The Masks of God, Vol. 4: Creative Mythology (Paperback)

by Joseph Campbell (Author) "In the earlier volumes of this survey of the historical transformations of those imagined forms that I am calling the "masks" of God, through which..." (more)
Key Phrases: mythogenetic zone, sacramental bowl, crystalline bed, Finnegans Wake, King Mark, Waste Land (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
This volume explores the whole inner story of modern culture since the Dark Ages, treating modern man's unique position as the creator of his own mythology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 752 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (November 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140194401
• ISBN-13: 978-0140194401
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #304,694 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Voyage to Our Common Origin, June 8, 1999

By	Tom Lombardo (Petaluma, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Masks of God, Vol. 1: Primitive Mythology (Paperback)

Along with "The Hero With a Thousand Faces," this is Campbell's greatest work. Campbell was a loving student of Native American cultures, and this book's historical achievement is to evaluate and compare all world mythologies as co-equal, including cogent and detailed examples from Native American mythology.

Campbell's core belief was that all humanity has a common origin, and that the study of mythology exposes this core identity amongst all peoples. By traversing the plains of time back to the very first artifacts of human behavior, he draws a compelling conclusion that we are all born of the same stock, from the same mythopoetic and spiritual origin, and destined to share the same future.

The student of humanity will find this study particularly compelling because Campbell identifies several mythological themes that span the globe. Among them are the virgin birth of a savior, the trial of the hero at the hands of evildoers, and the resurrection of the savior/hero from the dead. To my mind, these timeless echos of Christian beliefs place Western thought in an ancient and endlessly rewarding intellecutal context.

Campbell's higher purpose of showing that all humanity is united through its most fundamental ideas about the cosmos and our place in it is brilliantly synthesized in his discussion of the origin of agrigculture at the outset of the Neolithic. In the same way that all philosopy is "footnotes to Plato," all of history is "footnotes" to the Neolithic Revoltuion. Campbell handles this insight with a genius that must be read and re-read to truly appreciate.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true mythic masterpiece, June 21, 2000

By	Johannes Amersdorfer (Salzburg, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Occidental Mythology (The Masks of God, Volume III) (Paperback)

The master of Comparative Mythology delves into the themes, that underlie the art, beliefs and literature of the Western Soul. The third volume explains why the Western culture is so much different from the Eastern Way.

It enables the reader to step back and review his/her own culture from a more objective point of view. In the West, it is about the monotheistic belief, about God and Man as a seperate being. Therefore occidental myths establishes a means of relationship between God to Man and vice versa. He also shows up, why Christianism, Judaism and Islam are so similar and the fight over the "true God" is so ridiculous.

If you haven't read the first two volumes "Primitive Mythology" and "Oriental Mythology", go for them first!

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A massive effort, March 17, 2000

By	C. Gilbert "frumiousb" (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This last volume of the Masks of God is a huge book that spans the efforts of artists to interpret the myths from early troubadour poems to Finnegan's Wake. Just for the books it added to my reading list, this book was valuable.

The idea of the book that has stayed with me the most since I read it is the idea that an artist neither accepts myth as historical fact, nor rejects it as useless, but moves somewhere between those two extreme poles to mine its history.

The book is dense, and not always easy to read. It took me a long time to pick through it-- particularly in sections with pages of quotations-- but it was ultimately quite rewarding. Being only an amateur student of religion and mythology, I am ill-equipped to judge the merits of its scholarship.