Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) is one of the more well-known mythographers, who formalized the descriptions of various myth cycles into some fairly consistent patterns. He wrote a 4-volume series (
Masks of God ) detailing the histories of 3 major cultural areas and the overview of them (volumn 4 is the weakest, being that overview/synthesis).
GeorgeLucas used his work as the basis for the plot line(s) in the
StarWars movie series.
Works:
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces
- Masks of God
- "The Power of Myth" PBS TV Series (with Bill Moyers, http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96jun/moyers.html)
- Inner Reaches of Outer Space; Metaphor as Myth and as Religion, his last book.
- Audio and video recordings of his lectures are available
Biographical information is available here:
http://www.jcf.org/about_jc.php
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