Joseph Campbell on Myths

“Like dreams, myths are productions of the human imagination. Their images, consequently––though derived from the material world and its supposed history––are, like dreams, revelations of the deepest hopes, desires and fears, potentialities and conflicts, of the human will––which in turn is moved by the energies of the organs of the body operating variously against each other and in concert. Every myth, that is to say, whether or not by intention, is psychologically symbolic. Its narratives and images are to be read, therefore, not literally, but as metaphors.”

~ Joseph Campbell, “The Inner Reaches of Outer Space: Metaphor As Myth and As Religion”