The Power of Myth

Season 11988

The Power of Myth is a television series originally broadcast on PBS in 1988 as Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth. The documentary comprises six one-hour conversations between mythologist Joseph Campbell and journalist Bill Moyers.

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6 Episodes

E01 The Hero's Adventure

About Campbell, hero types, hero deeds, Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Krishna, movie heroes, Star Wars as a metaphor, an Iroquois story: the refusal of suitors, dragons, dreams and Jungian psychology, “follow your bliss,” consciousness in plants, Gaia, Chartres cathedral, spirituality vs. economics, emerging myths, “Earthrise” as a symbol.

June 21, 1988

E02 The Message of the Myth

Creation myths, transcending duality, pairs of opposites, God vs. Nature, sin, morality, participation in sorrow, the Gospel of Thomas, Old Time Religion, computers, religion as “software,” the story of Indra: “What a great boy am I!,” participation in society.

June 22, 1988

E03 The First Storytellers

Animal memories, harmonization with body and life-cycle, consciousness vs. its vehicle, killing for food, story: “The Buffalo's Wife,” buffalo massacre, initiation ritual, rituals diminishing, crime increasing, artists, the Shaman, the center of the world.

June 23, 1988

E04 Sacrifice and Bliss

Chief Seattle, the sacred Earth, agricultural renewal, human sacrifice, sacrifice of the Mass, transcendence of death, story: “The Green Knight,” societal dictates vs. following bliss, “hidden hands” guiding life's work.

June 24, 1988

E05 Love and the Goddess

The Troubadours, Eros, romantic love, Tristan, libido vs. credo, separation from love, Satan, loving your enemy, the Crucifixion as atonement, virgin birth, the story of Isis, Osiris and Horus, the Madonna, the Big Bang, the correlation between the earth or mother Goddess and images of fertility (the sacred feminine).

June 25, 1988

E06 Masks of Eternity

Identifying with the infinite, the circle as a symbol, clowns and masks, epiphanies and James Joyce, artistic arrest, the monstrous as sublime, the dance of Shiva, that which is beyond words.

June 26, 1988

The Power of Myth

E01 The Hero's Adventure

E02 The Message of the Myth

E03 The First Storytellers

E04 Sacrifice and Bliss

E05 Love and the Goddess

E06 Masks of Eternity

You're the Worst

Hum Paanch

Chasing Shadows

Biography

Gordon Behind Bars

See It Now

Invisible

MasterChef

Lost

The Sopranos

The Twilight Zone

Married... with Children

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Band of Brothers

Fargo

Cobra Kai

The Last Man on Earth

Chernobyl

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Sherlock

E01 The Hero's Adventure

E02 The Message of the Myth

E03 The First Storytellers

E04 Sacrifice and Bliss

E05 Love and the Goddess

E06 Masks of Eternity