The Origin of the Gods: A Psychoanalytic Study of Greek Theogonic Myth

223 Pages·1993·9.8 MB·English

by  Richard S. Caldwell

THE ORIGIN OF THE GODS
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RICHARD CALDWELL
THE ORIGIN
OF THE GODS
A Psychoanalytic Study of
Greek Theogonic Myth
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York Oxford
Oxford University Press
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and associated companies in
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Copyright © 1989 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.,
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016-4314
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1993.
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Caldwell, Richard S.
The origin of the gods : a psychoanalytic study of Greek
theogonic myth / Richard Caldwell.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-19-505504-7
ISBN 0-19-507266-9 (pbk)
1. Gods, Greek—Psychological aspects.
2. Mythology, Greek—Psychological apsects.
3. Psychoanalysis and religion.—I. Title.
BL785.C27 1989
292'.3'019—dc!9
88-1506 CIP
68975
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
FOR ARIEL MIRANDA CALDWELL
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I have long been haunted by the idea that our studies on
the content of the neuroses might be destined to solve the
riddle of the formation of myths.
Sigmund Freud, Dreams and Folklore
No anthropologist henceforth should suppose that he knows
enough to write about primitive religion, unless he has read
Freud.
Weston LaBarre, "Freud and Anthropology"
The theories of Freud and his followers as to religion and
the origin of myth have not been considered, since, in the
writer's opinion, they are scarcely to be taken seriously.
Lewis Spence, An Introduction to Mythology
It would admittedly be wrong to regard a myth simply as a
product of some kind of unconscious mentality.
G. S. Kirk, The Nature of Greek Myths
For the moment we can only deplore the bad taste of the
Boeotian farmer-poet, Hesiod, for using rubbish.
Charles Seltman, The Twelve Olympians
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PREFACE
This book is about the psychological, or emotional, aspect of Greek
myth. Its theoretical premises are simple and can be stated briefly
in regard to both mythic function and mythic form. The generally
accepted view that myths are multifunctional is certainly correct,
but the meaning of multiple function and the systematic relation-
ship between functions should be clarified. Multiple function should
mean not only that different myths may have different functions,
but also that any individual myth typically includes several func-
tions. In the case of psychological functioning, I would argue that
myths have three purposes in addition to whatever nonpsychologi-
cal functions they may fulfill: these are (1) to allow the expression
of unconscious, usually repressed, ideas in a conventional and so-
cially sanctioned form; (2) to use the emotional content attached
to these ideas to energize the nonemotional function of myth; and
(3) to provide a societal response to psychological needs, whether
universal or culture-specific, shared by the individuals who make
up the society.
Since these psychological functions seems to be present in all
(or nearly all) myths, the relationship between psychological and
nonpsychological functions is reciprocal: the former provide emo-
tional energy for the latter, and the latter provide an opportunity
for the emergence of the former. Since it is unlikely or impossible
that either type of function could exist, at least in mythic form,
without the other, this reciprocity is virtually symbiotic.