Sigmund Freud 18561939 Father of Psychoanalysis, one of the first to explore the unconscious life of

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Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)Father of
Psychoanalysis, one of the first to explore the
unconscious life of the mind
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Human Behavior is ruled by two Principles which
are often in conflict

• the Reality principle the need to conduct
  oneself to conform with society works through
  repression/culture
• VS.
• the Pleasure principle the need to satisfy
  personal private needs that may be prohibited by
  culture/society

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• Myth (and art) mediates between the Reality
  principle and the Pleasure principle
• Myth and dreams aim at wish-fulfillment

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The content of Myth is largely symbolic (one
thing often stands for another)

• The female body is symbolized by enclosed spaces
  like houses, towns, citadels, castles,
  fortresses, vessels, ovens, hearths, vessels
  (e.g., scyllas cave is like her body, her
  stomach)
• Birth is symbolized by falling into, or emerging
  from water (Odysseus after he escaped from
  Kalypsos island)
• Death is symbolized by a journey (e.g., Odysseus
  journey to the Underworld)
• Evil impulses or wild passions appear as wild
  animals (e.g., the Minotaur, the Bull from the
  sea, the Centaurs)

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Prometheus and the Theft of Fire

• fire is a symbol for the libido (sexual drive)
• the fennel stalk in which Prometheus hides fire
  is a phallic symbol

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• The eating of Prometheus liver by Zeus eagle is
  a castration symbol

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For Freud, Medusas head represents the threat of
castration
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• The children of Medusa (Chrysaor and Pegasos)
  are born out of her severed head (implied
  symbolic connection between Medusas head and
  female genitalia)

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Medusas head was placed on Athenas Aegis
(breastplate) apotropaic symbol
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Medusas boars tusks, canine teeth (and often,
her beard) are phallic symbols that represent a
compensation for the threat of castration
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In Apollodorus, Medusa and her sisters have
bronze arms and golden feathers the metal
provides reassurance through its rigidity and its
use in offensive weapons.
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Compensation for the fear of castration is most
apparent in Medusas children

• Chrysaor he of the golden sword (goldenness
  suggests not only brilliance but the reassurance
  of imperishability)
• Pegasos the winged horse condenses 2 images of
  sexual activity the horse and flying
• Poisonous snakes of the North African desert
  (from the blood of Medusas dripping head) both
  phallic (cf. Erichthonios is half snake) and
  threatening

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The myth of Perseus and Medusa may be primarily
an expression of Oedipal fear and desire

• The myth is replete with
• symbolization the condensation of several
  latent thoughts into a single image (e.g., Medusa
  is a form of both the threatening and the sexual
  mother)
• decomposition splitting of single latent
  personality into several different characters
  (e.g., the mother figure is split up into the
  maternal Danae, the sexual Andromeda, and the
  threatening Medusa)

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The principal male and female characters with
whom Perseus interacts are divided in groups of
twos and threes

• The females The males
• The mother figures Danae and Andromeda are
  pursued by Proitos and Phineus
• Medusa

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The splitting of the father figure shows an
even starker symmetry

• 3 pairs of twin brothers the benign father
  figure and the malignant, threatening one
• Acrisios-Proitos
• Polydectes-Dictys
• Phineus-Cepheus

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Perseus (symbolically) castrates Phineus by
presenting him with Medusas head
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3 sets of 3 sisters

• Each set marks a stage in Perseus quest
• The Graiae
• The Nymphs
• The Gorgons

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The 3 Graiae the Grey Ones
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• The 3 Nymphs

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• The 3 Gorgons (2 are immortal, 1 is mortal)

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Perseus kills Medusa not by using a sword but a
sickle, which is used exclusively as an
instrument of castration (cf. Kronos uses a
sickle to castrate Ouranos)
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• Medusa was once a young woman with beautiful hair
  who made the mistake of boasting her beauty was
  greater than that of Athena

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As he is about to kill Penthesilea, the queen of
the Amazons, Achilles looks into her eyes and
falls in love with her
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Medusas power resides in direct eye contact
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The KEY to defeating Medusa

• Crucial to the success of Perseus in defeating
  Medusa is finding a means of approaching her
  WITHOUT actually looking into her eyes looking
  into the mirror reflection of the shield which
  Athena gives him does the trick because what he
  sees a merely a reflection he does not make
  direct eye contact with Medusa

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• Perseus and Andromeda safely contemplate Medusa
  head through her reflection on water

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