What is the difference between Eastern and Western mythology?

Campbell devotes two chapters to the distinctions between Eastern and Western mythologies, and he points out how in Eastern thought, the mythologies are understood to be informant of the inner workings of the individual, while in the West and the Levant, or the Middle East, mythologies are regarded as record of literal, external history. These differences are both reflective and informative of the sociological differences between the East and West. In the East, the highest priority is the society, and the individual's submission to his role within that society; in the West, priority is given to the individual, his uniqueness and his freedom from obligation to any ideology or social status but what he may choose. From that point, it is a natural evolution to Campbell's discussion of the dedication of Easterners to their individual arts and tireless honing of their own potential as a discipline dedicated both to posterity and eternity.