The Hero with a Thousand Faces

In his most famous work, Joseph Campbell, the great scholar of mythology, posits two revolutionary notions: there are mythical patterns found in the literature of every known historical culture, and these patterns are the basis of every story that gets told. However, Campbell argues that it is beneficial that every story is a re-telling of a previous one, and he focuses on two concepts that can be discovered in most narratives. The Hero's Journey is an eight-step process of growth and change that everyone from Greek gods to gas station workers experience in their lives; the Cosmogonic Cycle analyzes the interrelationship of creation and destruction myths. In the process, Campbell relates fantastic stories from a variety of time periods and cultural origins. This influential work inspired George Lucas to create STAR WARS, and has been a favorite of scholars and lay readers alike since its first publication in 1949.