52 pages • 1 hour read
Joseph CampbellThe Power of Myth
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Key Figures
Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell is a lifelong teacher of comparative mythology and the author of numerous nonfiction books in his field. His most famous works are The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which details the hero’s journey, and The Masks of God, a four-volume survey of world religions, mythologies, and their figures of divinity. Campbell conceived three influential theories within the field of comparative mythology: the monomyth, the four functions of myth, and the evolutionary stages of myth. Throughout his conversation with Moyers, Campbell references and explains these theories in conjunction with primary examples from world myths to explore how myth functions in the individual and society. Campbell’s analysis of myth is primarily psychoanalytical—exploring the inner world of the mind—so he frequently includes theories from psychoanalysts like Jung to support his claims.
Campbell’s tone throughout the book is instructive and assertive. As one of two speakers in the book, he takes on the role of a teacher for Moyers and the reader. Where he has firsthand experience, Campbell includes personal anecdotes to expand upon mythological examples, like his experience in the painted caves or his feeling of a peak experience. Campbell freely admits when he doesn’t know the answer to a question, stating, “I try not to guess” when he doesn’t have enough information (90). Though he expresses a somewhat pessimistic view of modern society and modern Western religion, he remains hopeful that new global mythologies will be created to open humanity to compassion for all living beings.
Campbell repeatedly advises his audience to follow their bliss and uses himself as an example of someone who allowed individual intuition to guide him through the sufferings of life. He first became interested in the thing that brings him bliss, comparative mythology, as a young boy. By following that fascination throughout his life, Campbell could endure great suffering. Moyers notes in the Introduction that Campbell’s influence on him was so strong that he felt compelled to allow “others to experience him as a teacher, too” through the book and accompanying documentary (xv).
Bill Moyers
Bill Moyers is the other active voice in this book, operating as the interviewer who prompts Campbell’s various observations and arguments. Moyers is a journalist, political commentator, and the owner of a public broadcasting company. He works for both print and television journalism and has won numerous awards and honorary degrees for his work. The companion documentary series that he produced alongside this book, The Power of Myth with Joseph Campbell, created a resurgence of interest in Campbell’s work. Moyers looks to Campbell as an expert in the field whose work changed his perspective on the world and his beliefs. On the topic, he says, “I feel stronger in my own faith knowing that others experienced the same yearnings and were seeking for similar images to express an experience beyond the costume of ordinary human language” (275).
Moyers is not an authority on world mythology as Campbell is, but he is well-versed enough to both keep up with Campbell’s examples and occasionally challenge his arguments. Moyers tries to contextualize Campbell’s ideas within his own life and religious upbringing. Moyers was raised within the Church, but unlike Campbell, he maintains his affiliation. Though Campbell occasionally corrects Moyers’s understandings of certain topics, Moyers is open to having his perspective challenged and changed with new information. In one example, Moyers firmly asserts that Campbell’s thesis that life has no purpose is “Not true—not true” (284). After Campbell explains his position, Moyers relents and agrees that he “like[s] the idea that it is not the destination that counts, it’s the journey” (285). He and Campbell hope that the audience of the book and documentary will undergo the same transformation and growth by questioning their own beliefs.
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