mythology to arrive at "the elementary idea" of "the total secret of the human species," rejecting or minimizing the significance of "local ethnic ideas or forms" (Campbell, 1991, 130-131). He does not directly aim to disparage local ethnic interpretations, but rather to explore the content of conflicting myths in different cultures and civilizations in order to show that those conflicts are not a matter of content but of interpretation. At each point of his examination, Campbell keeps

Category: Literature - J