The Power of Myth

　　本書是當代神話學大師喬瑟夫．坎伯（Joseph Campbell）與美國哥倫比亞廣播電視台記者莫比爾（Bill Moyers），在喬治．盧卡斯的天行者牧場、紐約自然歷史博物館的三次對話編輯而成。

　　坎伯的學問遍及人類學、考古學、生物學、文學、哲學、文獻學、（超）心理學、比教宗較學、藝術史及流行文化等領域，由此融匯成其獨特的神話學見解，並因此奠定了他在神話學的歷史地位，成為一代宗師。

　　坎伯除了在學術及專業著作上享有聲譽外，也活躍於大眾文化及娛樂的領域中。喬治．盧卡斯的經典之作《星際大戰三部曲》，便是受到坎伯的神話概念「英雄的冒險旅程」影響而拍攝完成的。

　　閱讀本書，你會發現文中字字珠璣，給讀者無限啟發，例如「從腐爛中才有生命出來」、「每個人出生時都是個英雄」。坎伯以生動、平易而富於魅力的筆調，展現了他一生神話學研究的精髓，賦予現代人在平庸、貧血的生活中，另一種思維觀照和超越。

　　*本書中譯本<<神話的力量>>由立緒出版

　　The Power of Myth launched an extraordinary resurgence of interest in Joseph Campbell and his work. A preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, he has had a profound influence on millions of people--including Star Wars creator George Lucas. To Campbell, mythology was the song of the universe, the music of the spheres. With Bill Moyers, one of America s most prominent journalists, as his thoughtful and engaging interviewer, The Power of Myth touches on subjects from modern marriage to virgin births, from Jesus to John Lennon, offering a brilliant combination of intelligence and wit.

　　This extraordinary book reveals how the themes and symbols of ancient narratives continue to bring meaning to birth, death, love, and war. From stories of the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece and Rome to traditions of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, a broad array of themes are considered that together identify the universality of human experience across time and culture. An impeccable match of interviewer and subject, a timeless distillation of Campbell s work, The Power of Myth continues to exert a profound influence on our culture.

作者簡介

喬瑟夫．坎伯Joseph Campbell

　　當代神話學大師。一九○四年生於美國紐約市，一九八七年十月三 十一日去世於夏威夷家中，享年八十三歲。著有《千面英雄》（The Hero with a Thousand Faces）、《神話的智慧》（Transformations of myth through time）、《神話》（The Power of Myth）等書（以上皆由立緒文化出版）

　　Joseph Campbell (1904-87) began his career in 1934 as an instructor at Sarah Lawrence College, where he taught for almost forty years, and where the Joseph Campbell Chair in Comparative Mythology was established in his honor. He is the author of numerous books, including the bestselling The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

　 　Bill Moyers is an acclaimed journalist, widely respected for his work both at CBS News and at PBS. One of his primary efforts has been to bring to television outstanding thinkers of our time, most recently in the immensely popular and highly celebrated PBS series and bestselling book A World of Ideas. His conversations with Joseph Campbell were one of the highlights of television programming in the 1980s. Betty Sue Flowers teaches poetry and myth at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author and coauthor of several books, including Browning and the Modern Tradition, Four Shields of Power, and Daughters and Fathers.