Customer Reviews

Joseph Campbell - Mythos

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a collection of Joseph Campbell's lecture series prior to his death in 1987. It is a no-frills presentation with just the documented lectures of an extraordinary teacher and mind. He humanizes many difficult concepts from psychology to religion while taking you through the process of not only what various people believe, but also how they came to those beliefs. His lectures are inclusive of everything from Carl Jung's psychology to American Indian mysticism to the spectrum of Eastern philosophy. Campbells greatest contribution is that in his work he focused not on the differences between various religions and beliefs, but the fundamental similarities we all share.
The series is very well hosted by Susan Sarandon who prefaces each segment and gives you time to reflect on what it is you've just learned. The production value is limited; as I said this is a collection of documented lectures from the mid-80's with just Campbell on a stage or in front of a projected image. However, for anyone interested in a comprehensive and entertaining view of comparitive psychology and formation of belief systems, this is an exceptional series.

The reason for one star is that this is a randomly abbreviated version of what used to be available on 14-hour VHS series. The tapes showed all the lectures in their entirety - on this DVD we get odd selections here and there intertwined with comments read by Susan Sarandon seated on an uncomfortable sofa. This set omits _all_ the lectures on Western mythology.

Correcting a misimpression from an earlier review, the Mythos series was indeed copyrighted by the Joseph Campbell Foundation in 1996, and what profits there are do go to the JCF, which administers Campbell's intellectual estate.

The earlier review asking people not to buy this DVD (seemingly - and mistakenly - on behalf of the JCF, which I'd like to assume is an innocent error) has apparently confused Mythos (hosted by actress Susan Sarandon) with Transformations of Myth Through Time (hosted by actor Peter Donat), an unauthorized presentation of some of the same material hurriedly cobbled together and rushed to market to take advantage of Campbell's immense popular appeal in the wake of the first airing of the Power of Myth interviews with Bill Moyers on PBS. This series of lectures was strung together in a format that made sense to the editors, but did not reflect Campbell's own vision - but because it aired first, many believe it to be the original, uncut version (a claim advanced in another review on this page). Litigation has since resolved the dispute, and the Transformations of Myth series is no longer available.

Besides the elegant comments of Miss Sarandon (which serve the same function as Mr. Donat's in the Transformations series, bridging awkward transitions), Mythos has attractive, updated visuals, and a format in harmony with Joseph Campbell's original vision ... visually pleasing, entertaining, educational, and mind-expanding all at once.

This verison of the series has been hard to find - but now, with the resolution of legal and logistical obstacles, the Joseph Campbell Foundation has re-released Mythos I on DVD (autumn of 2007), with Mythos II to be re-released in the spring of 2008. Further volumes of "new" never-before viewed lectures can be anticipated in this series.

If you love Joseph Campbell - his gentle spirit - his charming wit - his extensive knowledge - this DVD is heaven (pun intended - see the last episode, on the Tibetan Book of the Dead). In Mythos you view taped lectures with some beautiful visual aids. That's it. There is no interviewer to interrupt him - you hear what Joe intended to say, his jokes and asides included. I love Joe's books, but I love even more to hear his voice and see his wonderful eyes. This DVD is worth watching again and again.

Joseph Campbell was a man with a rare concentration of knowledge and charisma. Campbell works to give us an accurate and comprehensive understanding of the rise of man through the great civilizations of the East and the West. He then interprets the art and mythologies of the people in their times to reveal the common concerns of men. He helps us to understand why our stories resonate so deeply and how mythology goes much further than just creation stories.

Campbell probes the artifacts of our past and finds the internal dramas of the heart and mind fully expressed in the world of our ancestors and ancients from around the world. We also discover the absence of mythology that our modern cultures endure today. Campbell reintroduces us to ourselves by proposing that, as humans, we need such stories; learning about this mode of human understanding can awaken or enhance our view of the world and add the kind of color to our lives that we thirst for. The whole function of mythology is to bring the mind into accord with the ways of the world and nature. We have the privelage of perspective and hindsight and it is a glorious vista into our past that Campbell shares with us. It's an invitation that is hard to resist, Campbell is basically saying, "Come spend some time with me and let me show you who we are."

To be critical, I would have enjoyed learning more about western mythologies too. What we have here is absolutely precious - I just can't get enough of this stuff.

This is the best video of Campbell's work I've seen yet. It is NOT narrated by Sarandon. Sarandon sits and summarizes after certain segments of Campbell's lectures. Someone thought this was a good idea, for teaching, I suppose, but it's only an occassional annoyance.

Campbell, I think, provides you with outstanding material, highly concentrated, he jumps from overview to detail masterfully. I can't believe the Joseph Campbell Foundation has let this lecture series go out of print! They are delinquent in their duties to his work.

If this ever comes back into circulation, BUY IT!

I enjoyed hearing Joseph Campbell. As always, he is clear, easy to follow and enlightening. Based on his segments alone, the project would easily be a 5 star experience. I did not enjoy the patronizing, condensending narration by Susan Saradon. It is great that Ms. Saradon backed the filming or whatever, but we poor stupid unwashed masses do not need smug, self-righteous Susan explaining to us what her good buddy "Joe" just said. Obviously, the average viewer is not clever enough to understand "Joe" as well as a celebrity. Thank goodness Susan is there to tell us what to think! The narrations sully the whole project. If it were not on DVD where the offensive Susan Saradon segments can be easily skipped, I could not recommend this at all.

I purchased this DVD collection on eBay several years ago for about $35, including shipping. Seems like I made a wise investment!

If you are a fan of comparative mythology, comparative religion and of Joseph Campbell in general, get Mythos. Your mind will thank you.

Those who mindlessly, slavishly, laughably adhere to the dreary dronings of standardized academia (the quasi-religion thereof) will find Campbell too challenging for their calcified neuropathways to endure. But for those whose brains have not been battered and bruised beyond repair by so-called "higher education" and its toe-the-line, be-a-good-parrot, think-what-we-program-you-to-think approach to indoctrination,.. ahem,.. I mean "education," will find Mythos to be a refreshing fountain of delightful wisdom.

And no, the JCF did not tatoo its stamp of approval on this collection of Campbell's lectures. That makes it even more worth having! This is an elegantly rebellious portrait of Campbell - exactly in the spirit of Joseph Campbell himself!

So do yourself a favor, find this DVD collection and watch it. Purchase it if you can. You will enjoy it greatly I assure you. It is very entertaining and very educational, both at once, and in the best of ways.

Hopefully someday another high quality, rogue or otherwise, collection of here-to-fore unseen Campbell lectures will surface and be made available to the interested public. We need all the Joseph Campbell we can get!

"Who that controls the past controls the future. Who that controls the present controls the past." -Orwell

Remember that when you wake up,..

I bought this very comprehensive DVD set (3 discs) used and am very pleased, by the product and by the supplier. The set seems to include all the talks (subjects) Campbell made in his latest years. Joseph Campbell: Mythos 3 It supplies about 10 hours of lectures, well presented.

I have watched a number of these videos which are impeccable. However I would advise against supporting "the Foundation: as they fail to practice what they preach. There are many truths revealed in these DVDs, a minute or so I talked of which about and shared on YouTube.

Because I videotapes a couple minutes the Foundation was going to eradicate my account.

I was promoting Campbells work, generating interest in which people might purchase the DVD.

Anyways, despite my effective reuse and repurposing a minute of a quote from the DVD it was removed.

My research informes me of Users rights Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. It states that people can use copyrighted information without paying for a license or asking permission "when the cost to the copyright holder is less than the benefits of society.

Talk about the Foundation being pennywise and pound foolish. The more people talking about Joseph Campbell the better. Instead they censor little people like myself from spreading the word.

In a nutshell the info is great. Get it from your library.