Occidental mythology

578 Pages·1964·156.02 MB·English

by  Joseph Campbell

PENGUIN BOOKS
THE MASKS OF GOD:
OCCIDENT AL MYTHOLOGY
Joseph Campbell was interested in mythology
since his childhood in New York, when he read
books about American Indians, frequently vis
ited 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 Rama
krishna. The many books by Professor Camp
bell include The Hero with a Thousand Faces.
Myths to Live By. The Flight oft he WiLd Gander.
and The Mythic Image. He edited The Portable
Arabian Nights. The Portable lung. and other
works. He died in 1987.
ALSO BY JOSEPH CAMPBELL
A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake
(WITH HENRY MORTON ROBINSON)
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology
The Masks of God: Oriental Mythology
The Masks of God: Occidental Mythology
The Flight of the Wild Gander
Myths to Live By
EDITED BY JOSEPH CAMPBELL
The Portable Arabian Nights
The Portable lung
It.
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JOSEPH CAMPBELL
THE
MASKS GOD:
OF
OCCIDENTAL
MYTHOLOGY
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PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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First published in the United States of America by
Viking Penguin Inc. 1964
Viking Compass Edition published 1970
Reprinted 1971 (twice), 1972, 1974 (twice), 1975
Published in Penguin Books 1976
19 20 18
Copyright © Joseph Campbell, 1964
All rights reserved
LIBRARY Of CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DATA
Campbell, Joseph, 1904-1987
Occidental mythology.
(His The Masks of God; v. 3)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
\.-Mythology. I. Title. II. Series.
[Bwll.c276] 291'.13 76-23179
ISBN 0 1400.4306 3
Printed in the United States of America
Set in Times Roman
The Scripture quotations in this publication are from the
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyrighted 1946 and 1952
by the Division of Christian Education, National Council of
Churches, and used by permission
The author wishes to acknow.ledge with gratitude the generous
support of his researches by the Bollingen Foundation.
Except in the United States of America,
this book is sold subject to the condition
that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise,
be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated
without the publisher's prior consent in any form of
binding or cover other than that in which it Is
published and without a similar condition
including this condition being imposed
on the subsequent purchaser
................................................
CONTENTS
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PART ONE: THE AGE OF THE GODDESS
Introduction. Myth and Ritual: East and West 3
Chapter 1. The Serpent's Bride 9
I. The Mother Goddess Eve 9
II. The Gorgon's Blood 17
m. Ultima Thule 31
IV. Mother Right 34
Chapter 2. The Consort of the Bull 42
I. The Mother of God 42
II. The Two Queens 45
III. The Mother of'the Minotaur 54
IV. The Victory of the Sons of Light 72
PART TWO: THE AGE OF HEROES
Chapter 3. Gods and Heroes of the Levant:
1500-500 B.C. 95
I. The Book of the Lord 95
II. The Mythological Age 101
III. The Age of Abraham 113
IV. The Age of Moses 125
Chapter 4. Gods and Heroes of the
European West: 1500-500 B.C. 141
I. The Dialogue of North and South 141
II. The Marriages of Zeus 146
v
CONTENTS
m. The Night Sea Journey 157
IV. The Polis 177
PART THREE: THE AGE OF THE
GREAT CLASSICS
Chapter 5. The Persian Period: 539-331 B.C. 189
I. Ethical Dualism 189
II. The Cosmic Fall and Renovation 200
III. The King of Kings 213
IV. The Remnant 221
v. The God of Love 226
Chapter 6. Hellenism: 331 B.C.-324 A.D. 237
I. The Marriage of East and West 237
II. Syncretistic and Ethnic Monotheism 242
III. Mystery Cult and Apocalypse 253
IV. The Watchers of the Dead Sea 271
Chapter 7. Great Rome: c. 500 B.C.-
c. 500 A.D. 291
I • The Celtic Province 291
II. Etruria 307
III. The Augustan Age 313
IV. The Risen Christ 334
v. The Illusory Christ 362
VI. The Mission of Paul 375
VII. The Fall of Rome 383
PART FOUR: THE AGE OF THE
GREAT BELIEFS
Introduction. The Dialogue of Europe
and the Levant 397
Chapter 8. The Cross and the Crescent 402
I. The Magi 402
II. Byzantium 407
CONTENTS vii
m. The Prophet of Islam 419
IV. The Garment of the Law 430
v. The Garment of the Mystic Way 440
VI. The Broken Spell 453
Chapter 9. Europe Resurgent 456
I. The Isle of Saints 456
II. The Weird of the Gods 473
ID. ROMA 490
IV. AMOR 504
Conclusion. At the Close of an Age 518
Reference Notes 527
Index 546
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ILLUSTRATIONS
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Figure 1. From King Gudea's Votive Cup: The Serpent
Lord; Sumer, c. 2025 B.C. (The Louvre) 10
Figure' 2. Elamite Pottery Design: The World Tree; Sus a,
Sassanian Period (The Louvre) 11
Figure 3. Akkadian Cylinder Seal: The Serpent Lord En-
throned; Tell Asmar, c. 2350-2150 B.C. 11
Figure 4. Syro-Hittite Cylinder Seal: Gilgamesh at the
Axis Mundi; c. 1600-1350 B.C. 12
Figure 5. Babylonian Cylinder Seal: The Garden of Im
mortality; c. 1750-1550 B.C. (Museum of The
Hague) 13
Figure 6. Sumerian Cylinder Seal: The Goddess of the
Tree; c. 2500 B.C. (British Museum) 14
Figure 7. Votive Tablet: Demeter and Plutus; Eleusis, c.
5th century B.C. (Uffizi Gallery, Florence) 15
Figure 8. Votive Tablet: Zeus Meilichios; The Piraeus,
4th century B.C. (Former National Museum,
Berlin) 18
Figure 9. Vase Painting: The Tree of the Hesperides;
source and date unknown 21
Figure 10. Early Red-figured Vase Painting: Zeus against
Typhon; c. 650 B.C. (Munich Museum) 23
Figure 11. Early Red-figured Vase Painting: Aphrodite with
Erotes; c. 5th century B.C. (Former National
Museum, Berlin) 28
Figure 12. Cretan Signet Ring: The Goddess of the World
Mountain; Knossos, c. 1400 B.C. 4S
viii
ILLUSTRATIONS iK
Figure 13. Mycenaean Ivory: The Two Queens and the
King; Mycenae, c. 1300 B.C. (National Museum,
Athem) ~
Figure 14. Early Red-figured Vase Painting: Demeter,
Triptolemus, and Persephone; Boeotia, 5th cen-
tury B.C. (Former National Museum, Berlin) 49
Figure 15. Mycenaean "Signet Ring of Nestor": The Tree
of Eternal Life; Pylos, c. 1550-1500 B.C. 51
Figure 16. Sumerian Terra-cotta Plaque: Moon-Bull and
Lion-Bird; c. 2500 B.C. (University Museum,
Philadelphia.) 55
Figure 17. Cretan Carnelian Bead Seal: Minotaur and Man
Lion: c. 1400-1100 B.C. (Heraklion Museum) 60
Figure 18. Cretan Gold Bead Seal: The Sacrifice; c. 1400-
1100 B.C. 61
Figure 19. Mycenaean Gold Signet Ring: The Goddess of
the Double Ax; c. 1550-1500 B.C. 71
Figure 20. Cretan Faience Statuette: The Serpent Goddess;
Knossos, c. 1700-1580 B.C. (Heraklion Mu-
seum) 150
Figure 21. Cretan Limestone Statuettes: The Serpent God
dess; Knossos, c. 1700-1580 B.C. (Heraklion
Museum) 151
Figure 22. Greco-Etruscan Black-ngured Vase: The Judg
ment of Paris; c. 6th century B.C. (The Louvre) 161
Figure 23. Mithraic Marble Group: Mithra Tauroctonus;
Italy, 3rd century A.D. (British Museum) 257
Figure 24. Mithraic Marble Image: Zervan Akarana; Ostia,
Italy, dedicated 190 A.D. (Vatican) 262
Figures 25 and 26. Amulets Bearing Jewish Symbols: law,
as Anguipede; 2nd-1st centuries B.C. 27~27S
Figure 27. Gallo-Roman Altar, "Le Piller des Nautes":
Esus, from beneath Notre-Dame de Paris; 1~
37 A.D. (Cluny Museum, Paris) 306,