Occidental Mythology: The Masks of God, Volume III

A systematic and fascinating comparison of the themes that underlie the art, worship, and literature of the Western world.

Joseph Campbell was interested in mythology since his childhood in New York, when he read books about American Indians, frequently visited the American Museum of Natural History, and was fascinated by the museum's collection of totem poles. He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees at Columbia in 1925 and 1927 and went on to study medieval French and Sanskrit at the universities of Paris and Munich. After a period in California, where he encountered John Steinbeck and the biologist Ed Ricketts, he taught at the Canterbury School, then, in 1934, joined the literature department at Sarah Lawrence College, a post he retained for many years. During the 1940s and '50s, he helped Swami Nikhilananda to translate the Upanishads and
The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. The many books by Professor Campbell include
The Hero with a Thousand Faces,
Myths to Live By,
The Flight of the Wild Gander, and
The Mythic Image. He edited
The Portable Arabian Nights,
The Portable Jung, and other works. He died in 1987.