March 7, 2026

Watch Joseph Campbell’s Mythos Documentary Series on YouTube

Towards the last years of his life, Joseph Campbell created a three-part documentary series featuring lectures summarizing the wisdom he had gained from his lifelong study of mythology, psychology, philosophy, and religion. This documentary series is entitled Mythos. The Joseph Campbell Foundation recently uploaded the first two volumes of Mythos to their YouTube channel. Each volume consists of 5 hours of lectures by Campbell, accompanied by visuals with introductions and commentary by actress Susan Sarandon. They were released on DVD in 1999 and 2000, but this is the first time that we know of that the Joseph Campbell Foundation is offering them on streaming for free for all the world to see! If you’re at all curious about watching these, we highly encourage you to do so right away because, in all likelihood, they won’t be on YouTube forever (we’ve seen The Joseph Campbell Foundation giveth and taketh away in the past). Check out the links below to access this documentary series:

Joseph Campbell Mythos Vol. 1: The Shaping of Our Mythic Tradition – This first volume covers a wide range of topics related to the study of mythology, from psychology to Native American wisdom to Greek mythology, and much more.

Joseph Campbell Mythos Vol. 2: The Shaping of the Eastern Tradition – This second volume examines spirituality through the mythic images of Hinduism and Buddhism.

If they add Mythos: Vol. 3, The Shaping of the Western Tradition to their YouTube channel, we’ll add that here as well. Thanks Joseph Campbell and The Joseph Campbell Foundation!