From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Historical Atlas of World Mythology
Historical Atlas of World Mythology
Historical Atlas of World Mythology series was intended to serve both academic and lay read-
ers.
The Historical Atlas was left incomplete when Camp-
bell died in 1987.
Summary
This series was to build on Campbell’s idea, first present-
ed in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, that myth evolves
over time through four stages:
• The Way of the Animal Powers -- the myths of
Paleolithic hunter-gatherers which focus on
shamanism and animal totems. This volume was
covered in two parts: Mythologies of the Primitive
Vol. 1: The Way of the Animal Powers
Hunter-Gathers and Mythologies of the Great Hunt.
Author(s) Joseph Campbell • The Way of the Seeded Earth -- the myths of Neolithic,
agrarian cultures which focus upon a mother
Country United States
goddess and associated fertility rites. This volume
Language English was to be covered in five parts, of which three were
Genre(s) Non-Fiction completed: The Sacrifice, Mythologies of the Primitive
Planters: The Northern Americas, and Mythologies of the
Publisher Alfred van der Marck, Harper and Row Primitive Planters: The Middle and Southern Americas.
Publication First volume published in 1983; Volume 1, Two additional parts were planned: Mythologies of the
date 2nd ed., 1988; Volume 2, 1989 Primitive Planters: Africa and South-western Asia and
Mythologies of the Primitive Planters: Southern Asia.
Media type Print (Hardback)
• The Way of the Celestial Lights -- the myths of Bronze
ISBN 978-0912383002 Age city-states with pantheons of gods ruling from
OCLC 9758940 the heavens, led by a masculine god-king.
Number • The Way of Man -- religion and philosophy as it
developed after the Axial Age (c. 6th century BC), in
Dewey 291.1/3 19
which the mythic imagery of previous eras was made
Decimal
consciously metaphorical, reinterpreted as referring
LC BL311 .C26 1983 to psycho-spiritual, not literal-historical, matters.
Classification This transition is evidenced in the East by Buddhism,
Vedanta, and philosophical Taoism; and in the West
The Historical Atlas of World Mythology is a multi-volume by the Mystery Cults, Platonism, Christianity and
series of books by Joseph Campbell that traces develop- Gnosticism.
ments in humankind’s mythological symbols and stories
from pre-history forward.
Campbell is perhaps best known as a comparativist Publishing History
who focused on universal themes and motifs in human Only the first volume was completed at the time of Camp-
culture. He first conceived of the Historical Atlas in the bell’s death. Published by Alfred van der Marck editions
late 1970s as an extension of his works, The Mythic Image as a single book in 1983, it was rereleased by Harper and
and The Masks of God. Like those books, the Historical Atlas Row in 1988, in the wake of Campbell’s posthumous fame,
of World Mythology intended to show the ways in which brought by the airing of the television series, The Pow-
those universal themes and motifs were expressed differ- er of Myth. The first three parts of the second volume,
ently by different cultures in different times and places. which Campbell was working on literally to the day that
Heavily illustrated and annotated, with numerous he died, were completed by Campbell’s long-time editor,
charts and maps to show both variations and similarities Robert Walter, and published by Harper and Row in 1989.
in different cultures’ expressions of mythic themes, this Both volumes are currently out-of-print.
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Historical Atlas of World Mythology
Campbell left rough text for the last two parts of Way • Anthropology
of the Seeded Earth, as well as notes for the final two vol- • Ethnology
umes. The Joseph Campbell Foundation has expressed
the intention to rerelease the existing books, and, if pos-
sible, to complete Campbell’s magnum opus.[1]
References
[1] The Historical Atlas of World Mythology (taken from
the JCF web site
See also
• Comparative mythology
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/in-
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Categories:
• Books by Joseph Campbell
• Anthropology books
• Mythology books
• Comparative mythology
• 1983 books
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