Mythic Living (Audio: Lecture I.4.2)

Description

Jung began reading ravenously the works that had already been published on mythology, and this thought came to him—what it means live by and with a myth and what it means to live without one. And he asked himself on this occasion by what myth he was living and he found he did not know. And so he proposed it to himself as his task of tasks that he should find by what myth he was living. —Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell opens this wide-ranging talk by observing that the living of life is itself a ritual act, and if society is to function, people must play various roles. Mythology gives us images of an array of roles to play, teaches us how to transcend our egos and play human roles, and helps us relate our inner worlds to outer realities. Campbell looks at the way in which twentieth-century psychology and literature have explored the ways in which myth informs our secularized society.

Running time: approx. 60 minutes