Joseph Campbell's comparative study of world mythology argues that the hero-tales of every culture share a single underlying structure, which he calls the 'monomyth': a cycle of departure, initiation, and return. Drawing on sources ranging from Greek epic and Norse saga to Freudian and Jungian psychology, he traces the archetypal journey of the hero across religions and eras. First published in 1949, it became a foundational text on myth, narrative, and the psychology of the unconscious.
Books mentioned in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (48)
Metamorphoses by Ovid: “The chapters of Ovid's Metamorphoses swarm with nymphs beset by gods in sundry masquerades: Jove as a bull, a swan, a shower of gold.”
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri: “Compare Dante, 'Inferno,' XIV, 76-84 (Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy); also cited via Paradiso and Purgatorio, translation by Charles Eliot Norton.”
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “appears in Goethe's Faust successively as Gretchen, Helen of Troy, and the Virgin.”
Ulysses by James Joyce: “Compare James Joyce: 'In the economy of heaven...glorified man, an androgynous angel, being a wife unto himself' (Ulysses, Modern Library edition).”
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce: “[29] James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (New York: The Modern Library; Random House, Inc.).”
Finnegans Wake by James Joyce: “A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944), the first major study of James Joyce's notoriously complex work.”
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy: “With these fateful words, Count Leo Tolstoy opened the novel of the spiritual dismemberment of his modern heroine, Anna Karenina.”
Shahnameh by Ferdowsi: “Firdausi's Shah Nameh ('Epic of Kings') is a rehearsal in simple and stately narrative verse of the story of ancient Persia down to the Mohammedan conquest.”
Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot: “The Kalevala ('The Land of Heroes') in its present form is the work of Elias Lonnrot (1802-1884), a country physician and student of Finnish philology.”
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer: “Variant versions will be found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, 'The Tale of the Wyf of Bathe.'”
The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: “[48] Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, VIII.”
The Golden Legend by Jacobus de Voragine: “[38] Jacobus de Voragine, The Golden Legend, LXXVI, 'Saint Petronilla, Virgin.'”
The Hound of Heaven by Francis Thompson: “[12] Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven.”
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell by William Blake: “[54] William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, 'Proverbs of Hell.'”
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot: “'The Waste Land (1922).' In Collected Poems, 1909-1935.”
The Mabinogion: “The tale of Gwion Bach comes to us through 'Taliesin' in The Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh romances translated by Lady Charlotte Guest between 1838 and 1849.”
The Poetic Edda: “[168] Poetic Edda, 'Hovamol,' 139 (translation by Henry Adams Bellows, The American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York, 1923).”
The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson: “[41] Prose Edda, 'Gylfaginning,' IV-VIII (from the translation by Arthur Gilchrist Brodeur, The American-Scandinavian Foundation, New York, 1916).”
Kojiki by O no Yasumaro: “In the Japanese 'Records of Ancient Matters' appears another harrowing tale...that of the descent to the underworld of the primeval all-father Izanagi.”
Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving: “[22] Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, 'Rip van Winkle.'”
The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud: “[23] Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, translated by James Strachey, Standard Edition, V.”
Beyond the Pleasure Principle by Sigmund Freud: “[124] Sigmund Freud, Beyond the Pleasure Principle (translated by James Strachey; Standard Edition, XVIII).”
The Future of an Illusion by Sigmund Freud: “[1] Sigmund Freud, The Future of an Illusion (translated by James Strachey et al., Standard Edition, XXI).”
Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis by Sigmund Freud: “[4] Sigmund Freud, Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis (translated by James Strachey, Standard Edition, XVI).”
Psychology of the Unconscious by Carl Gustav Jung: “Translated by Beatrice Hinkle as Psychology of the Unconscious, 1916.”
The Golden Bough by James George Frazer: “Frazer, The Golden Bough, one-volume edition.”
The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler: “[27] See Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West, translated by Charles Francis Atkinson.”
Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas: “citing and discussing Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I.”
Poetics by Aristotle: “[30] Aristotle, On the Art of Poetry (translated by Ingram Bywater, with a preface by Gilbert Murray, Oxford University Press, 1920).”
Art and Artist by Otto Rank: “[22] See Otto Rank, Art and Artist, translated by Charles Francis Atkinson.”
Custom and Myth by Andrew Lang: “For an introduction to the subject of the bull-roarer, see Andrew Lang, Custom and Myth (2nd revised edition; London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1885).”
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura: “[131] See Okakura Kakuzo, The Book of Tea (New York, 1906).”
Essays in Zen Buddhism by D.T. Suzuki: “See also Daisetz Teitaro Suzuki, Essays in Zen Buddhism (London, 1927).”
Buddhism in Translations by Henry Clarke Warren: “58-75 (translated by Henry Clarke Warren, Buddhism in Translations, Harvard Oriental Series 3, Harvard University Press, 1896).”
The Gods of the Egyptians by E.A. Wallis Budge: “Wallis Budge, The Gods of the Egyptians (London, 1904).”
The King and the Corpse by Heinrich Zimmer: “[31] Kalika Purana, I (translated in Heinrich Zimmer, The King and the Corpse, edited by Joseph Campbell, Pantheon Books, 1948).”
Navaho Legends by Washington Matthews: “[25] Washington Matthews, Navaho Legends (Memoirs of the American Folklore Society).”
Blackfoot Lodge Tales by George Bird Grinnell: “[45] George Bird Grinnell, Blackfoot Lodge Tales (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1892, 1916).”
The Egyptian Book of the Dead: “Budge: The Book of the Dead, The Papyrus of Ani, Scribe and Treasurer of the Temples of Egypt.”
The Wonders of the Invisible World by Cotton Mather: “The Wonders of the Invisible World: Observations as Well Historical as Theological Upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the Devils. Boston, 1693.”
The Kabbalah Unveiled by S.L. MacGregor Mathers: “MacGregor Mathers, The Kabbalah Unveiled (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, 1887).”
Antiquities of Mexico by Edward King, Viscount Kingsborough: “published in Lord Kingsborough's Antiquities of Mexico, London, 1830-48.”
African Genesis by Leo Frobenius: “Note by Frobenius and Fox, African Genesis.”
Books that mention The Hero with a Thousand Faces (2)
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell: “When I heard the news of his death, I tarried awhile in the copy he had given me of The Hero with a Thousand Faces.”
How to Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: “In his storytelling bible, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell says a hero must cross a border, defeat a dragon and return with treasure that will heal his people.”