Explore the power of myth as it flowered in the ancient Near East and
the Classical World
In this third volume of The Masks of God--Joseph Campbell's major work
of comparative mythology--the preeminent mythologist looks at the pagan
religions of Greece, Rome, and the Celts, as well as the Abrahamic
religions--Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Exploring
the West's shift from female-centered to male-centered mythology,
Campbell examines the distinguishing characteristics and the shared root
concepts of these mythologies. The Masks of God is a four-volume study
of world religion and myth that stands as one of Joseph Campbell's
masterworks. On completing it, he wrote: "Its main result for me has
been the confirmation of a thought I have long and faithfully
entertained: of the unity of the race of man, not only in its biology,
but also in its spiritual history, which has everywhere unfolded in the
manner of a single symphony, with its themes announced, developed,
amplified and turned about, distorted, reasserted, and today, in a grand
fortissimo of all sections sounding together, irresistibly advancing to
some kind of mighty climax, out of which the next great movement will
emerge."