The Power of Myth

Rating:
Summary: Nonsense Presented as Erudition
Review: In THE POWER OF MYTH, Campbell says, "Read myths. They teach you that you can turn inward, and you begin to get the message of the symbols." My area of expertise is Greek myth, and Campbell never grasped the meaning of any of those symbols himself. Campbell says there was no first couple in an ancient paradise, yet Greek artists depicted Athena as being born full-grown out Zeus: a picture of Eve being born full-grown out of Adam. They also called Eden the Garden of the Hesperides and always depicted it with a serpent-entwined apple tree. Campbell says there was no Flood, yet the Greeks depicted it often as a man named KAINEUS (the line of Kain) being pounded into the earth by Kentaurs (the line of Seth). They also depicted Noah as a man they called Nereus (the Wet One), often giving him the bottom half of a fish to show he had come through the Flood.

Reading this Moyers/Campbell dialogue is a waste of time for truth-seekers. Campbell didn't grasp the meaning of his own subject, and Moyers didn't grasp that Campell didn't know what he was talking about. I recommend THE PARTHENON CODE: MANKIND'S HISTORY IN MARBLE. It teems with true understanding of ancient "myths".

Rating:
Summary: BUYER BEWARE - Know the axe's that are ground here first.
Review: Anybody contemplating the purchase of this book should know some of the history behind it.

Joseph Campbell, a professor at Sarah Lawrence College, made the study of comparative mythology his life work. It has been credibly argued that Campbell's chief aim in his work was to counter the "decadence" of civilizations based on the Old & New Testament. Fine so far as that goes, but the implication is, of course, and the charge against Campbell for years has been that, he is both Anti-Semitic and Anti-Christian. Futhermore a prospective reader should know that this book was launched in coordination with a Bill Moyers produced PBS series in the late 1980's. In that series Moyers acted the part of a journalist in interviewing Campbell but failed to disclose well-known concern's about Cambell's alleged Anti-Semitism. If that were not bad enough, a prospective buyer should know that in producing the series (with the help of Uncle Sam through public television subsidies) Moyers entered into a contract to share in the profits from sales of this book (at least while it was still published by Doubleday).

Moyers, a liberal democrat (he was Lyndon Johnson's Press Secretary and Chief of Staff), despite being a trained seminarian has made numerous public statements about the threat to democracy posed by the "Religious Right" getting involved in politics. However, as his affiliation with Campbell demonstrates Moyers is not just opposed to Christianity influencing politics, he is opposed to Christianity (and Judaism) influencing culture. Clearly Moyers (and probably Campbell) are rabid God-hating secular-humanists, disguised as moderate, and even semi-religious (in the case of Moyers) liberals. (For more on this see "PBS: Behind the Screen" by Laurence Jarvik available on Amazon.com).

Rating:
Summary: Don't Believe Everything That You Read
Review: Joseph Campbell's books are popular, because they are sweet, gentle myths seemingly supported by solid scholarship. I realized that Mr Campbell's scholarship was of dubious merit when I took a course on world mythology. The professor showed us how Mr Campbell carefully retold the myths, eliminating anything that could be used to refute his belief in the hero's journey metamyth. I strongly invite readers to compare Joseph Campbell's version of Sir Galwain and the Green Knight to the original. He eliminates the last third of the story, because it clearly does not fit his model. There are plenty of other examples of this, but this is the example that convinced me that Joseph Campbell's scholarship was poor.

A mark of how bad Mr Campbell's scholarship is has to do with what happened to his papers. Mr Campbell was one of the few long-time professors at Sarah Lawrence College to have the college's archives refuse to take his papers. This is particularly shocking given how popular this professor was. As I recall, the archivist cited that there was not enough space in the archives to take the papers. The unstated reason was poor scholarship. Mr Campbell's relatives contacted many other college archives, looking for a place to store the papers. All refused. The college that finally took the papers is an undistinguished place in California that is essentially a degree mill for New Age shrinks.

Just because a "scholar" has influential friends (Bill Moyers, Jackie O., George Lucas, etc.) and says nice, mystical things means nothing. You must proceed with a reasonable amount of skepticisim, think and question. I have discovered when things appear to be too utopiac, too nice, that things are generally not what they appear to be.

Rating:
Summary: Unfortunate
Review: It is disturbing to me to see what a following this mountebank still has. If you read this book you will encounter falsified information from start to finish, same with all of his works. He twists and distorts his sources to fit his idea, and that idea, "follow your bliss," is a neo-fascism that shrouds itself in phrasing that appeals to the ex-hippy set. Let me be clear, the man had a personal reputation as a racist and a genuine fascist. His claims about the universities of old being shelters from political issues is vile and destructive. Universities, regardless of faculty support, which has always varied greatly, are at their best when the welcome the issues of the day, when they are intellectually and culturally alive rather than acting as pseudo-temples to an invented past, as Campbell would have it. Fortunately, higher education has been little affected by his "ideas", but the general public, people unfamiliar with the classics, often fall victim to his distortions and become highly resistant to the facts, because, of course, when you think you've found something really cool and smart and someone comes along and tells you it's trash, you're offended and protective. Well, perhaps this is a forum in which to spark a little skepticsm about the fellow, because it is sorely needed.

Rating:
Summary: let's talk about myths...
Review: Written in the form of a transcripted dialogue between Bill Moyers (of PBS) and Joseph Campbell, this book is an anthropological work on the human impulse toward storytelling, the themes of quest and of character development.

And there's something for everyone: For the casual reader, this book is very accessible, full of interesting stories, and not too long. For the more devoted reader, of the kind who likes to dive into a book and surface hours later, this offers a great introduction to Campbell's larger, more complex body of work (ex. Hero with a Thousand Faces). And for those who prefer visual stories, there is also a video version of this dialogues - which is how I first encountered this, while taking a class on American(U.S.) Folklore.

This is one of the treasures of my bookshelf, and I recommend it to people who are interested in mythology, anthropology, psychology, literature, or writing.

Rating:
Summary: The Myth of Good and Evil
Review: What I like about this book is that Joseph Campbell steps back and looks at the myth of good and evil where he sees that it is as if there are only two forces. To me it's as if there is a belief that one camp must destroy the other camp or be destroyed, where both sides see their side as good. While I believe that evil exists, I do not believe that there are those who are the owners of good and those who are the owners of evil. I think back to Blake's poems of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience where he turns to whole notion of good and evil on its head.

Rating:
Summary: Joseph was Amazing
Review: Campbell gets five stars for this one. In his modest, unassuming way, Campbell during Moyers' series often recited from rote memory different myths and how they apply to everyday religion and life. He had the courage to say, "I don't know" when there are so many Christians who are sure they know the answers.
As the years pass, we will come to respect the true power, love and uniqueness that emanated from this man.

Jeffrey McAndrew
author of "Our Brown-Eyed Boy"