Mythos — Season 1, Episode 3: On Being Human: The emergence of myth in early hunter-gatherer societies

Episode synopsis

"On Being Human" moves from the psychological origins of myths to the origins of human beings in prehistoric times. By tracing the development of mythic symbols from our earliest ancestors forward, we begin to see the themes that link all of us together into what Campbell calls the one great story of human kind.

About Mythos

Mythos is a three-part documentary that consists of a series of lectures given by Joseph Campbell. Campbell conceived of the original lectures, filmed over the last six years of his life, as a summation of what he had learned about the human mythic impulse, in terms of psychology, ethnology and comparative mythology—what he called "the one great story of mankind."

More episodes from Season 1

• E1Psyche & Symbol: The psychological impulse for and response to myth
• E2The Spirit Land: How myths awakened American Indians to the mystery of life
• E4From Goddesses to God: The gradual shift from the Goddess to male, warlike deities
• E5The Mystical Life: Non-biblical mythic strains that helped shape the Western spirit