New Delhi, May 23 -- Joseph Campbell, born in New York City in 1904, became one of the most influential American scholars of comparative mythology. His work examined myths, symbols, rituals and heroic figures across cultures, arguing that human beings repeatedly return to similar story patterns to understand transformation, fear, purpose and meaning. His best-known book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, published in 1949, popularised the idea of the "hero's journey" or monomyth. Campbell later reached a wider public through the 1988 PBS series Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth with Bill Moyers.

"The achievement of the hero is one that he is ready for, and it's really a manifestation of his character."- Joseph Campbell

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