elegantlion Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I thought they might be interesting to build a mythology/cultures/religions type study. http://www.amazon.com/Joseph-Campbell-Mythos-I/dp/B000PUB2AC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333635207&sr=8-1 Any opinions, experience with this series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Lynx Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Funny - I just discovered this last night! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 5, 2012 Author Share Posted April 5, 2012 Funny - I just discovered this last night! How hilarious, but not surprising as I tend to follow you around taking notes. I was thinking (as this thought started this morning) we could start with The Writer's Journey by Vogler, which we already own. He was inspired by Campbell and his Hero's Journey. Then we could dig further into some Jungian philosophy and throw in some literature and read the myths we haven't covered. Add in some comparative religion study. Then we have a nice year long study that would be even harder than "humanities" to categorize on a transcript. :tongue_smilie: I'm sure ds isn't quite ready academically for this study. Maybe do The Writer's Journey next year and the Mythos in 10th or 11th. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mama Lynx Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 I think you could call that Comparative Mythology. And I think it sounds fabulous! I don't know about The Writer's Journey so I will check that out. It sounds like something my 14 year old would enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 (edited) Hi Paula, I'm actually planning this as a high school course for DS; I will probably call the literature portion of it "The Epic Hero in World Literature." We'll be studying mostly nonwestern history & geography (having already spent many years on classical civilizations!), and each month will focus on the history, geography, religion, literature, and language of a different country or region. E.g. a month on the history & geography of India + Hinduism + read the Ramayana or Mahabarata + a basic introduction to Hindi; a month on China + Confucianism + read Journey to the West (aka Monkey) + basic intro to Mandarin; 4-6 weeks on Africa + indigenous religions + read Sundiata + Swahili; 2 months on Mesoamerica + Mayan/Incan/Aztec religion + read the Popol Vuh + Mayan glyphs & Quechua; etc. (The inclusion of languages is due to DS's interest in linguistics — he'll be focusing more on the history and linguistic characteristics, rather than trying to speak the languages.) We have quite a few Teaching Co courses on religion, as well as Myth in Human History and Exploring the Roots of Religion (36 lectures each). There are many many DVDs on Joseph Campbell & his ideas, and here are a few additional books on the concept of the epic hero/hero's journey/etc.: In Quest of the Hero The Epic Cosmos The Epic Hero I was originally planning to use OYAN the same year, with the idea of having DS write his own heroic epic, but he's already puttering around with OYAN, and he wanted to add all the linguistic study, so I will probably just have him write a few papers instead. Jackie Edited April 6, 2012 by Corraleno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Vandiver in TTC's "Classical Mythology" wasn't terribly favorable in her opinion of Joseph Campbell. She thought that his philosophy was a bit "engineered". I wish that I could remember more specifically what she said of his theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corraleno Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 There are many criticisms of the whole "monomyth" concept — that it's overly broad/generic, that it's too male-centric, that it imposes an interpretative structure (which is white/male/western/etc.) rather than "discovering" an inherent structure, that he misinterpreted many of the myths (especially non-Indo-European ones), etc. All of which are, in at least some respects, true. But there are still some very interesting and useful elements there. For example, the Dean Miller book (linked above) addresses the excesses of Campbell (he dismisses the idea of the "monomyth"), while still finding many parallels in the paths of epic heroes from different cultures. I also think that the way Campbell has been interpreted & exploited in popular media (e.g. Robert Bly & the "men's movement," Campbell's influence on George Lucas & Star Wars, etc.) is itself a really interesting study in the ongoing creation/adaptation/evolution of mythology. Jackie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 Hi Paula, I'm actually planning this as a high school course for DS; I will probably call the literature portion of it "The Epic Hero in World Literature." We'll be studying mostly nonwestern history & geography (having already spent many years on classical civilizations!), and each month will focus on the history, geography, religion, literature, and language of a different country or region. E.g. a month on the history & geography of India + Hinduism + read the Ramayana or Mahabarata + a basic introduction to Hindi; a month on China + Confucianism + read Journey to the West (aka Monkey) + basic intro to Mandarin; 4-6 weeks on Africa + indigenous religions + read Sundiata + Swahili; 2 months on Mesoamerica + Mayan/Incan/Aztec religion + read the Popol Vuh + Mayan glyphs & Quechua; etc. (The inclusion of languages is due to DS's interest in linguistics — he'll be focusing more on the history and linguistic characteristics, rather than trying to speak the languages.) We have quite a few Teaching Co courses on religion, as well as Myth in Human History and Exploring the Roots of Religion (36 lectures each). There are many many DVDs on Joseph Campbell & his ideas, and here are a few additional books on the concept of the epic hero/hero's journey/etc.: In Quest of the Hero The Epic Cosmos The Epic Hero I was originally planning to use OYAN the same year, with the idea of having DS write his own heroic epic, but he's already puttering around with OYAN, and he wanted to add all the linguistic study, so I will probably just have him write a few papers instead. Jackie :D :D :D Thank you!! Vandiver in TTC's "Classical Mythology" wasn't terribly favorable in her opinion of Joseph Campbell. She thought that his philosophy was a bit "engineered". I wish that I could remember more specifically what she said of his theory. There are many criticisms of the whole "monomyth" concept — that it's overly broad/generic, that it's too male-centric, that it imposes an interpretative structure (which is white/male/western/etc.) rather than "discovering" an inherent structure, that he misinterpreted many of the myths (especially non-Indo-European ones), etc. All of which are, in at least some respects, true. But there are still some very interesting and useful elements there. For example, the Dean Miller book (linked above) addresses the excesses of Campbell (he dismisses the idea of the "monomyth"), while still finding many parallels in the paths of epic heroes from different cultures. I also think that the way Campbell has been interpreted & exploited in popular media (e.g. Robert Bly & the "men's movement," Campbell's influence on George Lucas & Star Wars, etc.) is itself a really interesting study in the ongoing creation/adaptation/evolution of mythology. Jackie Thank you, Jean and Jackie. I know there is some controversy, but had not explored too far yet. I agree about the study on the evolution of mythology, and if we can tie anything to Star Wars it's good. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stultus Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Funny - I just discovered this last night! I just ran across it today via Netflix by way of Instantwatcher.com I'm new here just to tell you this, though I am a bit of "information geek", so I'll poke around for a bit until I completely abandon the site. Oh, and I'm not spam, just letting you guys know it's NF. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Blair Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I just googled this questions and this thread came up. Did you use this? I want to this year with my 14/15 year old. How did it go if you used it? Any advice would be appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 I just googled this questions and this thread came up. Did you use this? I want to this year with my 14/15 year old. How did it go if you used it? Any advice would be appreciated We never did use it. My son decided he didn't want to go that in depth with mythology. I still have them bookmarked for me to use at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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