Includes bibliographical references (pages 363-382) and index.

Prologue: The monomyth. Myth and dream ; Tragedy and comedy ; The hero and the god ; The world navel

Part I: The adventure of the hero. 1: Departure. The call to adventure ; Refusal of the call ; Supernatural aid ; The crossing of the first threshold ; The belly of the whale -- 2: Initiation. The road of trials ; The meeting with the Goddess ; Woman as the Temptress ; Atonement with the father ; Apotheosis ; The ultimate boon -- 3: Return. Refusal of the return ; The magic flight ; Rescue from without ; The crossing of the return threshold ; Master of the Two Worlds ; Freedom to live -- 4: The keys.

Part II: The cosmogonic cycle. 1: Emanations. From psychology to metaphysics ; The universal round ; Out of the void--space ; Within space--life ; The breaking of the One into the Manifold ; Folk stories of creation -- 2: The virgin birth. Mother universe ; Matrix of destiny ; Womb of redemption ; Folk stories of virgin motherhood -- 3: Transformations of the hero. The primordial hero and the human ; Childhood of the human hero ; The hero as warrior ; The hero as lover ; The hero as emperor and as tyrant ; The hero as world redeemer ; The hero as saint ; Departure of the hero -- 4: Dissolutions. End of the Microcosm ; End of the Macrocosm -- Epilogue: Myth and society. The shapeshifter ; The function of myth, cult and meditation ; The hero today.

Since its release in 1949, The Hero With a Thousand Faces has influenced millions of readers by combining the insights of modern psychology with Joseph Campbell's revolutionary understanding of comparative mythology. In these pages, Campbell outlines the Hero's Journey, a universal motif of adventure and transformation that runs through virtually all of the world's mythic traditions. He also explores the Cosmogonic Cycle, the mythic pattern of world creation and destruction.