THE HERO

WITH A THOUSANDS
FACES

By
Joseph Campbell
Contents
Contents2
The Summary 3
»» Important Points 4
»» Walktrough4
The Presentation 5
»» Main Points 5
»» Monomyth5
»» About the Author 5
Gift Voucher 6

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The Summary
Campbell’s seminal work argues that many notable myths
from around the world share the same fundamental structure.
This core structure, known as the monomyth, provides the out-
line or archetype of the character understood as the ‘hero’ and di-
rects the missions and quests that hero will undertake. The hero,
a mythical or destined individual sent out on a quest to obtain
some object or achieve some goal, is not only a character used
to teach values and principles to those who listen to the myth.
Campbell argues that the hero also symbolically represents man’s
psychospiritual quest to connect this plane of existence with the
spiritual world.
This ‘Hero’s Journey’ or ‘Myth Cycle’ is transcendent - it
holds true across the global and throughout time. This fact makes
Campbell’s work able to delve into the human experience, par-
ticularly in relation to essential human truths about love, fear,
trust, maturity, and loyalty. The text at times delves deeply into
psychoanalysis of various stages of the myth, moving past liter-
ary critique to interpretative symbology. Campbell drew heavily
from Freud and Jung to connect contemporary developments in
psychology with folklore studies and cultural analysis.
Campbell argues that myths provide the foundation for
understanding how societies cope with physical challenges (suf-
fering and death) through the self-awareness gains from describ-
ing hero’s pursuit of spiritual success. He concludes his book by
warning the reader that modern, Western societies appear to be
abandoning the self-understanding gained from appreciating
myth, causing a disconnect between our understanding of the
physical and the spiritual. He prescribes a reinvigorated interest
in myth as a way of helping modern man reconnect to his psycho-
logical and spiritual foundations.

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 Important Points
»» According to Campbell, all cultural systems contain two core
ideas: that there is a spiritual world which runs parallel to the
physical world and that connecting those two worlds is the
goal of the human experience. Myths are stories which help
humans discuss and comprehend that parallel world and its
pursuit.
»» The ‘Hero’s Journey’ is the monomyth (ultimate archetype)
for all societies. It follows a clear trajectory of Departure, Ini-
tiation, and Return, carefully explained and demonstrated by
Campbell in the first half of the book.
»» The title of the book demonstrates the author’s core argu-
ment: though many different societies have their own ver-
sion of the hero, in the end, these are all just faces of the same
archetypal character manifesting from the human subcon-
scious.
»» One of the strengths of Campbell’s text is that he drew from
examples across many cultures and time periods. He com-
pares them skillfully and uses these examples throughout the
text to illuminate his points. Unlike his contemporary my-
thologists, Campbell did not limit himself to Western myths,
instead proving his theory was universal by integrating
Asian, African, and Oceanic mythologies into a discussion of
the Western canon.

Walktrough
The Hero With a Thousand Faces is a text which draws
heavily from a wide variety of mythical traditions around the
world to present the theory of the monomyth - the Hero’s Jour-
ney that helps man connect his physical life with the spiritual
realm through shared, universal experience. After the Prologue,
Part 1 focuses on the Hero’s Journey of the god-hero, seeking to
fulfill some sort of quest before returning to his homeland an im-
proved man. Part 2 focuses on other universal myths, including
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 the myths relating to the man-hero, already enlightened, seek-
ing to interact triumphantly with his physical world. Campbell
concludes with a call for more modern individuals to embrace
mythology, arguing that there is an inherent psycho-social bene-
fit from tapping into universal subconscious experiences through
the exploration of mythical archetypes.

PROLOGUE: The Monomyth

1. Myth and Dream:
Campbell begins by drawing from the work of psychologists
Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, who argue that the subconscious
connects to individual to all humans through universal shared
experiences. Campbell argues that these universal experiences
that all humans face cause them to subconsciously express uni-
versal ideas through stories, religions, and myths. The result is
the creation of archetypes - universally recognized broad narra-
tives that everyone connects to, on a subconscious level, because
they resonate with key aspects of the human experience.
Campbell then progresses through several cases examples,
comparing dreams to myths, that demonstrate how archetypes
are repeated in disparate situations precisely because they help
the observer cope with life experiences. He argues,
Dream is the personalized myth, myth the
depersonalized dream; both myth and dream are
symbolic in the same general way of the dynamics of
the psyche. But in the dream the forms are quirked
by the peculiar troubles of the dreamer, whereas in
myth the problems and solutions shown are directly
valid for all mankind. (18)
He also introduces what he considers to be the most funda-
mental and important archetype - the journey of the hero, which
Campbell considers to be the monomyth (the ultimate archetypal
myth).

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The Presentation
Main Points
»» Campbell uses psychoanalysis and symbology to
demonstrate how all myths tap into a universal sub-
conscious.
»» All societies have their version of the monomyth, the
­Hero’s Journey, which reflects man’s desire to connect
the phy­sical with the spiritual.
»» Modern society needs myths and heroes.

About the Author

»» Joseph Campbell was a 20th century
comparative folklorist
»» Helped bridge the divide between an-
thropology, psychoanalysis, and liter-
ary critique
»» Most famous for the ‘Hero’s Journey’

Monomyth
»» The Monomyth is an archety­pal
story about the Hero’s Journey
to combine the spiritual with the
physical.
»» Universal across time and space

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Gift Voucher

The Voucher