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Vc • •, A. Er.m. 306, 328 fr., 341 fr. I hav" shown d s..whe..., (,,) that , as a rule, only ,hOI(:
gods who are themseh'CS occasionally mad are inclined
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no longer txptcttd to provoke homicidal fre nzy not caused by drunkenness (8S8 fr.).« This implies that the E u menides cease to cause violent madness because they themselves (temporaril y) cease to be mad. H ence, the
exoneration of O restes and the appeasing of the Erinyes represent also a kind of ritual "»$ychotherapy" which appeases the rage of both the killer and the avenger .•5 In short, the basic similarity between Orestes and the Erinyes is manifest in various ways, throughout A. Eum. This is as true of the similarity between the a s yet unexonerated Orestes and the Erinyes, as of tha t between t he exonerated Orestes and the Eumenides. But, as in the caose of all ritual psychothera py (which does not bring about true insigh(46), one has reason, he re too, to expect that iu beneficial effects will only be transitory or intermittent. As regards Orestes, this is alluded to al ready in A. Eum. 443 fr. : though repeatedly purified, he is nl1t yet IcgaUy exonerated. H ence-despi te mome nts of relief (vv. 280 if.), which are psychiatrically plausible-his troubles and madness continue unabated. He is not much better off afte r his exoneration by the Areapagos. Other myths record his subsequtnt attacks of madness (E. I T, etc.). H e docs not recover fully until he "castrates" himself- a typical punishment meted out by the Erinyes ( 188)-at least symbolicaUy, by biting off one of his fingers . 47 Last but not least, O restes, the dream-snake (chap. 6), finally died of a snake bite (seh. E. Or. t640). The "incomplete" or "transi tory" social rehabilitation of the Erinyes is a more complex problem. It will be scrutinized in the next section, which is ICI:i of a n c1Ii.cunu:s than iL may seem at fint glancc.
V. Erin)'ts = Eumeniths Sterility/&rtility: Kinsman/Stranger: Ncedlessly complicated theological theories seek to explain the role the Erinyes-who generally cause slerility- allegedfy play in insuring fertility. Even if this role were an active one, it would suffice to stress that, in primitive thought, he who has "control" over something can use it either for beneficial or for nefarious purposes; his "control" is both absolute and ethically neutral. 48 In this frame of reference the Erinyes correspond to the shaman as witch; the Eumenides correspond to him in his capacity as healer. Speaking strictly of Aischylos' Erinycs = Eumenides, the fi rst part of of Ihe drama stresses exclusively their capacity to render sterile,49 which is .. T his detail may hearken back to the intoxication of the Moirai (723 If.) . .. The rage of Oresto , who still seeks purification, sums to frighten even Apollon (11311 If.) . Cpo his rage over his impoverishment (A.~. 1174 f.) • .. On this point, cpo in general ( IS, chap. I); for Greek equivalents, cpo (1 4) . ., Pam. 6.3~.2. On real and mythological c....,. of cllll!ration by biting, cpo (13). On finger-loss as "castration", cpo Dodds (17, p. t 30, nOle 79). Circumcision (mythical) by biting: :11, p. 245 . .. The M ohave shaman can Cure illness X because he Can also kill by inAlcting 1M! illness-and vice '·eru, ofcol1ne (to, passim). " ,88 If., 345 If., 780, 785 if., 8,0 fr., 824 fr., 830 fr. Tbere is the same emph:uls also in A. CAN. 188, ~6~ f., (po:rhaps 280), 503, 6,11 fr. U), 631, L005 f.
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mentioned both by them and by their interlocutors. This is to be expected. for they overtly dishonour Kypris, goddess of love (:2 15). Things are different when it comes to their fertility-promoting role. Athene alone speaks ofit (895, 907. e tc.) as a positive deed the Eumenides will actiVliy perform. The Eumenides themselves speak of their role in fertility in a different way: at v. 9:21 ff. they propose to pray for fertility; at v. 938 they h~ that sterility will be averted; and at 958 they pray that girls will live long enough tofind a mate.so All thi5 does not suggest that the Eumenides have the power to promote fertility other'!'.·ise than by prayer to ~u pc::riur puwenl. Even more imponallt is that in the second of these utterances-and, by implication, also in the third-they are talking mostly of averting that which could impair fertility. The real point can be made quite briefly: the very primitive Eumenides are bribed 1101 to unleash their fertility-impairing powers. They are represented all basically evil-doing deities, who can be bought off. The sacrifices and honours paid to them are "protection money". In short, the Eumenides are well-bribed Erinyes; they are given $Omething so that they will not spoil all one has. One ~ ncounters such a conception of the gods in many primitive societies." Even in connection with the punishment of crimes, the "rehabilitation" ofthe Erinyes is conditional. The moment a man slays his kin, the Eumenides revert to being Erinyes and punish him as brutally as ever (6g6 ff., 930 ff. ). In 5hort, they correspond to a Damoklean sword, for a fear of retribution is necessary for the good functioning of the city (6g6 ff. ). One might say that the "package deal" offered to them by Athene includu the promise that, when conditions warrant it, they will be free to manifest their wrath in their old, Erinyes-like manner (927 fT., 952 fr. ). All told, it is Aischylos and his Athene, rather than the (bribed) Eumenides thnnselves, who ~tress their role in promoting fertility. And, if I may venture a personal opinion, Aischylos shows himself a good psychologist in making the Eumenides' right to function, on appropriate occasions, as Erinyes, part of the " deal". Had this escape cia1llle not been included, the Erinyes would not have accepted the pact. Had they accepted iI, their consent would have been psychologically impla usible, for the Aethiopian cannot change his 5kin, nor Ihe leopard his spol'l.,l And this brings me to an Aischylean insight which both Frazer and Freud resta ted, believing it to be new. There must be a stringent law prtdsely against kin-_Iaying [""It that crime become commonplace (45)6 ff., 513 ff.), for oedipal murder is a con$tant temptation. Equally striking and socially even more relevant is the fact that Aischylos twice (545 8"., '1.70 fT. ) links crimes agairut kin with crimes against .. Mazon ern in transbting: "'they will live at the side or their husbands" . The Ailchylcan wording does not exclude" primi death in childbed, though too much should not be made of this. • , Sedang agriculturnl ritao limpty buy off the deities who, without that bribe, would hann the crops. No Sed.IIng deity actively f()llers fertility (1) . Hausla sacrifices allo seek only to buy off deities who are primarily spoilers (.'/0, 37).
uJeTC'ID.13.113.
TIll Dream oj the Erinyts strangers.3l This seemingly paradoxical equating of the kinsman with the stranger is nol even specifically Greek; it is human.S4 And let it not be argued that the fact that, in Homeros, "foreigner" (~tvoc)-especially in the vocative-means mostly: " friend" is decisive, for the name of a xenophobic Spartan law (~~VT)AO:cio:) reveals that that word had also hostile nua nces. The relationship between ~tvoc = friend and ~ ... alien ( = foe)'! is much the same as that between Eumenides and Erinyes. Both reflect man's basic ambivalencc: his Schopenhauerian " nonnal neurotic" inability to tolerate either excessive distance (strangeness) o r complete closeness. The early obliteration of the xenophobic nuance of ~tvoc by its euphemistic nuance: " friend" reflects-like the invention of a Zeus Xenios- the need to bridle automatic (fear-inspired ) hostility towards the stranger.S6 The basic meaning of the word-even when it is used to designate a friend- never loses the meaning: "member of the outgroup"; it designates those who are neither ki nsmen nor fellow-citizens. All this shows that the stranger is the target of hostilities dtjltcted ( under pressure) from the kinsman, who, being close to us, can wound us more than a stranger can. Aischylos therefore rightly implies that the samt law protects both, for kin-slaying and the slaying of strangers are psychological equivalents. This pseudo-dichotomy can easily be linked with the sterility-fertility dichotomy, as "govtrned" by the Erin),es-Eumtnidts, for in the sexual sphere, too, man must strike a balance between extreme endogamy (incest) and extreme exogamy (miscegenation), hoth of which were forbidden in Greeee. n As with aggression in the kinsman = foe equivalence, so in the course of his psycho-sexual development man regularly deflects his ero tic impulses first from his mother to his sister (A. Chot . 240 f ) and only then to the "outsider"- wife-and it is hardly necessary to recall here the extent to which A. Eum. stresses the "outsider" position of the wife (657 1f.).!8 Summing up, only in terms of hopeful pieties arc the Eumenides to be considered as fertility-protecting " reformed" spoilers. Underneath this euphemistic fa~ade, and despite Athene's stubborn insistence upon the good they will do, the Eumenides are only well-bribed Erinyes, spoilers of the good earth's natural fertility, who promote fruitfulness only by not ruini ng it, as long as men honour them and behave well. The moment a man sins, the Eumenides promptly resume the old functions of the Erinyes. " In 270 It, these crimes are also linked with crimes agairut th e god •. Vv. 544 ff. link parenu and guest: the former are entitled to piety, the latter to respc<;l. j . For the Mohave equation: ki mm .. n .. alien, cp. 10, pp. t28 ff. .. Bul the meaning "alien" ma y"" a late d:usica l development (K.J.D. and E.R.D.) ; yet, sec now J. RoUJC; Eurip;dt:: U t B.ud'llnles I , p. 32, '970 . .. The selfsame ambivalence i. ~H ected by the verb 64xo~'''' which can mcan either a friendly welC(l"'" or a hostile ambu$h (7). "On the laUe. taboo, cp. my di.cussion of Hi ppodameia (6). 11 Rohde (33, p. -l5' .75) ""en argues that, given the patrilocality of Greek malTiage, the wife (_ mother) uood in especial need of an Erin ys protecting her from her h",~d and affinal kin. The Melanesians ofDobu solved this problem more equitably. The couple livCl alternatingly in the hwband's and the wife', villagCl of origin, both $powc:ll being expooo:d in tum to the malice and witchcraft of their respecti"e affinal kin ( 18, pp. 2 ff. and passim).
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And it is of crucial importanct: in this Contt:xt that tht: rt:fottnt:d Eumenides' appearance remains as repulsive as that of the Erinyes (990). In short, any other conception of the Eumenides is inspired by modern pieties and ancient hopes, rather than by Aischylos' mercilessly logical drama.
VI. Ana?Jsis of till Erinyts' Duam T ill InlffprtlatirJn of the Erinyts' Dream is child's play. Their nature, function and bloodthintiness make them hunt Orestes. Put to sleep by Apollon -so expert at interfering with Ancient Deities'9 when they threaten his favourites-the Erinyes drtam of continuing their hunt (A. Eum. 131 ff. ), and behave like dreaming hounds. This detail is psychologically most realistic. A dream in which one performs a task one has failed to complete in a waking state60 is a "guardian of sleep" (Freud 19 , pp. 678 ff. and passim). The Super-ego---here represented both by the Erinyes' duty and by Klytaimestra-is temporarily "bribed" by the dreamed performance of a task net performed in a waking state; this dispenses t he dreamer from having to wake up and actually do his duty.6l The effectiveness of such self-deceptions or mock performances in dream is regularly reinforced by the extreme vividness of Ihe corresponding dreams, which can even lead to the attenuated or schematic execution, in sleep, of the ampler movements and vocalizations which would normally occur in tht: waking performance of the dreamed act (5) (cp. chap. n. 146). I feel that these sketchy movements in dream may even correspond to what experimental psychologists call "a preparatory set" (28). I note here a curious coincidence. The Erinyes hunt while asleep. In A. Choe. 897, the infant Orestes is said to have nursed whik practically asleep-an anomaly discussed in chap. 6. In concrete terms, the Erinyes, who "art" hounds. behave in dream like hounds dreaming of a hunt.62
a,
" A. Eum. '72.723,7 28; E. Ale. '0 If. .. Some subjects who. in a waking stale, eould nOI soke the puzzle: OTTFFSSENT, solved it io dream. T hese letlers are Ihe initiab: of Ihe fir'!t len numbers . •, The .ubotilution of a .ymhalic aCI for a real performance i. also common in daily life. Good wuha and bltuings arc often offered in lieu of elf.xtive help. The mclinl of a promise is sometimes treated 311 equivaleol lou.ping Ihal promise. Once, when I reminded a person of a promise he had repealedly made bUI had nOI kepI, he replied in a hUrl tone of voia: : " But haven't I promised it ?" This manceu,.,.e is pilhily lummarized by a Hungarian adage: " Here is nOlhing- grasp il firmly (Jen il escape you )." I ts lublimaled and logical form;' scientific inference or prediction. expected 10 be COn finned by experience. J am"" Clerk Maxwell made his equation. more .ymmetrical by adding to th em a small tel'm which nothing in his actual experiena: justified. H. Herlz Dnumed that this term had 10 have an equivalent io rea li ty--and discovered Ihe Hertzian wav"" (3"). Cpo T hai",,' (logical?) prediction of an eclipse (based perhaps on Babylonian ra:orch) and u...errier'. exclusively mathemalical " dis«wery" of the planet Neptuo e. But it is extremely probable thaI, both historically and lubjectively, l uch scientific activities are refinements and p,," cti· cal . ubl imations of the archaic tendency 10 treat words, symbols, proph""i"" and Ihe like 311 full equivalents of reality. One notes in Ih is context the frequency of aelivities which unwittiogly ","" prophecies 10 come true (8, 67).
'I Cpo supra for the experimental evidence.
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,64 Of course, the Super-ego caRnot be permanently bribed by the drtQmed execution of the assigned task. Sooner or later it intrudes. in some disguise, into the dream: here, the impatient and vengeful Klytaimestta's doubleforctl the dreamers to wake up and attend to their task. But, since this Super-ego representative is actually part of the dreamers' own psyche, it is part of the Erinyes' self which goads them to wake up. This, too, is clearly represented in the Aischylean dramatization of the dream. Klytaimestra's double compares her reproaches to goads ( 136: Idvrpov) and, after awakening, the Erinye:s themselves compare the reproach coming to them in dream- for they do not mention having dreamed ofK.lytaimestra!- to a goad smiting them in the vitals ( IS6). It is easy to see that the pricking of the Erinyes with a goad is selfgoading. The Goad (Jdtrrpov) is the Erinyes' original and most characteristic weapon, which they use already in Hom. Od. 15.234. It is mostly in later texts that they use the whip, rather than the goad.63 This parallels the evolution of horse-driving technology in Greece.6o< It is an archaic feature of A. Eum. that goads are mentioned in connection with the Erinyes' dream only, for in vv. 136 and 156, they do not wield the goad against their victims; they are told to jab themst lvts with the goad of self-reproach ( 136) and, on awakening ( t56), they admit that the goad of reproach had smitten them in the "vitals" (
APPENDIX 1
The Throat or ..Neck plays a curiously prominent role in A. Eum . Apollon accuses the Erinyes of being involved with throat-cuttings (187). Orestes claims he stabbed Klytaimestra in the throat (592), and this is confinned by A. Chot. 883 f., 1047. This may, perhaps, explain why he subsequently says that the judgment about to be given wBI decide between his living and his suicide (?) by hanging ( 746). It isjust pDS$ible that these recurrent references to the throat were unconsciously motivated by the oral sucking content of Klytaimestra's dream in A. Chot. 531 ff. and by the many references in A. Eum. to blood-drinking and blood-sucking from the victims' limbs6' by the Erinyes. These interpretations clearly hearken back to the biting of Klytaimestra's breast in dream and are greatly strengthened by two considerations: 11 Rapp, I.v. Erinytl3i, (all. 1~14 ff. «,-examination of Homeric pa.uas'" in which goads or whips ar~ used is likely to be rewarding, for th~ whip is a later inv~ntion than Ih~ goad. I nOI~ her~ an inter.,.ting and -Iugg.,.tiv~ fact: th~ /miJ draft animal which must be driv~n with a goad is !h~ reindeer, for Lts (hick fur prolects il against Ih~ luh. OJ 264 C., 299 fr. (?), 357 f. .. A
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(I ) Though Orestes claims to have cut Klytaimestra's throat-which fits the decapitation mentioned in A. Chtx. (883 f., 1047)-Klytaimestra's ghost shows the Erinyes a wound in the breast (heart) (A. Eum . 103),66 which hcarkcm back to the A. Chtx. dream. (2) Orestes apparently expects to hang bimselfby the neck, though this is a most unusual form of suicidefor a man.67 I suspect that the throat-cutting theme should, in the last resort, be viewed as an echo of the tale about the male echidna's decapitation by the female-precisely because it contradicts the reference to the breast bitten in dream and also the chest-wound Klytaimestra's ghost displays.6S
APPENDIX II
DrunJuruuss. Aischylos knew of several types of intoxication : that which reveaill man's real thoughts Uf. 393) ;69 that which clouds judgment (A. Suppl. 409), and that which elicits homicidal fury (A. Ewn. 8S9 ff. ).N ThU indicates that, unlike what one observes in some primitive groups, in Greek culture the effects of alcohol were variable.71 While I am about it, I might as wdl say that I do believe Greek traditions concerning Aischylos' alcoholism.72 Some modern Hellenists piously imist that this is to be taken figuratively,71 but I feel that tlW is as gratuitow and squeamish an Ehrenr,/tllllg as that whieh denies Sappho's lesbianism (12). Had Kratinos been a greater poet-or had more of his work survived-Victorians would no doubt have denied also his notorious alchoholism,7~ though Kratinos bimsdf admitted it in his nVTIVll (The Wi"" Flask), which carried off the first comedy prize from under Aristophanes' nose. As a clinician, I do not consider Aischylos' turbulent eloquence incompatible with alcoholism-quite the contrary! The fact that, in his MyrmidonlS, he turned the relationship between Achilleus and Patrokloswhich. in Homeros, is a non-sexual comradeship--into a homosexual affair, M So Smyth. Some othen translate: " look upon thCS<' woumb with yOllT heart", rejecting Hermann', emendation: Murray, Thomson, Groeneboom, Mazon, Rose (also E.R.D. and H.L.-J). 1 may therefore be wrong in accepting the emendation for poyehelogical reaJOlIlI. Nothing crucial fOT my argumetH is here at ltake . • ' Thio is documented and discussed ebewhere (16). M The ract tbt.1. dead mother',ghOiI still carria the wOllnds which callSed her dea th ;. mentioned ~isely in connection with MDlIwr fa ther-avenging matricide. In the Nether WOI'Id Eriphyle'l wOllnds are still visible (V . Am. 6.#5) • .. A C1)IIlIJIOIl Greek theme : Ale.fr. Z.9LP ( _ 10+0 .. 53 Bgk.),/r. Z,,(.3LP ( _ 66D '" 57 Bgk.) ; Thgn. 500; Ion Ch.lr. ID; PI. Tim. 6oa, ete. H Drunken ~wls are oI"ten docribed, Clpecially by later Greek authon. "Amongot the warlike Mohave, many drunb peaceably fall asleep ( r o, pp. SOl5 «.). By contrast, drunken Plaim Indians tend to become violent (9', pp. 13 «.), etc. 1JPIll. ft. ISO Sandb. ( - Slob. 3.18.3l1) ; Q. Qnw. '·5 p. 6lI:lIE, 7· '0 p. 7'5 D-E; Chamacl. ap. Ath. I . ~~a, 10.4lISf'. (Ploutarehoo had access to the worb of Sta imbrotOi and of Ion ofChiOl, K .J.D.) "Murray '19, p. +7; Sclunid 35 1.~ . 114.5, etc. They disn:gard the question ofsources; this iI unhillorical. "M. EtJ. 5~ ff.; cpo Crat.fTT. tall, 18s, etc.
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further strengthens this view, for the nexus between alcoholism and homosexuality- and especially latent homosexuality- is notorious. Peak intellectual performances in a state of intoxication are not uncommon,?' and my opinion on this point is hardly biased, for I have admitted in print my almost irrational loathing of alcohol and alcoholics. The time has come to stop treating most Greek biographers as malicio us gossips and, instead of wasting time on the "rehabilitation" of great poets like Sappho and Aischylos, to study the manner in which a g reat poet's sexual perversion (12) or alcoholism affected his work. 76
Bibliography ( I ) Befu, Harumi : Patrilineal Descent and Personal Kindred in Japan, American Anlhropo(qgist 65:1328-134 1, 1963(2) Bourguignon, Andre: Recherches Recentes sur Ie Reve, Us Temps Modemes no. 238: 1603-1 628,1966. (3) Devereux, George: Sedang Fid d./V"oles (MS.), 1933- 1935. (4) id.: Mohave Beliefs Concerning Twins, American Anthropologist n.s. 43:573- 592, t941. (5) id.: Acting Out in Dreams, American Journal if Psychotkrapy 9: 657-660, 1955· (6) id.: The Abduction of H ippoda.meia as "Aition" of a Greek Animal Husbandry Rile, Studi e Alalmali di Sirnia delle Religioni
36'3-~5,
1965· (7) id . : The Exploitation of Ambiguity in Pindaros O. 3.27, Rheinisches MuseumjUr Phi!ologie I09:2B9-2g8, 1966. (8) id.: Considerations Psychanalytiques sur la Divination, Particulierement en Grece (in) Caquot, Andre and Leibovici, Marcel (cds.) : La Divina/ion, vol. 2, pp. 449-471. Paris, 1968. (9) id.: &aliry and Dream: The Psychotheropy of a Plains Indian . (Second , substantially augmented edition.) New York, 1969. ( 10) id.: Mohave EthlUJpsychiatry and Suicitk. (Second, substantially augmented edition.) Washington, D.C., 1969. (II ) id. Wahnsinnige Golln- (Lecture at the University of Basel, MS), 1970. (12) id.: The Nature of Sappho's Seizure in Fr. 3 1 LP, Classical Quarterg 20:17- 31, 1970 . (13) id.: La Naissance d'Aphrodite (in) Pouillon, Jean and Maranda, Pierre (eds.) : Echanges et Communications (Mtlanges Lim-Strauss), 2. 1229-1252 . Paris and The Hague, 1970. (14) id. The Psychotherapy Scene in Euripides' Bacchae, Journal if Hellm;c Studies 90:35-48, 1970. ( 15) id.: Emu d' Elhnopsychiatrie Ginirale. (Second edition.) Paris, 1973. " I was present when two brilliant young math~matical physicisu .hook, long ~nough ~" en more brilliant young malhematician, moring in an alcoholic stupor and got from him a mumbled- and eo>rTu/- answer to a difficult mathematical problem which they could not solve. ' . This d~ nQI m~ that l lubsctibc:: to the genius .. madman ablurdity. to awaken him, an
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(16) id. (and Devereux, J. W. ): Les ManifcSlations de l'Inconscient dans Sophokles : Trachiniai 923 sqq. (in) Psychanalyse el Sociologie comme M elJuJtus d'£tude des Phbwmtnes Hisloriques It Culture/so BruxeHes,
1973· (17) Dodds. E. R.: The Greeks alIi lhe Irrational. Berkeley, California, 1953· (18) Fortune, R. F.: S",cerers of Dohu. London, 1932. ( 19) Freud, Sigmund: The Interpretation of Dreams, Standard Edition 4-5' London, 1958. (\la) id.: Constructions in Analysis, Standard Edition 23. London, 1964. (21) Griaule, Marcel and Dieterlen, Germaine: Le &nard Pale, Paris, 1965· (22) Green. Andre : Un CEil en Trop. Paris, 1969. (23) Hoehel, E . A.: Associations and the State in the Plains, American Anthropologist 38:433- 448, 1936. (24) Jouvet. Michel: The States of Sleep, Scienlifo; American 2 16, no. 2:62-7',1g67· (25) Linton, Ralph: The Study of Man. New York, 1936. (26) Llewellyn, K. N. and Hachel, E. A.: The CheyenM Way. Norman, Oklahoma, '941. (27) Merton, R. K.: Social T heory and Social Structure. Glencoe, Illinois, 1949· (28) Mowrer. O . H . : Preparatory Set (Expt{;tancy) : Some Methods of Measurement, Psychological Monographs vol. 52, no. 2, 1940. (29) Murray, Gilbert: Aesch;·lur2• Oxford. 1962. (30) Nicolas, Jacqueline: "Les Jumcnts des Dieux", Eludes Nigirnnlles no. 21, IFAN·CNRS (no place, no date). (3 1) Nilsson, M. P. : Geschichlt der griechischen Religion 11. Milnchen, 1955. (32) Poincare, Henri: TMFoundalionsofScience. Lancaster. Pennsylvania. 19 13. (33) R ohde, Erwin: PsycM. London, 1950. (34) R oscher, W. H.: Aurjiihrliches Lexikon dtT griechischell und romischen Mylhologit. Leipzig, 1884- 1937. (35) R ussdl, Bertrand: Principles oj Mathematicsl . New York, 1938. (36) Schmid, Wilhdm : Geschichte der griechischen Literature, 1.2. Milnchen. 1934·
(S7) Tremcarne, A. J . N.: The Ball of 1M Bari. London, 1914. (38) Verrall, A. W.: Faur Plays tif Euripides. Cambridge. 1905.
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Chapter 5
Klytaimestra's Dream in Stesichoros' Oresteia
K{yttJinustra's Dream in Sl4ichorQl' Oresteia Preambu We possess a Stes.ichorean, an Aischylean and a SophokJean version of K.1ytaimestra's dream. The inner affinities between these three variants are highligbted in the course of this chapter and the next two. The problem I discuss here briefly is whether it is clinically possible for a dream narrative inspired by one, or even two, earlier dream-naITatives to be still authentically dreamlike. ThiJ question can be answered in the affirmative, on several growtds. (I) One can start with the assumption that Stesichoros invented a (dreamlike) dream for his Klytaimestra, which then elicited the invention of (related) dreamlike dreams by his two gTeat successors. The process is the same as that which one observes when, after A narrates one of bis dreams to B, the latter partly echoes A's triggering dream in a "responding" dream of his own. I once observed this phenomenon while doing ethnopsychiatric field work amongst the Mohave Indians (IS, pp. 182 fr. ). A dream of my interpreter (night of November 16/ 17. 1938) heavily influenced the dream one of my informants, E.S. (who had heard the interpreter tell her dream) had the very next night. (2) All three dreams can also be viewed as credible reactions to the same strong stimulw--dream reactions which have many internal affinities. This process is exemplified by the dreams dreamed by several patients in respome to the deaths of King George V (.~3) and of President Roosevelt (31, 35) and also by the dreams of psycho-analysts and psychiatrists who had seen the previous evening a film showing the subincision rites of Australian tribesmen (13, chap. 6). (3) Since Aischylos doubtless knew the Stesichorean K lytaimestra's dream and Sophokles both the Stesichorean and the Aischylean versions, the three narratives may also be compared to "dreams in series" (I, ~, 24, 14, pp. 472 fr., 2/). In serial dreams a key problem besetting the patient is worked through-or at least tackled- in different and yet closely interrel~led
ways.
In short, three completely discrete sets of clinical considerations validate the hypothesis that a dream narrative irnpircd by an earlier one can, despite itll derivative character, still seem authentically dreamlike.1
Th4 Stesichorean Preudint Sttridu"Mfr. 4~ P (= 4ll: B = 15 D)-the only surviving pre~Aisehylean account ofKlytaimestra's dream-influenced both Aischylos and SophokJes. Their versions therefore permit one to settle, once and for ali, the eJ[act meaning of Stesichoros' crystal~c1ear tClet, needlessly obscured by some hair-splitting interpretations. The Text is correctly printed by Page, whose apparatus criticus contains , I note in passing Ihat <XInSiderations (2) and (3) fully 6t a theorem I enunciated ebewhere ('0, pp. 76 fr.; 18, chap. ,6, 10, chap. 3): The Nlme raulu can be "btained by inval,igatinr one man 01' one culture ."m".... tiveiy, Or a large number mmen or of cull""" crooI.sectiOl1al1y. This meorem is derivable from the mathematician'. "erg<>dic hypothesis" , which plaY' a crucial mle in the ea.lculus of pmbahilitios.
Klytaimestra's Dream in StliUhoros' Oresteia all that is relevant and rightly ignores gratuitous tamperings (36, p. 52) with the manwcript tradition:
Ploutarchos, who cites it,l considen this dream to be patterned on life and reality ; this justifies a realistic psychological analysis of this fragment. Translation: [Klytaimestra] dreamed therecamea serpent with a bloodied crest, and out of it [crest] appeared a Pleisthenid king [Orestes]. Commtnu: The two verses together describe a dream about the appearance of the Pleisthenid King.l Who Pleisthenes may be is immaterialonly the identity of his descendant matters here-and that identity can be determined solely by the manner in which he appears. The key problem is therefore the manner in which the Pleisthenid King appean out of-what? Three theories seem to exist. (I) Delcourt (4, p. 22) translates: "et brusquement" ce fut[Agamemnon]". (a) This might imply an oniric " fausse non-reconnaissance" (12 and my comments on A. Ag. 412-413) rectified already in dream. Fausse nonreconnaissance dft:ams do exist ( 14, pp. 41 5 fr. ), but it is almost inconceivable that be: 6' 6:pa should simply mean: be: TOO = bc:T&n: (= next), or that the complex procc.» of a mi~perception and of i(3 ~ ubM:qucnt rectification should be described so briefly; H om. Il. ' 3.70 If. describes something similar at length. (b) It might imply the appearance of the snake and then that of the Pleisthenid King (with or without the simultaneous disappearance of the snake) . (c) It might imply the metamorphosis of the snake into Agamemnon. But bc: 6' is most unlikely to denote a metamorphosis, even if ~op6:vTJ = ~~£op6:vTJ . Basically be: 6' means the emergence of "something" out of "something else". Also, I know of no pre-Aischylean precedent for a dream· metamorphosis. The analogous metamorphosis described in Hes. Th. Ig<>-I91 (16) is 'lot a dream·event. I admit that "snake into man" metamorphoses do occcur elsewhere in culturally significant real dreams.~ I also concede that in some myths an animal shape must be shed and the • Plu. rJ. ser" num. ~ind. 10. p. 555. I Wilamowitz hold. thaI the fi ... t verse describe! a mooitory dream and the second the prompt realization of what corraponrl.! (ann tnlJpredltlla) to it. The only pu-Atschylean d",am which comes true Im",.ptty is that of Rhesoo, d reamed just befo", he was Il";n (3-'1, p. 75). But in H om. II. 10.496 If., the slaying is mentioned bifort the dream which aonOunces it. AI"", 5t",,;chol"Ol ' poem was {one pn:sumes} lufficiently long to make a conderuatioo of almost half of the On:su:s myth into two Lina improbable . • This translation implies an ac<:q>tance of Hartung'. theory of the meaning of lip<>:, which is rightly queried by Denniston 15, pp. 311 If.). 'In Mohave Indiao dreaRlll the hikwl r (similar to the two headed amphisbaina, A. J233, etc.) can allwoe the appearance of--
A,.
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Kly/aimestra's Drtam in SWiclrorol Oresteia
'73
"real" human form assumed in preparation for an effective action,6 but these arguments are inappropriate, for, after all, Klytaimestra's slayer is not Agamemnon but Orestes. (2) If one holds that he 0' 6pa means: he ToVTOV TOO op6lcovToc (out uf the wlwle ~nake), then the Plcilithenid King emerged (in an ul1spccificu manner) out of the snake 41 a wlwle-conceivably out of its (shcddable) skin. But this awkwardly leaves us with the snake's shed skin, standing for the snake as a whole. 1 (3) The Pleisthenid King emerges from the snake's bloody (and split) crest. If so, he 0 ' stands for he ToVrov -roO K6:po:TOC. Dr C. A. Behr suggests to me that this view is syntactically probable because IU!!:pa (head) is the immediate antecedent.! It is this interpretation I propose to defend, less for syntactical reasons9 than because it fits both Greek thought patterns and beliefs and the different contexts of Klytaimestra's dream in the Aischylean and Sophoklean versions thcrecf, for that is the onry way in which this problem can be tackled. 1o It seems best therefore to analyse what the text says and implies; this, together with Stesichoros' interest in cephalic birth (ft. 56 P. and ft. 62 Bgk.) should suffice to highlight the inadequacies of alternative interpretations. ( I ) The snake is a chthonic creature, representing the wrathful dead (A. Chot. 37 ff.): Agamemnon. (2) The snake's head is bloody and, in Sophokles (chap. 7), Agaplemnon's head is stained with gore, both because it is split and because the mW'der weapon Wall wiped UII hi~ hair. Nu other lIIajuI- pcrwuage of the Orestes myth has a bloodstained head up to, or at this time.1I \'\fhat matters most is that no alternative interpretation so far proposed takes into account the crucial and strongly emphasized goriness of the skull which, in A. CJwe. 546, is retained, but transposed to another protuberant organ: to the nipple, and, in S. El. 445, is connected outright with Agamemnon's
hoa
blood.
'74
KlytairlllStra's Dream in Stlri,horos' Oresteia
(4) The emergence or appearance of the Plcisthcnid King out of his sire's split skull parallels the cephalic binh of Atbenc, out of Zeus' split skull ,ll Other quasi-cephalic "binhs" are also re ported: (a) Ad. NA 9.33 ( = Hippysfr. S, FHG 2.12 = 22, test. 422): At Epidauws, the priests of Asklepios d ecapitate a woman ; o ne of them then extracts manually h er tapeworm, through her truncated neck. H er head is
then replaced on her neck by the god. (b) IG IVl, no. 123.23 ( = 22, /1st . 423)' A tale of dreams and visions: Asklepios' priests seek in vain to remove Arislagora's tapeworm (via the neck) by decapitating her. The god himself puts back her head, cuts open her abdomen, removes the worm and sew! her up aga in. (c) IG lVI, no. 123.25 ( = 22, /lsi. 42:1:): A-perhaps visionary- man
(Asklepioo ?) removes, by abdominal surgery, the masses of ta~worms wherewith Sostrata was baJT]a. "'" pregnant. (d ) IG IV 2 , no. 122 .21 (""' {,/2, tesl. 423): A mother's dream: AlIklepios cuts off her dropsical daughter'S head, and hangs up her body upside down, draining off the flu id. (Blood is drained from the ablated penis of the Iquus oc;l()ber by suspending it. (17)) A few details deserve notice: (0-) All four persons from whose body something i~ extracted are female, though in the Stesichorean Kl ytaimestra's dream the snake is male. (f3) Before the extraction the woman is, so to speak, "pregnant"; explicitly in Case (c), implicitly in the other three cases. (y) (Snake-like) tapeworm = foetus : explicitly in Case (cl. This is understandable : ph}'5iologically the foclm is a kind of parasite or tumour. The draining of body fluids in Case (d) recalls the draining of the amniotic fluid; its sexual significance is further rcinforced by the IqllW oct()ber analogy. (5) Decapitation=cacsarean. This is evident in all four cases. (E) Caesarean birth recalls Greek beliefs concerning the manner IR which young vipers arc born. (3) Somewhat as in Stesichoros, in Case (d) the drcamer is not the patient, but her mother. (5) Orestes' emergence from the snake's skull is retained in a symbolic, but structurally identical, form by Sophokles: a huge branch (Orestes) sproutsjr()m OM end of Agamemnon's sceptre and I will show that Agamemnon's sceptre = phallI)! = snake (chap. 7). (6) The generative powers of a snake's cephalic end arc made manifest by the myth of the H ydra, whose decapitated necks sprout new heads until they arc cauterized with fire. This motif, too, is present in Sophokles, but in a "split" form, which linJu sprouting and cauterization in a manner familiar both to psycho-analysIS and to structuralists. One end of the sceptre sprouts when the ()ther end is thnut into the fireplace-i.e ., is scared. The Sophokiean splitting and re-uniting of this motif may have been inspired, on the one hand, by the Aischylean (CIuJe. 607 ff. ) reference to the burning, in a hearth, ofa (sceptre-like) log representing Me1eagros' II All sources fully analysed by Cook (3, 3.656 If.). C:mld this paralldi.sm shed at least a trace of light on the lIil1 punling cult-name: Zeus Agamemnon? (Lye. 33~, 11~3 Iq., 1369 sq.).
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KVlaimutra's DretJm in StesidwTOS' Oresteia
'75
"extemalsoul," and, on the other hand, by beliefs in phalJoi found in lit fire-places, which can impregnate girls (chap. 7). (7) Not only is the equation: snake _ phallos commonplace, but a snake's split and bloodstained skull greatly resembles the glans: the meatus is cleft-shaped and the glans is reddish and moist.il (8) The view that Orestes emerges from the phallic snake's skull is made even more plausible by certain additional considerations: (a) Venom = semen.14 (b) V enom = hlood. H Aischylos (Choe. 545 f. ) retains the venom+blood+milk ( = semen) 16 theme: this motif will be discussed further on. (e) The sexual element in the venom = semen = blood motif, made evident by the alleged aphrodisiac quality of such a mixture,17 anticipates the latent erotic element in the Aischylean KlytaimcstTa's dream (chap. 6). (d) The Stesichorean imagery implies that Orestes emerges from the snake's head as fully formed as Alhene emerges from Zeus' skull. Now, A. Eum. 658 ff. affirms tha t only the father procreates the child. This might imply that, figuratively speaking, the father ejaculates a kind of homunculus (Hp. Genit. 1.1.7 p. 470 Littre).18 (e) Even the goriness of the snake hints (in reverse) at its generative powers, for the prophylactic mutilation of Agamemnon's corpse (chap. 7) certainly included the ablation of his penis, presumably b~ause of the fear that his ghost (or chthonian snake equivalent) could procreate an avenger. 19 (9) The notion that the father's skull.phallos ejaculates a homunculus can be readily linked with Hippokrates' belief (GeniI. 1.1.7 p. 470 Littre). that the semen ultimately comes from the head (brain) (30, pp. 108 ff.). (10) It is not altogether unlikdy that even the word ." king" is not a purely grandiloquent designation. Orestes could not he called " king" until after Agamemnon's death: his "kingship" was, so to speak, " born" " Cp. th~ " bloody brid~groom" of a corrupt biblical pasuge regarding MOIIeS ' (?) circumcision. (Exwf. 4.24 fr.) "\\'aste product _ ..,m~n ; a vi~w m~ntioned but rcj«ted in AriSl. G.A. 18, p. 724~6 fr. Minos ejaculates v~nomous insects (Apollod. 3.[!l. 1 and Fraz~r ad loc.: Ant. Lib. 41 and Pa~lhomopoulos ad loc. ).Th~ eq uation; small creatura = foetus or baby is common· place. Nesoos ' ejaculat~ is poisonous, being COn1.amin.ated by the H ydra'. v~nom; Apollod. 11.7.6: D.s. 36.4-5. Quilling (in R~htr 3 1 3.\'. Neuos, col. !l80) detects a similar hint in S. Te. 580: 1fPOcjXl).wc· 6""'1"" ..1",,< , 1m, but his opinion doe'! not seem generally accepted. " T he H ydra" poisonous blood inf""...ha. of .he wounded Nc:AoI (Apollod. 2.5.2 ; PaUlI. 1I.:J7.4; D.S. 4.11.38; Hyg.fab. 30). Suicide by drinking bu!l'. blood; Plu. Y. TItnft.
",
II F.... milk = venom = semen, ..,., chap. 6. "Cp. the Nasos references, supra note 1+ "A thr:ory mentioned but r~j""ted in AriSl. G.A. 1. 17, p. 7!11 bl2 fr., 1.18, p. 724b36 f. II is also held by the mDIriline.ol Hopi Indians (6), <;p. chap. 7· nOle 55. "The dead hero Astrabakos fathered Demaratos (Hdt. 6.69), ~tc. For a direct, if (predictably) sare""tic, reference to this belief, ep. E. Suppl. 545. (But 1 quat ion, with Wilamowirz, the $Oundncso of DUmmltr'., Wcicker's, Samter'. and Nihson'l (29 1'.100) far-naching inferences from this passage and from Hom. 11. 22.72 fr. and Tyrt. 10.25 (Bcrgk).) Tala of .nak~ paternitia abound not only in GrttCe (Alcundmo the Creat), but also in many primitive societies.
MaterKiI
:Ie autor
Kl;'laimestra's Dream in Stnichcwos' Oresteia from Agamemnon's split skull, Needless to say, this view is advanced most Imtativery, even though such (quasi-punning) allusions are to be expected from an ancient Greek poet. ( II ) A further ttntative observation is that the avowed purpose of many ancient craniotomies may have been the releasing of "something" lodged in the patient's skull.llI This may PClssibly have (indirectly) led to a tacit belief that an avenging Alastor could emerge from a split skull, by means of a kind of "cephalic cae$3.rean". Viewcd in this light, the man Orestes was horn normally from Klytaimcslra, while Orestes the Avenger, the H eir (and King) "emerged" from Agamemnon's split skul1.21 Summing up, the Stesichorean dream shows Agamemnon, in the fonn of a threatening ch thonian snake, with bloodied crest, approaching Klytaimestra ; then out of the gory (and split?) skull there appears Orestes, King became avenger and avenger because King (5. aT. 132 fr. ). The phallic symbolism of the snake and the nexus between the emission of blood = venom = semen and the male cephalic birth of Orestes add an erotic dement to the anxiety elicited by Ihe appearance of the snake. The same erotized anxiety will be encountered also in the Aischylean and Sophoklean versions of this dream, for the latent content of a dream or myth is as resistant to change- as invariant (8, 10, 11)-as is its structure (28). The m ore general relationshi p between the Stesichorean theme and its Aischylean and Sophoklean variants will become evident in the course of the analysis of the latter dreams. In conclusion I note that since, in fantasy , killing is regularly equated with castration, and thc killing of a man LJy his woman with the vagina dentala fantasy, the represe ntation, in the Stesichorean text, of Agamemnon as a serpent with a split skull is psychologically and eschatologically appropriate. H e is a (chthonian) serpent because he is dead-and, like some other infamously murdered spectres, the wound that killed him is still visible on his spectral bady.n That the "castrating", murderous Kl ytaimestra should have guilt-dreams is not surprising. An ancient Icelandic saga records that a man who had had his slave Gilli castrated, had three prophetic dreams that warned him that his slave would kill him- as he actually did. ( 26). The concept of "castration anxiety" has a psychological counterpart and complement: " the anxiety of the caslrator"- which psycho-analYSIS have, so far, chosen to ignore. ,. T he &dang trephined a penon " 'ho had loed 10 commit luicid~ by drinking tobacco, M 10 re!~1l$C the poioon (7, 19). " Cpo th e "caesarean" deli,'er ies of Z ew ' twO potenlial mCU;Mon : of Alhene the hei,..,.. ( h rlu.poc) (Ac. Av. ,653), from the .plit skull , and of Dionysos, fint exeW:.:! from ~mele', womb and then from Zeus' "thigh" (which is probahl y a euphemism) . One notes that bot h the crani al sutures (Hd t. 9.83, etc.) and (to this day) those of the nether parI of the pe nil and scrotum arc called ~a,f). Much could be said about the role of the latter type of . uture in embryology, in congenital genital deformities (.17), in ri tual mutilation. (33) , in perverted rima l pra ctices {,13), in dreams (9) , etc. , whi ch would . hed light upon the na tureofZeu.''' paterna l womb" (Nonn. 9. [I ). Unfort"nalely, an adequate discuss ion of this matler would take one 100 far afield. I abo reel that A. Ag. 156g If. implie!l that another Alastor is ~ti!lto come: Orestes. 21 This beli ef is quil" tena ciou. : Eriphyte'. spectre still bean the wound that killed her $<)
(Y. Am.
6.44~).
Cpo chap. 4.
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Dream in Sitsichorfls' Oresteia
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Appendix THE ECHIDNA 'S RE PRODUCTiON
Greek beliefs concerning the reproduction of the viper- which, unlike, e.g., the cobra, is viviparous- are, as a lread y Ailianos (NA i .24) realized, relevant for the understanding or poetic treatments of the Orestes and Alkmaio n myths,2l Three aspects of that reproductive patte rn are re levant : (i ) The male wraps himself around the female (Ad. N A 1. 24). (2) The female bites off the male's head during coi tus (Hdt. 3.109). (3) The young kill their mother by emerging not from her vagina, but th rough her abdominal wall. I will now discuss these three elements: (I) In A. CIwl . i049 f., the Erinyes are descri bed as interlaced by snakes. The wrapping of the male snake around the female snake thus stands in a symme trical relationship to the tale that Klytaimest ra immobilized Agamemnon by means or a net.l. Such symmetries are important, both structurally and psycho-analytically. (2) The decapitation of the male during coitus- which ne<:cssarily draws blood- is mentioned by many sources)! Only Nikandros indicates that some males manage to escape alive, though wounded. The similarity with the Stesicho ros tut is manifest. (3) Two versions of the birth of young vipers exist: (a) They gnaw their way thro ugh the female's abdominal wall, thereby avenging their sire.l6 This recalls the tale tha t unborn lion-cubs, though apparently emerging from the lioness' vagina, des troy her womb wit h lheir claws (Hdt. 3.108). This latter lale is discredited by Aris!. GA 4.5 p.
773a . (b) The thin flanks of the female vipe r simply burst open from the pressurel7-as do, supp<>liedly, also the flanks of the female pipe-fish (Ae!. NA g.60, 15. 16). One source of the absurd tales abou t the birth of young vipers may be the female's viviparousness, which, as H dt. 3. 109 and Nic. Tim. t35 pI .. Serpenll an: d05dy linked wilh the Alkmaion~Amphiaraos mylh. T he dealh of Opheltcs linb make and child. Eriphyle was bribed with H armonia's necklace, shaped like an amph isbaina (Nona. Dimo. ~.'+4 If.); as 10 Harmonia, she became a .'''l",nt (E . 8a. 1330 If.). Given his life underground, One i.surprised nm 10 find ArnphianOi regularly represenled as a serpent. Then: is even a de<;apitation and a split skull in Itu myth: he brinK" Tydeul the skull o£ MeJanipJXl", whose bnin T ydeus owaUows (Apollod. 3.6.8). As 10 maternal blood, i1 is mentioned in E. (Alcm. )ft. 71 N'. Though scanty enough, these data jwtify Ailianos' linking of A1kmaion wilh viperine n:production pallenu -and my linlcing the laller wilh the Stcsichorean lCrpenl'. splil skull . T he pallern seem. ehange-rosistanl. , . A. A.,. 868, 11 1.5; ep. A. CIIot. 506, 999, eiC. " Hdl. 3.109; PI.-Aris\. MiT. 6+6b .6; N ie. TItn.• 26 If. and ochol;a ad loc.; Ad. /VA. ' .24· u Hdl. 3. 109; Ael. /VA t.24 (discredited in Ad. /VA ' .5.16). U Ad. /VA 1.5 .• 6 ciling Theophraslos, whose masler, Arinoldes, colTI':Ctly described the vipe-r's r-eprod=tion (Arist . HA 556&<15, etc.). II And sch . ad loe. (Busaemaker). On 11\.,.., mallen ,he ocholl . • 29 If., provide little help. Cpo allo 15, p , 173, on Nic. TM-r. 126 If.
'78
Kbtaimestra's Dream in Siesichoros' Oresteia
note, diffen from the oviparousnesJl of many other snakes. This may explain why, in A. CIwt. 543 ff., Orestes stresses so much his own and the dream-snake's birth from K lytaimeSlra's womb. What is most striking about this part or the tale is the conception orthe viper's vagina a s a "one-way street": it admits the penis but is unable to emit the young. As regards the tale's two themes, each of the two ascribes to vipers behaviour which occun in in.su l.r: ( I) At the end of the coitus the praying mantis d evours her mate, beginning with his head. Similar androphagous coital behaviou r occurs aho in other insects (37, chap. 7). (2) Some insects' young actually emerge th rough t he wails of the female' s abdomen: one of them is the midge Miastor, whose young are born already pregnant (paedogenesis) (37, chap. 7). I note here, once and for aH, that human fantasies about sexual behaviour can usually be matched by equi valent gtlluint behaviour occurring in other species, such as insects.
Bibliography ( I) Alexander, Franz; Dreams in Pairs and Series, International Journal of PsydlO-Anal}'Sis 6:446--452, [925 . (2) Baumann, H . H .: Ober Reihcnfolge und Rhythmus der Traummotive, Zentralhlat/flir PS;'Chothl!T'apie und ihre Grenzgebide 9 :213- 228, 193 6 . (3) Cook, A. B. : Zeus, 3. Cambridge, 1940. (4) Delcourt, Marie: Ortstt tl Altmion. Paris, 1959. (5) Denniston, ] . D . : T he Greek Particles1 . Oxford, 1959. (6) Devereux, George: Hopi Field Notts (MS.), 1932. (7) id.; Stdang Field Notes (MS.), '933- '935 · (8) id. : Why Oedipus Killed Laius: A Note on the Complementary OedipWi Complex, Intl!T'nalional Journal of Psycho- Anarysis 34: 1 3214 1, 1953· (9) id. : Primitive Genital Mutilations in a Neurotic's Dream, Journal of Ik American Psychoanalytic Association 2 :483- 492, '954. ( 10) id.: A Stu4Y of Abortion in Pn'm jtive Socitlies. New York, 1955,1 1975. ( II ) id. : The Exploitation of Ambiguity in Pindaros. D. 3.27, Rheinisches MuseumfiJr Philologit 109:289- 298, 1966. (n) id.: Fausse Non-Reconnaissance, Bulietin of the Menninger Clinic 31 :6g-78, 1967· ( 13) id.: From Anxielj' to M ethod in the BthauilJral Scitncts. Paris and The Hague, 1967. ( 14) id.: Reality and Dream ,' The Ps;'CIlOtherapy of a Plains Indian. (Second, augmented edition.) New York, 1969. (1 5) id.: Mohaw Ethtwps;·chiatry. (Second augmented edition.) Wa!Shington, D.C., 1969. (16) id.: La N aissance d 'Aphrodite (in) Pouillon, J ean and Maranda,
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Krytaimestra's Dream in Stlsiclwros' Oresteia
( 17) ( 18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) (24) (25) (26) (27) (28) (29) (30) (3 1) (32) (33) (34) (35) (36) (37)
'79
Pierre (eds.). £Changes d Communications (M I/anges Llci-Slrauss), 2. 1229-1::152. Paris and T he H ague, 1970. id.: The EtpUlS October Rhual Reconsidered. Mnemosyne 23 :297-301 ; 197°· id.: Essau d'Ethnopsychiatne Glnbale. Paris, 1970. Second edition, 1973· id.: Stdang Suicidt (MS.). Lecture given before the Institute of Social Anthropology, Oxford University, '972. id.: EtluwpsydUJIUJlyse Complimen/ansle. Paris, 1972. id.: Trois Re:ves en Serie et une Double Parapraxe, ElhlWpsychologie (in press). Edelstein, E. ]. and Ludwig : Asclepius I. Baltimore, 1945. Fairbairn, W. R . D.: The Effects of the King's Death upon Patients in Analysis, International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 17:278-284, 1936. Gahagan, L.: The Form and Function of a Series of Dreams, Journal of Abnormal and Social PSJ'chology 29:404- 408, 1935. Gow, A. S. F. and Scholfield, A. F. Nicander. Cambridge, 1953. Kelchner, G. D.: Dreams in Old Norse Literature and their Affinities in Folklore . London, 1935 . Kreisler, Leon: Les Intersexuels avec Ambiguite Genitale, Uz Psychiatrie dt l'Enfant 13:65- 127, 1970. Levi·Strauss, Claude: Anthropowgie Structurale. Paris, 1958. Nilsson, M . P.: Geschichte der griechuchen Religion 12. M unchen, 1955. Onians, R. B.: The Origins of European Thought . Cambridge, 195/ . Orlansky, H.: R eactions to the Death of President Roosevelt, Journal of Social Psyehowgy 26:235-266, 1947. Ritchie, William : Tk AUlhenticiry of the Rksus of Euripidts. Cam· bridge, 1964. R6hcim Gba: Psycho-Analysis of Primitive Cultural Types, International Journal of Psycho.Analysis, 13: 1- 244, 1932. Roscher, W . H . (ed.) : Arufohrliches Lexikon der gritchisCMn und rlimiscMn Mythologie. Leipzig, 1884- 1937. Sterba, R . F.: Report on Some Emotional Reactions to President Roosevelt's Death, Psychoanalytic Reuiew 33 :393-3g8, 1946. Viirtheim, J.: Stemhoros' Fragmmle und Biographie. Leiden, 1919. Wigglesworth, V . B.: The Life of InsteLI. Cleveland and New York, 1964·
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Chapter 6
Klytaimestra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
,8,
Kfytaimtstra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
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5'7
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535 (Smyth's text)
TrlJJlSialiQIl ChorDS: She dreamed BIle gave birth \0 a serpent- such is hcr own accoun t.
Drum: A nd where ends the tale and what its consummation? Chams: That she laid it to rest, as it we re a child, in swaddling bands. Oresus: What food did it crave, the new-born noxious thing? (stinging or biting beast, cpo A. Sup,,/. 8~n ) . Clwros: She herself in her dream offered it her breast. Oru Us: Surely her nipple was not unwounded by the loathsome beast? (the loathsome one). ChoTOI: No; with the milk it drew in doued blood. OTu lu: Sooth, ' tis not meaningless-the vision means a man . ChOTOS: Then from out of her sleep she raised a shriek and woke up appalled. (Smyth's translation) (The words in parentheses were added by me ; they are alternatives to Smyth's expressions.)
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Klytaimestra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi intruduttion Few AischyJean passagt::l reveal the inexhaustible richness of his poetry better than his Klytaimestra's dream. Each nuance belongs to several networks of meaning, for his art transmutes an extremely broad gamut of facts-<:ultural and other- into dream-poetry. Each detail is linked- at times by almost invisible threads- to many other details. This is an important fact, for the great poet enchants and fascinates not so much by what he provides but by what he demands: each verse chaHenges the reader to multiply its echoes by detecting its countless overtones, and its many links both with o ther passages and with the poet's world as a whole. For, Platon notwithstanding, not the least of the true poet's resources is his capacity to reveal the ultimate truth- which is psychological reality---even, and perhaps especially, through what objectively is an untruth: he highlights the very essence of reality through the metamorphosi5 of its concrete manifestations. I note again that, more than the finest real racer, the imaginary winged Pegasol conjures up the essence of speed, and especially the unconsciuus meaning or horse back riding. For Pegasos' "absurd" flight is roOied in the symbolic equation: dream-flight = erection or sexual excitement. It seems to me that PlalOn's ultimate "reality" is as eerily one-dimensional as the "pure" note, devoid of overtones, produced by the "andes Martenot". But poetry is like the rich, "impure" note of the violin, whose overtones are audible, and, in a sense, are even amplified by the human ear.' This is why K lytaimestra's lie that she had nursed Orestes (w. 896 fr. ) reveals the psychological truth even more poignantly than does the Nurse's credible affirmation that (only) she had nursed him. It is KIytaimestra'slie which makes her failure to nurse Orestes seem as monstrous as it really is: cpo A. Ag. 856, for a similar brazen lie. It will predictably be objected that, al w. 544 fr. , Orestes himself claims to have been nursed by his IYlother. _ beeause Ihal i, what he IYlust have been told. Far from being the kind of contradiction that delights certain critics, this is the touch of the consummate psychologist. The harsh, possessive mother of a patient had for many years concealed rrom him the fact that (because of an illness) she had nursed him only for a few weeks and had then entrusted him to one o r more wet-nurses. Significantly, when this man, then in psycho-analysis, asked his mo ther for information about h is wet-nurse(s), his mother claimed to remember nothing about her (o r them) -reasserting once more than she alone was his "real" mother and nurse. This case speaks for itself and disposes of the "contradictio n" between the Nurse's statement, Klytaimest ra's claims and Orestes' naive belief in his mother's lies. This, then, is the "lying" art of the poet, which reveals the undislDrud psychological truth by means of a misrepreuntaticm of objective reality. The psycho-analyst can grasp the aliveness of this art only if he is will to defer , Thus, when an orch.. lra play. only C -E-C , Ihc car will none 'he 1_ "hear" 'he (miuing) G, which is present only a. an Overl0ne. The ear will therefore hear the whole
chord: C-F.,..(G)-C,
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to the poet, who, by means of the extraordinaril y multivalent "density" (29) of the poetic utterance, brings into being the wonder of reality, for he alone has the key to it. In Literary CriticiJm, one must note, first of all, that, in tragedy, Kly. taimestra's dream is told not by her, but by a third party: by the Chorm in A. Choe.; by Chrysothemis in S. El. Also-and this is true especially of A. Choe. but to a lesser extent ors. El. as well- infonnation about the content of the dream is elicited by questioning the informant(s). By contrast, nearly all other drcall1.'l in surviving Greek tragedies are reported by the
dreamer in person and, moreover, never in the course of a stichomythia. The Erinyes dream (A. Eum.) is both represented on the stage and then (partly) narrated. Though from the literary point of view Klytaimestra's dream is prophetic, from the psychological point of view its "prophetic" character is almost irrelevant. Moreover, Klytaimestra considers it ominous or prophetic only after she wakes up, terror-stricken (929). This not only fits Greek belief, but also undersco res that the defining of this dream as prophetic is not part of the "dream-work" proper, but of the dream's secondary elaboration, on awakening, in response to its affective core. In tragedy, the defining of any dream as prophetic is always an imputation.2 The ascription of a prophetic character to this particular dream is facilitated by thc fact that it manifestly does not reproduce a past ellent, for not Klytaimestra but the old Nurse had suckled Orestes.3 This leads 10 the not altogether correct assumption that the dream concerns the future onb'. Actually, it is not the manifest content of the dream bUI in far more important affective core which is rooted in the past: it reflects guilt feelings and self-punitive impulses related to Klytaimestra's inadequacy as a mother (infra). Moreover, in her dream, Klytaimestra belatedly performs a task she had failed to perform at the proper time. Such dreams are fairly common and are exemplified by the Erinyes' dream (chap. 4). Also, in a psychologically plausible manner, this belated dream-performance of a neglected duty includes a built-in punishment-as does the Erinyes' dream: the snake bite anticipates the goad of self-reproach in the Erinyes' dream (chap. 4). Thus, there are basic psycho-analytical and structural affinities between Klytaimestra's dream and the dream of her own Erinyes. These considerations show that, as soon as it goes beyond the obvious, literary criticism leads directly to psycho-analytical insights, simply because great poetry deals persuasively with human personality. Repetiti1JeTUsS: Given the complexity of the dream a nd its countless links with other passages and with various customs, a certain amount ofrepetition will help the reader to follow my argume nt, without having to leaf back in order to locate the information needed at a given point. Though aClithetically unsatisfactory, repetition is helpful in following complex reasoning about complex facti. Dream QJU/ Context: The analysis of Kl ytaimestra's dream would be a Cp. 33, passim; 66. "Terror is the dream'. interpreter" (A. CJwt. 929) • • Moreover, "" is the cao.e in many primitive groupo, .he nunt:d him"" tklllalld and nOt "on II<:hr:dule" (749 ff.). This practice is, inexplicably, not mentionr:d in (52). 1
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K!Jtaimestra's Dream in AischyuJS' Choephoroi fairly simple task ujt were all that survived of A. Chot. (cp. chap. 3). But, as is, it must be interpreted in its context. Now, parts of that context seem to contradict certain details of the dream- but only in order to reveal, through objectjw untruths and incompatibilities, the dream's underlying psychowgical truth- a poetic technique which I discussed a moment ago. If, for example, we did not possess the Nurse's credible statement (749 ff.) that sill alone had nursed Orestes- i.e., if vv. 749--760 were missing- the dream's manifest content could be held to reproduce (with one nightmarish distortion only) memories of Klytaimestra's nursing of Orestes. If so, her subsequent plea to be spared- reinforced by the baring of her breasts which, she claims, once suckled Orestes (vv. 8g6 fr. ; cpo E. Phoin. 1568)-would have to be taken as a legitimate reminder of the "debt" a son owes to the breasts that fed him. But the Nurse's account renders both these plausible and "objective" interpretations untenable. The truth of the dream is more psychological-and hence more elusivethan objective. The dream must therefore be analysed " in situ", with special reference to vv. 27 fr., 311 fr., 535 fr., 749 ff., and 896 ff. ( I) f t!. 32iJ., which describe the outward, observable manifestations of Klytaimestra's dream, provide only one striking datum. Thill passage mentions a cry of terror during the dream- but the actual dream-narrative does not even hint at an outcry. In fact, though the giving birth to a serpent, its savage nursing at the breast, its swaddling and being put 10 rest are horrible enough, the dream narrative itself does not even hint at any terror Klytaimestra may have experienced whik she performed these tasks in dream (cp. chap. II ). Yet, her matter-of-fact activities in dream would be routine and anxiety-free only if her baby were human. This casualness increases, if anything, the oniric character of her dream- for real dreams, like great art, make the near-impossible seem not only natural and credible, but even inevitabJe.~ How, then, can one reconcile the reported cry of terror with Kl ytaimestra's tranquil and matter-of-fact dream behaviour ? The simplest assumption would be that Kl ytaimestra cried out in terror when her horrible dream awakened her at night. The text does not forbid such an interpretation, and may perhaps even encourage it. An alternative would be to suppose that the matter-of-fact behaviour of Klytaimestra's dream image is supplemented by the terrified- and terrifying --outcry of the sluping Kl ytaimestra. This would imply that the calm dreamed behaviour emanates from one level of psychic functioning and the frightened shriek from another level . Three arguments may be mustered in favot1r of this interpretation: (a) Sappho's (fr. 31 LP) mind is lucid-all her abnormal reactions to a painful situation are corporeal (physiological). I have shown elsewhere (39) that her objectivity is unimpaired precisely because she soma/ius what, in most cases, would be psychic pain . • Similarly, an uno:pected tum of a Mozart melody or a bold modulation in Schubert are . wiling when heard for the fi~t tim~. But, on", h~ard, th~y S<>em totally inevitable; one cannol even imagine afterwarda that they could have bcc:n compoo.ed differently. Cp. also (50) and chap. I.
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(b) Concurrent verbal and postural behaviour may be cOnlradiclory, each reflecting one aspect of an ambivalence.' (c) Klytaimestra's tranquil performance in dream, which contrasts with her terrified outcry in sleep, can perhajn be correlated also with the Greek view that dreams are "intruders"; that dream personages (the dreamer', own dream-image included) perform a kind of play before the sleeper's inner eye. But this is certainly the least strong orthe three points that can be made in this connection. The most revealing aspect of Klytaimestra's dream-behaviour is the actual activity to which it leads on awakening. Frightened by her ominous dream, she sends libation-bearers to Agamemnon's tomb, so as to appease his angry (278) shade. It is therefore to this ri te that I now turn. (2) In 00. 27 ff., the mourning libation-bearers' behaviour practically duplicates K lytaimestra's dream activity. They, too, bart their breasts (cp. E. Phoin. 1491; Theocr. 15.134) and Ihen traumatiu them with blows. Even the libation they offer recalls the mixture of liquids Orestes draws in dream from Klytaimestra's breasts (infra). (3) Vv. 749ff.- pauerned in every res pect on Hom. It. 9-485 ff.Lestablish that only the Nurse suckled Orestes. Klytaimestra's dream is, thus, not a distorted replica of earlier events, and her demand to be spared (896 ff. ), bC{;ause she had "nursed" Orestes, is a factual dC{;eit-but one which reveals important psychological truths. Moreover, several details of the Nurse's account echo altitudes present in the dream and in the lie. (a ) Baby = (witIC3ll) beast (13oT6v) = snake baby (cp. Hom. Od. 19. 53 0 ). (b) Nursing is troublesome and saps the woman's "soul" = snake bite (cp. chap. 7 and E. Phoin. 1433). (c) A reward is expected-as in vv. 896 ff.- for the nu rsing. Vv. 896ff. which contain a pack of lies and especially Klytaimestra's claim to have nursed Orestes must be scrutinized further on. These are some of the facts which I must rt/Jfa~dly rC{;all in the course of my analysis of this dream. The Observobk As/Nc/$ of K lytaimestra's dream have already been partly discussed elsewhere (33). Klytaimestra dreams in her bower (~VX6c) (35).7 A terrifying voice, inextricably commingled with the wrathful breath of sleep, c{;~lOes through the women's part of the palace. This much is clear. The rest is n01although, except for v. 32, most editon print the same lex!.! But the • Cp. the heroic Antos' fear-diarrhoc:;u before ,el baulO'l {Plu. V. A .al. ~9.5 and p;lS$im) ; Henri IV of France .hook like a leaf before riding into combat. As to clinical data, one of my palientll spoke lovingly of hit brother--bul hit posture on the couch wall th at or a pugil;'t. Cpo Sen. Plumb. II~I , and (1'4) . • Even the ,potted tunic it "tramformed" into $Oiled diapers. Bowdleri~ed in Q.S. 3,-475 fr. {inrra). 7 R ow.seau (95, p. 123) tri C! 10 r eprClent thi, bower as a kind of oracular adrton. This borders On the absurd. The dreaming of a 'ignifica nl dream in a particular chamber docs not turn it into an oracular ohrine. • I di..eg:o.rd, as irretevant in this discussion, variations in the arrangemen t of the verse patterns.
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Krytaimestra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi translations of Smyth, Mazon and Thomson differ from each other in significant relpects. In seeking to decode this cryptic passage, I fed that one must look beyond lcJtical and syntactical problems : thcse verses must make sense in tenns of Aischylean (and Greek) beliefs about dreams and, I submit, also in tenns of psychology. I do not profcss to have all the answers. I simply seek to define the difficulties and to comment on them. The basic problem is whether the shout and the breathing do or do not emanate from the same source. But it is best to postpone the discussion of this question until after the other problems have been considered . The terrifying shout emanates from an unspedfied "power", which interprets dreams during the dream, to the household as a whole. Those who hear the shout understand the meaning of the dream at once, though they do not know (as yet) what Klytaimestra is actually dreaming just then. If, as one must suppose, "interpreling the dream" is to be taken li terally, this means that those who hear the shout are given the "interpretation" of an (ongoing) dream ( = ridd1e),9 withoul knowing (as yet) what the dream is. They simply learn the solution of an as yel unknown problem. Another example of this type of procedure is psycho-analytic technique, which consists in discovering the "questions" which the patient's utte rances (unwittingly) answer. This may be contrasted with what happened at the Delphic oracle. The client first heard the Pythia " rave" glossolalically,IO then the priest told him what the Pythia' utterances "meant". Yet, one cannot but suppose that here the shout is both inarticulate and "intelligible", in a general way.11 It conveys affici- and, in Aischylos, the basis of dream interpretations is the dream's affective impact, cpo A. Ch~. 929 and (33). II is therefore obvious that the scream- qua manijeltation of the dream's a.ffective content- rates as its "interpretation": Klytaimestra has a bad dream which, as everyone assumes at once, can only refer to her punishment for Agamemnon's murder. All this the women infer from the shout. I strcss the word "infer", for I have shown elsewhere (35) that the text of the oracles handed to clients simply substituted for a real and meaningful quandary a verbal puzzle inherently devoid of sense, between whose various possible "meanings" the recipient still had to choose. In this instance, what the women alTectivcly infer from the shout happens to be COrre<:t. \Vha t reinforces the impression that the shout occurs during the dream, but is not part orthe dream's manifest content, i8 that Klytaim es tra behnves in dream in a very matter-of-fact and efficient way : she gives birth to a snake, nurses it, is bitten by it, swaddles it and then lets it rest. Not a word hints at the txptrienct of pain or of anguish in dream, though one would expect • Anst. p".j. [.. ~8a2+ fr. I. Cpo chap. 3, note 19. [I A Sedang Moi shaman once shouted in dream: "Ghost! ghost!" and was 110 obviou$ly ;n the clutch"" of a nightmare, th at he had to be awakenM by (hose: who oaw him thrallh about. AlIusumed-correct1y-that he had dreamed of being allackai by ghosts, though th ey did not know exactly u·iu1.1 he had dn:amM until he told them aft" being awahncd ( 14). Similarly, if I hear a ICr~am, I can gUCSllthat IIOmeone is in pain, even though I do nOI know wh~thcr that per'llOn has a k;dn"Y·ston~ attack Or ill being auaultcd by a robber, ,~.
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that to be part of the dream. Then, her task calmly completed, she screams (535). Now, there arc dreams whose affective impact seems incompatible with their manifest content. One may have what sums to be a pleas3m dream and yet feci very deprcsscd on awakening. (H om. Od. 20.87 fr.) Conversely, a Malay who dreams of being bitten by a snake is cheerful on
awakening: his dream forme!]s luck in amorous intrigues
( 11 ) ,11
Better still, affect can become total1y i.osolated from symplOm a nd performance.ll Sappho's mind, as described in]r. 31 LP, is totally lucid, for all her anxie ty is transposed to the somatic level (39). These data show that it is psychologically possible for Kl ytaimestra to scream only at the end of a dream which "should" arouse anguish, even though her behaviour in dream is quite matter of fact . One might even say that her dream behaviour can be calm and efficient precisely because the horror which the dream "should" inspire is manifested on a different level of functioning, in the form of a terminal scream (535). I the refore accept the view that the scream is, in fact, that of the dreaming Klytaimcslra. But I canno t unconditionally agree with Rousseau's flat assertion (95, p. 103) that the actual dream event during which she screams is the one when she is bitten. While I concede that this is possible, she could have screamed just as appropriately during the pangs of giving birth to the snake. However, v. 535 stongly suggests a scream on awakening, as does the reference to the sleeper's heavy breathing.14 On the whole, the text does not penni! one to detennine accllralery the dream event which cawed the dreamer to ~c ream. Moreover, thu va gueness of the narrative, as regards the timing of the scream, only increases iu psychological persuasiveness, for the handling of time in dream is notoriousl y capricious, precisely ~ause the dream is timeless (chap. 8). There remains the problem that the text Stems to d ifferentiate between the shouting "power" and the heavily breathing sleeper. This is confirmed by the fact that the shout is frightening, even though one would expect K lytrumestra's scream to express only pain or a nguish. This difficulty is not insuperable. Greek dream theory viewed dreamfigu res-and the dream itself- as intrusions fro m the outer world. More important still is Klytaimestra's claim that she is not on(y a mortal woman and wife, but also the Atreidai's Alastor (spirit of vengeance: A. Ag. 1501)- though the Choros holds that an Atastor simply abets Kl ytaimestra (1508). This explains, I feel , wh y the sleeping woman, undergoing a painful experience in dream, docs not scream with pain and fright o n her own behalf, but shouts terrifyi ngly and breathes wrathfully in kr capacity " I ddiberatdy do not cite heu Pendope'spstuM-paradoxical tears during her theoretically "encouraging" duam (Hom. Od. 19.535 ff. ). That dream has, for Penelope a! she ..,,11y is, a " discouraging" meaning (24). "For certain neurotic housewives, e>:tremdy efficient house-clea ning is a means of maalering anxiety (47). "One might even imagine the ""rea m to be that of the' neonate, physically emitted by the sleeping moth er. In one instance an adolescen t, while dreaming ofbeing attacked by a tion , gro..... led in .Iup, j U$! as the lion growled in hi, dream. But luch "vicarious vocalizauoos" in sleep a re 10 rare that they deserve on ly a footnote. (There may be a human tendency to imitate an aggressive animal'. sound, K.J.D. )
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KlytaimutTtJ's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi as an Alastorl~who, at this point, is abo the one who will insure that she will be punished. In this sense, her threatening, audible, AlaslOr-like shout and her matter-of-fact dream reaction to great pain and danger show that the Alastor who shouts thrQUgh Mr vocal chords is, in the last resort, Kl ytaimestra's own punitive Super-ego. This is tht more cred ible as, in dream, she herself gives birth to and nurtures her own Alastor: Orestes. Apparendy this A1astor uses Kl ytaimestra's vocal chords as Aponon uses those of the Pythia- for the terrifying shout and the threatening anxiety dream are both products of her Super-ego. As 10 the dreaming, the tc:xt specifies thai it ila p}X"m;u a tllliuuiglJl (34;
Tiu Dream's Conttnt Tlu Stesichortar/. Modd's snake is preserved, though in A. Chot. it represents not Agamemnon but Orestes. The model's narrative structure is, however, discarded. The reverse happens in S. EI.: the snake is replaced by a sceptre, but the Stesichorean na rrative's structure remains unchanged l6 (chap. 7). Before examining the dream's manifest content, detail by detail, a general problem must be consldered. Serpents pervade all of the Omuia and especially the Chotphoroi. Sooner or later, nearly every important personage is called some kind of snake.17 Agamemnon is only a partial exception, for the serpent in Aischylos' Stesichorean model is Agamemnon (chap. 5). Since, in Aischylos, the dream-snake is Agamemnon's son and avenger Orestes, it is obvious that, in A. Chot., too, the shadow of a serpentine Agamemnon lurks behind the serpentine Orestes. IS Moreover, whereas in the Stesichorean model the serpent Agamemnon gives (cephalic) birth to a human Orestes, in A. Chot. the- figurative viper Klytaimestra gives birth l9 to a serpentine Orestes. 20 This development reflects well the pitilessly irresistible progression of even the logically most absurd anxiety dream. Speaking specifically of K lytaimestra's human image in her own dream,2t the fact that she gives birth to a snake makes her sufficiently "Profossor Lloyd-Jones thinu, however, that an Ala.tor ..,,,1 the dream. The tip (head) both of the serpent and of tht sceptre "produces" O"""tes. 11 K1ytaimeslra: Ag. 1233, C/roe. 249, 994f (twice) , 1047; Klytaimestra'. Erinyes: Chof. lOy>, Eum. 128; Aigisthos: CIwl. 1047; Orestes: 527, 544, 549, 928; cpo also Apolloo·. I.
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"Cp. chap. 8 for the equi ..... lence of the avengt! and Ihe avenged . Rousseau (95, p. 122) complainllthat interpretations of K1ytaimestra', dream coofU$C tht literal (Orestes) and the Iymbolic (Agamemnon ) ..,rpent. H e docs not..,., Ihat the two are the same. " Perha]» like a viper (chap. 5), or like a Lioness (A. At. 1258), whose womb her young were thoU3ht to deslroy (Hdl. 3.U.-.8). ,. Since the liain Agamemnon is, in Stes;choros, a chthonian dream_snake, Klytaimelra, his stayer, is bitten on Ihe breast by her snake-<:hild. See atso Mohave belief! about the snake-like babies of sn~ayel"l] (38, p. 253 f. ) . "Sina: Ihe puts O"""tes to the breast, she cannot be snake-slM/Hd in her own dream, though I note that drums about femate Illllkes are reported from pre-Greek anliquity (85, p. 253)·
Klytaimtslra's Duam in Aischylos' Choephoroi
serpentine for the purposes of the dream, even if one ignores both her diabolically serpentine charac ter and the fact that (in Stesic horos) her murdered husband, the father of Orestes, is a snake. The wife and mother of snakes can hardly be anything but a snake (in human shape). The dream requires nothing more than thai . As 10 the fact that : Serpent = Agamemnon (Stesich.) and Serpent = O restes (A. Choe. ), it creates no problem, especially in Kl ytaimestra's dream. \Vomen fantasy with almost monotonous regularity that they acqui re a phallos- that of the husband- by being given a child; i.e., child = phallos (of the husband).ll There is even striking Greek evidence for this view. Poseidon boasts that the gods always make their women pregnant (Hom. Od. 11.249 f. ), but, instead of impregnating the raped Kaini5, he gives her a penis (25), tuming her into a (penis-proud) man who worships only hiJ own spear. 2J Serpent-Birth is explicitly mentioned (527, 928) . Some of my students have argued that this event did not frighten Kl ytaimestra, for, instead of discarding the you ng snake, she promptly nursed it- which, incidentally, is not realistic, for Ihe newborn hardly ever nurses at QnCt.24 But I think these observations are too literal and disregard, as to fright, the overall impression created by the dream (supra), and, as regards the compression of time,2, both the timelessness of all dreams and Cicero's accurate observation that nothing is too weird or too absurd to happen in dream.2 6 1 feel that the reference to birth has two purposes: (I ) To underscore Kl ytaimestra's viperine character. (2) To permit Orestes 10 assert his identity with the snake, by stressing that both he and the serpent-baby came from the same place (543). Before I go further, I must scrutinize the details of this birth. That a live birth- such as tha t of vipers- is meant, goes without saying. U nlike most serpents, Klytaimestra docs not lay an egg. This point is worth noting, for her mother, Lcda, did lay an egg.27 I also note that, despite Greek myths about "caesarean births" (Dionysos, Asklepios) (chap. 5), and des pite the belief that the viper's young burst through the abdominal waH2! while the young of the lioness destroy her womb,N Orestes must be imagined as being born in the 11
On this equation I cite, once and for all, H . Deuuch', g r<:at book: Th. Psy
W
(13) .
.. Apotlod. Ep. \.QQ and Fraze r ad loe. Oddly enou gh, another Gre<:k spear_wo nhipper i. named Parthenopaioo (A. &pt. ~~9) . .. After gi"ing birth, the mother produces at fint not milk, but Ixatings (o:oIO$t rum ). R eal milk ;' produced somewhat lal~r. In ..,me primiti"e societ ies lhe c hild i. put 10 t he breast o nly after milk production hu begun (2, pp. 80 f. J. " I n dreams, A. Ag. 893 f. and e hap. 6; in tragedy a. a whole, cpo 4" , . Cie. d•• div. 7..7','46. " H elene: Apollod. 3.10.7; H yg. ~s' ,on. 7..8, ctc. I n other "cn ions she was ke pI in a box (Apotlod. 3. l O.~ ) . Lale tales of the egg_birth of her brothers, the Dioskou ro i (",h . H om. Od. tt.7.g8 ; Kh. Lye. 88; sell. Ca ll im. in Dian. 7. 37. ) were probably inspired by tbe Moliom!s myth (I byc.f,. 28Sf4P .. 16B = ~D) . "According to a Tikopia n myth, caesa rea n birth existed bifoTt binh per ""gillam (I, quoting Raymond Firth ). Such nOlions arc rooted in infantile theories of reproduction (navel _birth), aJ.., encounte,-.,d in adult neurotics. ( I, my, dr, treated . uch a case.)
"KlylaimeslIa = liona.1, A. tlg.
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Klylairruslra's Dream in Aischylol' Choephoroi
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normal way. At the same time, one notes that the neutral term : "place" (xwpoc) which Orest es uses, specifies the plaa f rom which ( womb), rather than the path by which (vagina), Orestes " left" the mater nal body.lO But the fantasy that birth is an inuolun/ary expulsion is not wholly absent. I t is simply transposed to a later phase of Orestes' life : as a child he is sent to Strophios (A. Ghoe. 679) ; late r on, he must exile himself after his matricide CA. Ghoe. fin .). T his, again, is the process of the " motif-split": the expulsion-fantasy is detached from the (a ctive) birth, but reappears twice in connection with Orestes' later fa te. I n short, there is no direct allusion to a viperine, "abdomen-bursting" birth, though a husband-slaying, viperine wife would deserve that fat e. But she gives birth in a manner which does not ha rm her a/first. Still, vi perine or leonine models for matricidal births are not altogether forgotten. Like the "expulsion", the matricide, too, is simply detached from the birth, and occurs after a certain lapse of time: in d ream the ma tricide occurs during the nursing; in the plot it is postponed until Orestes is an adult.ll Even so, in at least one text (AP 9.126) Kl ytaimestra mentions two alternatives: a stab in the breast [as in the dream and (with H ermann ) in A. Eum . [03], or else a stab in the belly (which recalls the viperine birth; also T ac . Ann. 14.8). In short, neither the fa ilure to specify the manner of the baby's emergence nor the nOli-synchronicity of t he birth and the matricide suffice to obliterate the underlying viperine birth motif. T his justifies the anc ient view (Ae!. NA [.24) that Orestes beha ved exactly like a young, fat her-avenging, mother-destroying viper. Nurring = LibaliOlI. I have already pointed out that the ritual gestures of the libation-bearers, as well as their libations, closely parallel the dream. I now propose to scrutini ze these similarities more closely. ( I) Since both Orestes (in dream ) and the dea d (chthonian) Agamemnon are "snakes", they are "equivalent" in every significant respect. Thus : (a ) Orestes = Agamemnon's (human) Erinys = Agamemnon (chap. 4) . (b) The Avenger = The Avenged. W hen no avenger is available, the sla in man is given a spear, so as to enable his ghost to be his own avenger)2 (2 ) Agamemnon is given a {jquidlibation (X0>'!) , made of milk, honey and wine : H om. Od. 10. 518, 11.26. But in ancient times bloody sacrifices were also offered to the dead.J l \ Ve are entitled to ask why no bloody sacrifice is offered in this case, b y a queen who could well affo rd it. •• Interprelers of this dn:am, who do nOI read the texl carefully enough, might be: tempted. [0 vi"", Ihit birth as an allusion 10 Oresl"" (fint aod /or "o:<:ond) exile from hi, home, bc:cauu: the neurotic oono:i\"o of bir th as an expulsion. But the lext (1I<7\m,;w: quilled ) forbid. Ihis inlerpretalion. In A. ChOl .- a. in Olher lalo of vip<:rine birth"bc:iog born" is n:presen [ed as an at/illt p<:rformance On the pari of th e baby-nol of the mOlher (44, chap. 6). "The comprep ion of this inler\"al in the dream iJ a characlerislically dreamli ke operation, cp o supra , nOle 25. II &.-0. 47.6g; Eur. Tr. 1147 f.; Poll. 8.65; Ister ap. EM 354.33 fr.; AB 237-30 f.; c p o 90, p. sBs. " Cpo 81, I ', p. 180 ; H om. II. 23.175 fr.; also H om. Od. [[ passim.
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Klylaimutra's Dream in Aischylas' Choephoroi
I submit- not dogmatically and yet with some confidence-that bloody sacrifices uvivifod the dead, as in Hom. Od. 11 .3:2, etc.l4-and that is 1M fast thing KlylaimtStra wou.ld wish Mr sacrijiu /0 bring about. By contrast, like lIu rsing,l~ liquid libations presumably appeased (put to rest?) the angry dead- which is what K lytaimema aims at in dream with regard 10 the hungry serpent-baby and, in the waking rite, wit h respect to the angry Agamemnon- but both limes 100 late.J6 Yet the similarity is even more far-reaching. I n reality K lytaimestra caused the Nurse to suckle O restes in he r place. She delegates the libation rite to Elcktra17 and to her house slaves, who actually comment o n Kl ytaimestTa's not performing Ihis rite in person (45 ff. , 89 ff., etc. ). But blood--clolltd blood, on the ground- is none the less mentioned also by the bearers of the bloodless libations (66 IT., etc. ) and, in dream, Orestes sucks clOlltd blood from the nipple (533) (infra). Also, the libation, containing milk, will sooner or la ter ciot,JII and, a s we have already seen, in dream milk is mixed with clotted gore. (M ore on this point below.) I t is this incomplelt duplication of the dream by the libation that reveals the real'nexus between the two. I n certain primitive societies, which hold that all dreams mus t come true, one can ave rt a major calami ty by a n a nticipatory mock enactment of the dreamed-of catastrophe (68, p . ·54, etc.) , which represents the dream's inevitable but "miniaturized" realization (Aristid. passim). I n short, both the libation and the dream-nursing are meant to be apotropaic, and both fail to achieve their purpose: th e libation doc:1 not soothe Agamemnon's wrathful shade, nor does the dream nursing render the avenging serpent-baby harmless. }o'or the libation is not o ffered lovingly and in person, just as the infa nt Orestes was not lovingly nursed at his mother's breast. The vicariousness and lovelessness of both performances render them ineffectual, though K lytaimestra's deputies perform their respective tasks with loving tenderness. But Ihat love comes from them and not from the murderess on whose behalf they a ct. The psychological spuri ousness both of the libation and of the dream nursing renders them ineffective. A further- and extremely important-similarity between the libation and the dream nursing: the tr ansformation of a "good" libation into "bad " offscourings (vv. 98 ff. ), will be discussed further on. The Fear of a Bite is, in the case of a woman as vi ri le and unmatern al as Klytaimestra, almost certainly a manifestation of the " female castration anxiety", which often equates the (erecti le). nipple with the penis, the rest of the breast with the scrotum and milk with semen (36). A literary consideration also sug~ts this inter preta tion: the Stesi.. Cpo Od)lS!leU5' promise to ""e ritice a / .. /;1. ram and >wI a bafrt" heifer (H om. Od. ff.) to T eiresias-i.e., to the only ghost whose wits are unimpai red even in Hades (Hom,Od, to.492 ff. ). l' H om. 11. ~~.79 ff.; A. CIwl. 5~9 . •• She is biuen wIIil, nu ... ing. "Who, in S. £1., talks of "nurturing" or "'nuning" Oresles (chap. 7) in a manner which recalls the tirade of the NUn<: in A. CIwl. 749 fT. I. I am Indebted for tM point to my friend a nd Itudent, M . Roger NOl2, M .A • 1 0. 5~ 1
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Kgtaimestra's Drtam in Aisehylas' Choephoroi
'93
chorean serpent's bleeding crest is preserved or replicated in this dream by the bleeding nipple. The Aischylean modification of the Stesichorean motif presupposes the symbolic equivalence: snake _ penis = nipple (cp. the Qatal HOytik vulture-beak nipples) . It could even be argued that the bicten nipple motif replicates in reverse the bicten penis theme of the vagina dentala motif (Folklore r-,'lotif F 547. 1) ; an interpretacion supported by clinical findings.l~ It goes without saying that some babies do painfully bite the nipple. But the point is that whereas some women react to this with anguish,40 other mothcrs takc pride in their malt babies' violent nursing. What matters here is not that some babies do bite, but that this would make a woman like Klytaimestra anxious. After all, in Greck belicf, the Mainades nursed young panthers and the like, ostentatiously (counter-phobically) dmying their fcar of being bitten. 41 I venture to suggeSt that, underlying the fear of the baby's bite, is the fantasy that nursing represents a kind of cannibalization of the mother,42 which, in some primitive cultures, is expressed almost explicitly.~l A1though there seem to have been no Greek tales of children canni balizing their parents, H erodotos was apparently fascinated by the practice, found among certain" Indians", of a funcral cannibalization of deceased relatives; he mentions this custom twice (Hdt. 3.38, cp o3.99). Also, I have shown elsewhere (43, chap. 5) that the imputation of cannibalistic impulses to babies is a projection on the baby of the parents' te1rnophagic impulses - and it need hardly be recalled that many Greek myths mention the parental cannibalization of children; Kronos, Tantalos, Thyestes, Tereus, (Lykaon?), etc. Th Bile of the Nursing Serpent appears to have more than one root. ( I) Even in modern Macedonia, if a cow's milk contains traces of blood, this is thought to be due to a serpent or a daemon having nursed at her udder. 44 In India, the sacred temple cobras are given bowls of milk. Mohave beliefs about snake-headed babies are cited further on . (~) For the woman, being bitten by a snake can also symbolize coitus, and especially defloration. Alkcstis' bridal chamber was full of snakes (Apollod. 3.9.15). Clinical data paralleling this scene exist .•' In some folk beliefs snakes may even seek to crawl into a woman's vagina.# U An analytical patient gn:a\ly dreaded injury to his p.onis- and this not only during actual coitus: he catd'ully ..... rapped his penis in a blanket before masturbating, fantasying all the while that he was "torturing, oh $0 gently !"-a girl's nippit. (Thoe wcre the patient', own
wordo.)
.. Cpo infra; H~ nuning HerakJes, and Mohave belid's about snake·headed babies (38, pp. 257 If.) • ., AUltralian wOmen nurse dingo dog puppies (7, p . 22 ). Ainu women nurse hea.r cu bs (s8), etc . •, Cp. the reference, in the next section, to Ihe symmetry between this dream and the feast of Thycstcs (nOie 57 ) . .. E.g., the Papuans of Geelvink Bay, infra, notc 51. "Infonnation provided by my student, Mme D. Cakule;·a.Diamantis, . a nati,'c of Macedonia (8) . ., Cp. General Intr<;>duction, notc 10. Phallic gian lll; chap. 2, nOle 41. .. Even though M. E. Opler (84) has tried to pr<we--absurdly, .. La Barre h .. !hown (6#, p. 3~7 )-that in Jap4Ul the 'nake is not a phallic symbol, he mentiolUl the belid'that a
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Krytaimestra's Dream in Aischyfos' Chocphoroi
That nipple-biting during nursing is related to sexual excitation will be shown in a moment. This indicates that a nursing dream is also a sexual excitation dream. T/i( Biting of the Nipple is viewed as a major problem in man y cultures, and leads to a variety of beliefs, only two of which can be considered here. In many Euro-Asiatic steppe and tundra cultures, babies born with teeth are bdic\'cd to be<:ome shamans (and witches) Jate r on, and are said to bite the nipple while nursing. 47 I think it is not hazardous to suggest that Orestes resembled an evil shaman in several wa ys : he commiued matricide, he had repeated attacks of madness, he underwent severa! magical cures, he ended up by (shamanistically) mutilating his finge~1 and even displayed what may be Iykant hropic traits for, in E. IT (296 fr. ), he rages in the midst of the cattle like a rabid wolf. Now, in pleading for her life, Klytaimestra got.-s out of her way to drn)', be it only implicitly, that Orestes was born with teeth: she "rC{;alls" Ihal he clasped her nipple with his gums (ov?-.ov) (8g8). But this id yllic deta il is an invention, for not Kl ytaimestra but the Nurse gave Ihe breast to Orestes (749 IT. ) and Klytaimeslra's failure 10 nurse OreSles may well have been traditional, for it reappears, ralher surprisingly, in S. El. t 143 fr., where the virgin Elektra claims to have been the onry o ne 10 "nurse" (figuratively) the infant Orestes (c ha p. 7). In A. Chot. K lytaimestra's spurious claim~9 is part of her attempt to lend force and persuasiveness to the baring of her breasts (infra). Her reference to Orestes' nursing with his gums is therefore automatically suspect. I ts main objective is apparently to drny lhat he had teeth that could bite, and therefore to deny also the ominous realism of her dream.~ This explains her mentioning the "gllms" .......-.ofwhich mo re anon . Needless to say, the pro blem here is not whe ther the "real" Orestes was born with teeth. What matters is that he bites the nipple in Kl ytaimestra's dream. This means tha t Aischylos represents Kl ytaimestra as the type of (masculine) woman who dreads nuning, fean the baby'~ ("castrative") bite and views the infant as a destructive, predatory parasite. Such women are not only commonly encountered in paediatric practice, but the con· snake may crawl into the vagina of a girl who sleeps in the fields. T his latter fanl.uy is 5Q common Ihat C,'cn a no ....d dealing with thc lI.-lau Mall re"olt (9~) mcntion. its exploitation in the interrogation ora captured lI.-lau Mau wOman. Among theji"aro Indian'. not a snake but a wate, daemon emen the "agina of a bathing woman, in the form of a fi.h or watet" inoccl (b), p. 22 1) . Alexandros the Great waS allegedly fathered by a serpent (Plu. V. Ala. 3.1). But in such tales Ihere i.J ~t"..r an all .... ion 10 thc intromiuion or the serpent's i>ttlu. Thi. forcd one to aSSume that the serpent i. thought to crawl into the "agina h'(ldjirsl, 1lI il dOC! in an obscene no ....d ( , ) and that iu venom plaY' the role of semen. Profruor Verdeniu, brought to my attentions Onians' (83, pp. 108 If.) finding Ihal , in some Grcek belief., the semen ultimately originates in the head (as, incidentally, dOC! l nake ~·enom! ) . (Cp. Plu.fr. 50, Sandbach and H es. Op. ~87:::A1c. Z 23.8 f. LP, abo chap. ~ for Greek rnerencd to .... enOmou. semen.) T he fact that in . uch tal es th e makc', tnti,. body functions '" a phallos ;., alm ost certainly related to the dinicaHy well_known body .. phallos nJualion (51 , 69) . ., R6hcim (93) lim many . ueh data; the bclin i. also found in some Amerkan Indian tribes: a nuning Na,-aho baby was oburwd!O hurt it, mOlher ( ~, p. 8, ) . .. Cpo A.i>lid. 0 •. 4B'~7' Thi. ;• • ymbolic ..,If-e,,,,,>>.I;O,, . .. Olher . puriou< cia,,,,,, A. Ag. 887 fr., E. ,u,d. 256; Ar. &n., '469 f. (K .J.D. ) . ,. For a fUfther untruth, cpo " Lie Sequence", infra.
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KLytaimestra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
'95
ception of the baby as a parent-destroyer is actually a standard belief in variow cultures.'1 It was present in Greek culture and is mentioned in A. C~. 749 fT. The Nurse calls the infant Orestes " as witless as a btasl" (753 ). In nursing him she had made great sacrifices, spending her "soul" a nd performing irksome, somewhat disgusting and realistically described tasks.52 The biting of the nipple by a snake can be readily linked with a contemporary Macedonian belief (noted supra). Aioschylos' dream-imagery probably drew for inspiration on a similar popular superstition. Even more relevant is the Mohave Indian belief that if a pregnant woman (or even her unborn child's father) kilLJ a snake, the baby wil[ be born "snake-headed". sl Since its poisonous fangs would bite the mother's nipple, it is only fed mush.54 The mother's killing of a snake and then giv_ ing birth to a snake-headed baby likely to bite her recalls Greek tales of the viper's reproduction (chap. 5) and the fact that Klytaimestra herself is called a viper (vv. 249, 994), who, in dream, nurses a snake-baby. In both cases the birth ofa snake-baby resul ts from a killing. [The dead Agamemno n is a chthonian snake (chap. 5»). More significant t han any and all these data is the tale of Herakles' nursing at Hera's breasts. According to D.S. 4.9.6., the infant H erakles was exposed by Alkmene out of fear of H era, who was, however, persuaded to nUflie him herself. But the infant Herakles nursed (and bit ?) so fiercelySS that H era, unable " "Our children detroy us": Papuan! of Gulvink Bay (9." p . 9 [; cp. 22, p. 307). Nuning is short, for it ruin. the mother's breasu and sexual allract;ven=: lI-Iarqueuns (71, p. 165), etc. On pan:nt ~annibalizing impulseo impul.d 10 children, cpo n, chap. 5. Greek myths, tOO, uAttt belief in the parent-detroying propensitie of , hi/tlrln ( Krenos, Oidipous, etc.). Klytaim esu·a'. dreaming of her fatal nuning of the baby Orelte and her being .Jain by the a""/I Orele t how that tale of parri cidal adul ts are d erived from fanla. sies about potentially pal"<:fll-detroying babie (Oidipoul). Gorer and Rickman (s .,) describe the Creat R ussia ns' belief that all babies are angry and dangeroUll crealure<. That such conception. of the nature of children arC simply projeclion. "f the parents' hostility to ~hildren upotl their childr en h"" been copiolLlly documented elsewhere (n , chaps. 4, 5). The " pan:nt-a",n,mg" propen. i!;e imp uted even to unborn v;pen (chap . 5) and to children (E. SIiPP!. "43 ff.; cpo Alhene 's spetth, ,·v. '2 ' 3 ff. ) allO presuppose: their polen. tial dangerousllos 10 o""U.s- but in the guise: of a socially acceptable reaction-formation agai mt parricidal impulseo. Murray'. linking of Oreate a nd Hamle t dimly hints at it (80, chap. 8) ; E.J olies' (61) linking ofOidipoUll and Hamlet enunciates it. One may even speculale that the infant Heeakl e ' .laying of two serpents (Pi. N '
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Klytaimestra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
to bear the pain, threw him away (D.S. 4.39. 2.). U nder the circumstances, one is not surprised to learn that Herakles subsequently wounded Hera in llu breast with a poisoned arrow (Hom. II. 5.39 1 ff. )-i.e., with what Apollon ca!ls a "flying serpent" (A. Eum. 18 1).'0 In these versions, the biting Herakles' rejection by a bad " mother" (Hera ) and his subsequent wounding of her breast with a poisoned arrow parallels ~int by ~int Klytaimestra 's fa ilure to nurse Orestes and his biting her nipple in dream, in the shape of a serpent-baby. The two narratives are identical, both structurally and as to laten t contentY One begins to see now why, in a society which views babies as devouring beasts and nursing as a hardship which causes pain and drains the woman who nurses (or even a glorified male "wet nurse" like Phoinix), royal babies were regularly entrusted to nurses- and also why K lytaimestra dreams of nursing a serpent-baby. M others in other cultures react differently. Though the Mongols, too, held that biting nurselings born with teeth eventually became sorcerers (shamans), Hoelun's command, that her son, Genghis Khan, spare his rebellious brother because that brother had nursed mort whtmentty than he did, betrays maternal pride in such sons. Their violent nursing probably suggested that they would beeome illustrious warriors (56). I note, as a n afterthought, that even though the Mohave also feared the bite of female snake-headed babies, I happen to know of no example of girl babies being said to suck violt nlly-nor of a recourse to the "tyranny of the breast" to tame rebeHious daughters. The basic consider3.tion in my linking this dream with v3.rious customs from many groups is the fundamental rule that what is cuslom in culture A can and docs appear as a subjtClivefanlasy, etc., in a member of culture B. This rule was justified logically in a work which also insta nces the possibility of predicting from an individual's privatt fantasits the occurrence of a corresponding forma l belief or practice in arwtha culture (22, pp. 76 ff. ; 44, chap. 3) · ~8 These considera tions do not exclude, of course, the possibility that Klytaimestra's snake- nursing dream is rooted in part also in some lost Greek popular supersti tion.'9 Summing up, Klytaimcstra's dream i5 less prophetic than guilt-laden. Klytaimestra having been a bad mot he r, it is foreseeable that her son •• Endless tales, wi th many variants, were told about H era's adoptive nun ing and even about her pretended gi"ing birth to H erakl es. PrelJer_Robert (86, ~.:I, p. 427, note 2 and passim ) ci te: Paul. 9.:l5.~. Eranosthena. (ap. Ach. T at. inl,. Aral. 24 (in) E. Maass: Comm . in AMI. rrliq., p. 55) ; po.-Erastosth. Calasl . 44; K h. Arat. 469 ; Kh. Germ. Caes. BP, p . t04 Sr.; Lyc. 13~8 If. and K h. ad loc.; Hyg. "SIron. :1.43; Hsch. S.V. &IV'H~C; forvaseo ibid. I, p. I7t, note 3: :1.2, p. 427 , note I . " I note as a coincidence thai the biting"" eating of K lytaimestra by her serpent-baby is, in some raopttlO, .ymmetrical to Thyata.' "unwittingly" eating of his Own children. The occurrence of such .ymme trical incidenlO within the StmIt! group of myths m rprisa neither the psycho-analyst nOr the structural ist. "On the almost incred ible variet y of cultural and individual ....·3ys in which the "in. verted penis" idea manifa.tJ ;tsdf, cpo zoo 43, chap. 16. The same is true of the "beinp without anus" fantally (8z, :U, 67, p. 394). ,. Cpo su pra. Hannonia's amphisbaina.shaped necklace is SO GOflSlTucted that the two heads ohh., ".nake" are exactly level wi th her nipples (Noon. DUm. 5.'++ ff.), and I recall Ihat Hannonia herself is eventually metamorphosed into a serp<:nt (E. Ih. 1330 If.).
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Kly/aimestra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
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would retaliate. Had she nursed him, she would have given him "poisoned" (un-lovingly given) milk; he repays the quasi-"poironous" (cp. A. EIU1I. 813) (non-maternal) milk given by Klytaimestra's delegate, the Nurse (infra), with a poisonous bite. On a different-and, at this moment, more important- level of (overdetermined) symbolization, Orestes' attack also has an incestuous meaning (infra), symbolized by an oral-biting attack. Seen in this light, the symbolism is plausible. Since the Oedipus complex is infantile, it lends itself especially well to symbolization in terms of (infantile) oral-biting aggressivity,6Il rather than in terms of a more mature genital ilclivily. MDtenuJi Blood is often mentioned in connection with Orestes. This is to be expected for various reasons: (I) He has to avenge the blood of Agamemnon, by shedding that of Klytaimestra. (\I) The Erinyes never cease urging that Orestes' blood is that of his mother (A. Eum. 606 f. , etc.), and it is fairly clear that he obtained this blood already in utero. In this perspective, the unborn child is automatically a "blood-sucker"-as are the Erinyes (chap. 4). The reDI foetus is fed by the mother's blood stream. (3) Orestes was purified of the matricide with the blood of a suckling pig CA. Eum. 448). I note only in passing that purification from filth with filth, though it scandalized Herakleitos (Jr. 5, D-K), is a fairly widespread custom. What does deserve mention is that, in A. C/wt. ga, the selfishly sent funeral libations are treated as though they were off-5COurings (KCl%ppaTa). But the real problem is why, in Greece, such purifieations called for the blood of a suckling pig. I do not believe that this was simple due to the relative cheapness of piglets. The use of a pig is understandably beeawe of that animal's chthonian connections. But the need to kill specifically a young-a SlKkling-pig has, to my knowledge, never been fully explained. This rite may hint at an earlier form of purification with the blood of one's own child, in which "purification" is combined with punishment61- but this is, at best, a guess. I must content myself with pointing out that the we of a suckling pig in purifications presents a problem which I do not feel able to solve at present. Clotted Blood flowing from a freshly inRicted wound is, as Ailschylos the soldier could not bUI know, an impossibility.62 Why then did Aischylos specify clo/led blood? Two related clues readily come to mind : (.) The treacherous murderer !pits out hu viclim'. c lotted blood (A . ft· 354; cpo EM, p. 118.31 ). (2) The Erinyes, whose saliva is venomous CA. Eum. 736, BoI), or whose heart (bllastr) secretes venom (813), can be forced to spit out the"":'" by //wI. clolled- blood which they have sucked from their victims' mutilated .. An analysand reported having Ittn the bathlub full of waler ilIId blood when his ,isler was born. He was !Old thai the stork Iha. had broughl Ihe baby had severely bitten the finger of the mother or the midwife ... he could not recall which (chap. 9) . • ' Cpo the feast ofThyest""; abo Harpil8td (Hdt. 1.119) . •• It it one of the body'. horru:ostatic mechanisms (g)-lacking in haemophiliaa-thal, as blood continues to flow, ita clotting capacity increases. This permits the sealing-off of
the wound by a blood-clot.
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Klylaime.slra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
limbs CA. CIi«. 183). Perhaps Aischyl03 thought that venomous saliva or snake venom was a coagulant.6J But even these suggestive clues do not fully explain why, in the dream, blood clots at onu, and neither does the reference by the libation-bearers
(who bring a bloodless sacrifice) to Agamemnon's permanently clotted blood. in which the ground is steeped. The most plausible source of this paradoxical dotting of blood may ~ the fact that "Tpt~ ( = to nurse) means basically : to congeal, to solidify. In Hes. Th. 182, it is even applied to the "congealing" (genesis) of
Aphroditc.6o! Aischylos' repeated references to the eating of dotted blood leave liule doubt that this practice both horrified and fascinated him.65 Stimulated perhaps by the meaning: Tphpw _ congeal, solidify, he caused the weird dream-baby to drink milk (w hich will "solidify" him) and to suck dotted blood, as do the equally serpentine Erinyes. In short, the poet disregarded here what the battle-hardened soldier knew; contrary to daily experience, he made dolled blood flow from a fresh wound-perhap~ so as to underscore the snake-ba by's affinities with the serpentine Erinyes (chap. 4). This objectively absurd, but symbolically logical, detail therefore increases the authentically oniric character of the dream. I even venture to suggest that this mention of dotted blood may have been inspired by a paediatric fact, so visible that even primitives like the Navaho Indians have o bser ved it: the neonate sometimes regurgitates (clotted) blood, which he swallowed during birth (2, p. 61 ). The Mixture of milk and clolld blood h01.'l an ethnological parallel. The standard food of the warlike Nih· Hamitic Masai, who originally came from the North, consis.ts of a mixture of milk and blood drawn from the cattle's jugular (= throat!).66 This mixture is then dotted or curdled by adding to it cow-urine and ashcs.67 1 note that this food contains the three principal fluids that a cow can provide: blood, milk and urine. The similarity between the mixture which Orestes draws from the breast and the libation offered to Agamemnon has already been discussed. Orestes' Venom is not explicitly menlioned (but then, neither is the poisonoU!lness of Klytaimestra's milk, infra). Still, vv. 530, 532 do not let us forget that the nursing infant is a snake : the awareness that even a feeble baby-snake's bite is venomous suffuses the entire dream·scene. Orestes is, moreover, called a serpent also outside the dream narrative and is manifestly a human equivalent of his father's serpentine and venomous Ennyes. The avenger oftheweak68 - because dead-Agamemnon, Orestes, ., Actually, mOlt Inake venOms are not coagulants but anti·coagulants . .. For a docU$lion of that pa$SIlgc, cpo 40 • • , As it made anxious an anthropologist ob!.c:rving the eating of dOlled blood in East Africa (3~, p. 48) • .. The Sleppe cavalry nomad, who rum .thort offood or water, also draw, blood from his mount'. jugular • • ' Cpo Merker (79), or any .tandard ethnography of the Masai. The A. CIr«.-Muai parallelism neatly iU .... tratel R 6heim'. view (9 ' ) that customs ar<: .imply transpositions, to the cuhurallevd, of infantile impuloes, fanuuies and activities . .. Despite A. CfIIN. 3~3, I t.a.ke d:~
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Kvunmestra'J Dream in Aischyllll' Choephoroi is himsdfweak in dream- a hdplQli lJalJy-snakc-lJut hi:; bite i~ nou etheless fatal. At the same time, since Orestes is sent by Apollon to avenge Agamemnon, the baby-snake can be appropriately compared to one of Apollon's poisonous "flying serpents" (arrows; A. Eum. 181 ), wherewith he threatens Klytaimestra's Erinyes, who seek to avenge the slain mother. In short, the poisonousness of the baby-snake's bite is self-evident . If I say even this much about the matter, it is not because I wish to labour the obvious. I only seek to highlight once again the dazzlingly complex and yet superbly spare texture of each of Aischylos' lines. The moribund Aristophanic myth of hollow Aischylean grandiloquence (Ar. Ran. 836 ff. ) deserves to be laid to rest at last. Rare are the poets who say half as much a.!I Aischylos, in twice as many words- at least to those willing to listen, willing to let the dramatist's words reverberate in the deeper layers of the hidden mind (32, chap. 23). For one must meet the poet's demand for attention not only with the conscious mind, but also with one's unconscious, which mystics call: the Soul. One must give him the rarest of attentions-that which discerns the ohvious. Kvtaimestra's Venom = Poisonous Milk. In A. Ag. 1260, Kassandra compares K lytaimestra to a "poisoner". I n terms of her actual deeds this accusation is undeserved. But if one looks deeper into the matter, the charge may be more than a gratuitous accusation or-as in the Southern United States-a figurative characterization ("she is poison"). As already noted, Klytaimestra is repeatedly compared to various serpents (supra). The Erinyes which she--or her murder-produces are abo venOlIlow,69 and in one inlltam.:e they are said to produce venom from their "hearts". For the moment I recall only that, even though the real Klytaimestra had her throat cut, the ghostly K1ytaimestra displays a brt4J"t-wound (A. Eum. 103, Hermann). This recalls the dream far more than the details of her actual slaying. The notion that Klyta imestra's milk might have been thought poisonous therefore deserves close scrutiny. &fore I so much as mention regularly observed clinical facts, I note that- be it intentionally or not- Aischylos himself specifically speaks of the metamorphosis of something "good" into something "revolting". A funeral libation- which contains milk- is normally given lovingly and is therefore "good"; it also earns the giver the gratitude and good will of tilt: dC(;ca.:;cd. But in A. Clwe. the libation is givell Hot from love uut frOHI fear and guilt. Elektra, quite as much as the Choms, discusses at length the cynical and absurd aspects of this "gift". In vv. 97 ff. cspecially, thc libation is called-and treated as-"off-scourings": as the morally and physically contaminated remnants of ritually washed-off soilure (11Iacl1a). The libation (xorj) becomes (because of the spirit in which it is sent- not even given70) id entical with K<X66:PllaTa (= defilements) left over after a ritual cleansing. It earns the sender not gratitude but hatred. No child analyst could state more clearly the essence of my argument regards the friendly OhorOl). T he equation : child ... old .. feebl e is a conunonplace in Greek tragedy--u is tbe fcebleno::Q of dream personages (33) . .. A. E"m. 78~, 801, 813, cpo chap. 4. ,. A:i Orates ....... only vicariOUJly blcut·fcd, by tbe NUIK, not by his motbcc (Iupra).
KrytaimlStra's Dream in Aischyios' Choephoroi than does Aischylos; milk given vicariously and/or without Wl)t is totally evil; it carries contamination, as do the off-scourings of ritual cleansing. In a word, milk so given is "poison ". even where the hiring of wet nurses is routine, if this causes the mother to lose interest in her baby. This being said, I now tum to a scrutiny of Klytaimestra's performance --or non-performance-as a mother and, in so doing, will cite clinical findings showing that such a mother feeds her infant "poisonous" milk. Klytaimestra was called a "raging, infernal mother" (A. Ag. 1235) long bifort she turned against Agamemnon's children, and A. CIwe. 749 If. proves that she did not even nune Orestes. Yet, for the infant, the giving of the breast represents a gift of love; milk = love. Refused, or reluctantly given, milk is "hate". Hence, one may well ask whether Kl ytaimestra was ever maternal---even before the sacrificing of Iphigeneia turned her into a wild beast- particularly since, in pre-Euripidean texts, one cannot but feel that that sacrifice is a convenient alibi, rather than the real cause of K lytaimestra's savagery. Nor can one forget that, in Euripides' Ttltphos, sM advised the maimed hero to threaten to kill the infant Orestes, so as to force Achillcus to heal his wound. 71 This is not the behaviour of a good mother, though Euripides was almost the only poet who could---even in his Eiek/Ta- persuasively attribute ordinary human traits to this she-monster. In short, it is inconceivable to view Aischylos' Klytaimestra simply as a bad mother j in the Om/tia she is all bad. Now, from the infant's point of view, the bad mother par t:>:ctlltfICt is one who does not give milk (= love)--or at least does not give it lovingly. This is a commonplace in child psycho-analysis. But, in certain instances, such bad mothering elicits in the neglected child the fantasy of "poisoned milk". The belief of having been fed poisoned milk in infancy is commonly expressed by schizophrenics and also by borderline patients, who had very bad mother'll,?l or whose mother'll were unable or unwilling to nurse them, or who were handed over to a wet-nurse (749 ff.), or with whom the mo ther's milk disagreed,n or who were botde-fed, or were fed mush rather than milk.7. Of course, the only intermittently insane Orestes is, especially in Aischylos, not a true schizophrenic. He simply has bouifin dilirantts-a psychiatric disorder common amongst primitive and archaic peoples.7 5 He ;., a "borderline" case. We can even explain why the son of the unloving, non-nursing, hostile Klytaimestra became not a chronic schizophrenic, but only an intermittent psychotic, who finally " recover'll" permanently. In view ofa case I myself analysed (28,30), and of certain other clinical data, I venture to " T his radically diff~n from th., advice Ihe Q... een of Epc:irOll gave to T hemistoklCll (Thu. 1.136; Plu. V. TMm. 24.2). Th~ Td~phos myth d~arly impliCll a oonditionaJlhrcal \Q Ih~ baby; the Themistokla story refen only to a Molossian supplication rite. T> At did On~ of my patienu, who had this milk "" poison fanlasy (28, 30). " I wnfidenLly expect a ps~hialric study of ....ch mothen 10 r~veal an unconscious hostility 10 the child. 70 Th~ mush.feeding ofMarq ... csao babia is r<::Accled in many myths of man-destroying female daemon. (71, pp. 204, 2 14,2211) . 70 On th~ hm;jfk dllimnl. ~ithcr as a hyncrical psychCdis masqu~rading all a schizophr~nia in complex cultura, or as a schizophrenia maaqucrading as a hy>tcricai psychoW in archaic or primitive cultur<::S, cpo 41, chaps. 9, 10) .
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suggest that he was saved from an irreversible, permanent p.osychosis by his Nurse, who had lovingly breast-fed him on demand.76 But this would not prevent Orestes, neglected by his mother, from fantasying that his mother had fed him "poisoned milk", or at least that she "would" have fed him poisoned milk had she nursed hi m at all. That K lytaimestra herself dreams of being bitten in the breast by her poisonfanged baby would, in the case of a real patient, mean that the dreaming mother herself views her own milk as (symbolically) poisonous. Thus, the infant's venom simply repays the bad mother for the veno mous milk she " fed " him-by not nursi ng him at all. I concede, of course, that the poisonousness of Kl ytaimestra's m ilk is not explicitly mentioned, but recall that neither is the snake-baby's ve nom. I feel that the commentators, quite as much as the scholiast (s), make too little of the fact that O restes draws milk a nd dalled blood from the nipple. I have already discussed the biochemically impossible dolling of freshly drawn blood. Here, I simply note that this one verse (533) suffices to suggest that it was a loatMonu mixture ( = poison) O restes had sucked from the breas t, and that Aischylos' compliance with the rule of the verse-forverse stichomythia enabled him 10 say just enough, wi thout becoming obvious and revolting.77 The hypo thesis that this mixture is poisonous is indirectly confirmed by A. Eum. 184, where the Erinyes regurgitau "cloued" blood (sucked from bleeding limbs), mixed with their lIenomous saliva. In A. Clwe. 533, milk uplates the venom of A. Eum. 184. The fantasy of poisonous milk has, moreover, a biochemical model, and th is quite apart frum lIn: wdl-kllUWII fau lhal the milk uf sollie ("bad "?) mothers ac tually disagrttll with their babies. Lac tose, a major source of calories in m ilk, can be digested by nearly all babies, for the immature organism easily sC{;r~tes the lactase necessary to digest il. But there appear to be genetic (" racial") d ifferences in the capacity of adult organisms to secrete t1lough lactase to digest lactose (75). The Greek "race" may have been unable to do so, for adult ancient Greeks consumed milk mainly in the fonn of cheese, in which lactose is already transformed into a substance mo re digestible for adults. In fact, in Hom. Od. 9.297, Polyphemos' drinking of unmixed milk is ostentatiously the climax of his ,euolting (cannibalistic) repast. 78 Somewhat oversimplifying matters: for races whose adult members do not secrete much lactase, milk (containing lactose) is a kind of poison- as is sonu mothers' milk for their babies. The folklore equivalent of Ihe mothcr who yiclds "poisonous" milk appears to be the sexual "poison damsel",79 whose close connection with '.!M:>"", poychologically uninformed paediatri$lS, a".io .... to plea.«: rducta"t mother.!, uill advocate a (poy.;hologicaUy harmful) nursing "on schedu le". M OIit primitive have betteTilense in Ih is repect, and the Nursc""p«<:h is an import4Ilt document for the "udent ofGrcek child_rearing practices and, therefore, of Greek penonality (3 1) . "The pace ofa stichomythia (1111 be slowed iflhe poet desires it; cpo E. BII. tWg-70 and Dodds ad loe. AI pOinted oUi d...,where (..-6), rule which .hackle the poetastC1' !end wingo to the true poet'. illlpiration. ,. I note Aischylos' harping upOn the facl that the Erinyes repeatedly drink uIlmiuJ blood (A. 0 -. 577 f.. ctc.) . ,. Folklore Motif F~~j cpo some "A1~ndu legeru.ill".
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serpents is traditional. The poisonous mother's malt equivalent is Minos, whose ejaculate is venomous. SO Cpo also Nessos. Underlying all this is the near-universal conception that all bodily secretions have marked (healing or poisonous) magical properties. Milk is no exception to this rule. Though a bad mother 's milk is "poison", human milk was also used as a healing medicine in ancient Greece,S! Tht Breast VI. Serpent }.i/otif must be analysed in terms of the ract that both Klytaimestra and Orestes are cal!ed serpents-and that Orestes' poisonous bite repays the giving of "poisonous" milk- or the lion-giving of mother's milk. A crucial consideration is that a masculine woman like Kl ytaimestra (A. Ag. II ) tends to view the breast as a kind of phallos and its milk as semen (supra). The phallic breast is, in a sense, pitted against the phallic snake-baby. The dream therefo re reflects a kind of duel of phalloi ... an idea documentable for ancient Greece. 81 Of course, like all symbolic dream activities, this, too, is ambiguous. A masculine woman pitted her breasts against the phallos, boasting that she could squirt her milk further than a penis could squirt semen (6). But other virile women view the breast as obnoxiously hyper-feminine: the Amazons allegedly amputated both their breasts, in order to diminish their femininity.S} In other traditions the Amazon amputated only her right breast, so that it would not be in the way of the released bow-string. I propose these interpretations with considerable misgivings: they are possibilities, but.no more than that. I mention them mainly to show that I have not overlooked the possibk "duel of phalloi" clement, but refuse to assert that something of the rort was present in Aischylos' mind, be it but in the form of an unconscious fantasy. Tiu Swaddling Bands are interesting, precisely because their mention seems dramatically so gratuitous.i.4 The best guess is that, since son = father," the swadd ling bands symbolize the often-mentioned net which immobilized the doomed Agamemnon. But this is, at best, a plausible guess, which sheds less light on the dream itself that upon what caused Aischylos to mention this detail. 86 10 Apollod. 3.15.1 r., Ant. Lib. M t l. 41.4 f. Semen = milk is a common ~mbolic equa· tion. BU! I note a curious contrast: exposed to air, milk (and blood) ."""Ilia/t, while semen fiqutMS.
"Nie. AUX. 356, cpo Aris!. ap. Plin. HN~8.74; also Diose ~.70.6; Gal. 6.775, t~.~65; PHn. NH 28.72. "Cp. the opposing phalloi on a b,as_rdicffrom D.::los (76, p. 55 ). The a"owed purpose of this tablet;' to remind one ofbomoerotic "Iovc·'. But the (unconscious) aggressive element in homosexuality ( /5. 3/) ;. rcvealo:d by the faclthat these phalloi face each other in the manner of .word. or spear!. In Mohave Indian belief, an ithyphallic giant guards the narrow bridge which the souls of thc deceased mu.t emu and .trikes at them with hi. phalloo. Som<: phalloo_proud young },-johave men boast, however, that they would strike back at him with their own (38, p. ~~9) . I) As, until """"ntly, the Sltopzi al .... did (87) . .. It ;. interesting only as information aoout neonate nursing, followo:d by .waddling and . leep. But Aischylos hardly in.erted thil detail for the benefit of latter-day ethnographers. II &e chap. 5, o pecially the comments on the Pleinhenid king . •• In addition to countleM referc:nco in A. Ag. to the netting of A3amemnon, I cite, almost at random: A. CIr«. 4~, :.06, 529, 557, ~~, 99fj, ,0,0 fI'.; A. E"",. 459 fI'., 63~ •
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Klytaimes'ra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi But it deserves mention that swaddling also occurs in a Mesopotamian dream in which Isillar wraps the king into a baby sling (85. p. 207a). Orestes' lntnpretalion of 1M Dream (540 fr.) seems, from the literary point of view, heavy-handed and unnecessary: Athenian audiences were not slow-witted. And, as noted repeatedly, I deny that Aischylos' torrential eloquence was ever over-abundant. \Vhat stems redundant to the literary critic may contain what, for the psycho-analyst, is an essential datum. I submit that the dream-interpretation passage has a purpose: oracles, as Fenichel (50) has shown, are inJrnently ambiguous. I, for my part, hold (3j) that their ambiguity is a conditio sine qua non of their bang oracles. Hence, they come "true" only after being interprtltd in a particular manner, which rruzkes them come true. This also applies when the interpretation turns out to be "objectively" correct-as when Themislokles mtuk the victory at Salamis possible by clutching at the one encouraging oracular word: " holy" Salamis (Hdt. 7.143). But it holds true also when the oracle is "misinterpreted". Not the Delphic oracle's utterance, but its " misundmtanding" by Oidipous (or by Kroisos), caustd the predicted misfortune. It is because he seeks to avoid killing his foster-father Polybos and marrying his foster-mother Merope, that Oidipous is led to kill Laios and marry Iokaste. By thinking that the great empire which a battle with Kyros will destroy is Persia, Kroisos destroys his own country (Hdt. 1.53 fr., I.go). (Cp. chap. 2, note 106; chap. 8, note 146.) Not the prophecy (or dream) but its interpretation makes it "selffulfilling". In ancient Greece, an uninterprtltd dream apparently had no consequences. In short, I hold that Orestes interprets the dream, out loud, in a particular way, so as to make it come true in that particular way. Differently interpreted, the dream's outcome would have been different. Left uninterpreted, it may have had no "consequences" at all. This makes the dream-interpretation passage dramatically indispensable. I deal here only with thefunction of Orestes' interpreta tion of the dream. The actual interpretation of the dream must be postponed until vv. 986 ff. are also examined detail by detail.
THE BREAST-BARING SCENE
A careful scrutiny of vv. B96-8g8 is long overdue, even though the s tandard text is sound, its meaning clear and the sc h o li on a liule less
fatuous than usual. What makes this passage interesting is that it contains one brazen lie, one hydrodynamic absurdity and an all but impossible synchronicity of cause and effect. I hope to show that each of these poetic "erron" brilliantly highlights psychological truths. I begin with a general remark. Literary critics (95) have noticed that Klytaimestra's claim is contradicted by the Nurse's credible affirmation that she alone had nursed Orestes-but have not come to grips with the problem. Yet, as already noted, the fact that Kl ytaimestra had not nuned Orestes appean to be traditional, for in S. El. 1143 ff. the virgin Elektra
clairru to have been the only one to "nurture" him (chap. 7).
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Klytaimutra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi Most critics do not discuss t his contradiction. They feel, perhaps, that Klytaimestra is just grasping at cultural straws---or they let it go as an Aischylean lapsus. Now, as a general principle, when so great a poet su ms careless, one should enquire whether his "lapsus" has a poetic purpose : whether it is a means of highlighting an other.yise elusive and yet important psychological truth." It is especially appropriate to envisage this possibility in a drama which contains also ano ther "lie", whose purpose, tOO, is to highlight an unspoke n deeper truth (supra) . The position taken- and justified- here is t hat the lies and absurdities contained in these three verses shed a great deal of light upon the personality of the Aischylean K lytaimestra and are indispensable for a complete understanding of her dream. I begin by discussing the concrete de tails of th is passage. The breast-baring sune replicates in a waking state the baring of the nursing br(ast in the d ream. This is cred ible behaviour after a dream,18 and echoes the breast-baring of the libation-bearers (vv. 27 fT. ). T he fie- though it cynically and deceitfully cla ims a right to the respect a c hild owes the breast that nourished him (H om. If. 20.80 ff.)-is inspired also by the dreanl (v. 928). Since she had nursed the snake-baby in dream. Klytaimestra ma y have felt that her claim 10 have nursed Orestes was valid . The unconscious mind, quite as much as certain primilive and archaic peoples, feels that a dream-performa nce is real, and that a " right" acquired in dream gives rise to a valid claim in waking life.89 But one can also envisage a "legal fiction"l00 which reinforces the previous o nes. If, as is likely, the Nurse was Klytaimestra's own slave, Klytaimestra could probably have claimed "credit" for the n ursing of Orestes. This fantasy of "vicarious physiological fun ctioning" is as striking as it is easy to document, since it is often implemented by actual cultural practices. 91 Bul even if Kl Ylaimestra consciously felt thai the nursing of Orestes by " 1 have urged elsewhere that the objec tively unbdie"abJe gossip that Sappho had been a prostitut e and had committed . uicid~ for th e 10"e of Phaon indirectly confirms the credibk tradition that she was a genuine lesbian (39) • .. Arist. de dw. s01IIn. 463a~:.If. A man drt4mtd that he broke his leg. The next morning, carel=ly descending hi. home', perfec tly safe front .t~ps , he "accidentally on purpose" broke hi. leg. (Informant: a colleague, cpo 78. ) .. f\ l..cngua Indian dreamed that Grubb had stolen hi. pumpkin and asked for com~s.ation. though he admitted that Grubb ~ou1d nOt have otolen it, ha ving been away at that time (57, pp. 1 ~!r13Q) . An Iroquois can claim on awakni ng the object or favour he had obtained in dream t¢ J. Even a modem man may demand that his repeated (bu t unktfJl ) prom~ be accepted in lieu ori ts fulfillment (chap. 4, note 6t ) . •• Legal fictions are COmmOn even in primitive law (14). " Cp. the rule evaded by Ona" (Gm. 36.9). The barren R achel caused her hand_ maid en Bilhah to conceive and to bear "her" children (Gm . 30). Pliniu. (HJ( ~9. t. t9) wrote that . Iave ownen ..... alk ..... ith the fttt of t heir (litter-bearing) sJa,·cs, etc. A patient, deliriom ..... ith fever, fantalia! that one ofhis subordinatot should and rould ddaecate in hi. stead. Ilrigadier M. R. R oberts pointa! out to hi. over-eager brigade major, J ohn !'.hslcn- who came running ..... henever the brigadier left his tent- that even brigadiers had to do their o..... n defaecatin g (77. chap. 'I ) . A . yatematic exploration offantasies (and legal fictions) ofvicariow phyaiolOSi cal functioning- ..... hich are patterned upon the r~\aJ state-is long o,·erdue.
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Kryt4imestra's Drtam in Aischylos' Choephoroi her slave was vicarious nursing, for which SM could claim "cullural credit" ,92 this did not abolish her subje{;tive guilt feelings. In dream, she herself wittingly puts the snake-baby to her breast, exposing herself to a fatal bite. This being said, I now pas.! to the dhcWolloion of the actual lie and of the cultural practice which it seeks to exploit. The TyrDnny oj the Breast is described in vv. Sg6 If.: Klytaimestra bares her bosom to Omtes, half commanding him to stop (rnlcx~c) and half demanding shame-respect (af6£cm)9l- a ll on the basis of a lie, or at least of a fiction. The gesture itself is traditional,94 but by no means specifically Greek.9~ It exploits the very widespread belief that, by being nursed, the child contracts a lifelong debt. This has a direct bearing on the meaning of this display. The view that it simply represents supplication disregards the element of cr;mmtmd-Qr at least of irresiollible persuasion- which is involved in this " dunning" for a lifelong "debt" to the maternal breast. Crucial gestural differenOO'l are also disregarded. ( I) The suppliant takes hold of his proleclr;r's chin and knees and beseeches him by these parts of his body. He may-ritually orthreateningly-also hold his chosen prote{;tor's child as a hostage or th reaten to defile his ahars. 96 (2) The dunning mother displays and lifts up her r;wn breast and appeals to it-to a part of her r;wn body. Now, there is ample evidence that the holding or displaying of various parts of OIU'S own bt1dy is not so much a supplicating as an aggressive, commanding-QI' even defiant and offensive ----gesture.lI1 In short: ( I ) The breast-display is maternal role-playing : a commanding self-manipulation, representing a dunning for an old debt. (2 ) Supplication is infantile role-playing: it involves the manipulation of the prottcUJr's body; holding on to it creDtts, so 10 speak, a " debt" of the kind a parent owes to the child. Ev~John Locl<~ equated his SCfVan t's work with his own (K.J.D.). On this word and its ~rotic nuances, cpo infra . .. Hom. Il. ~~.79 f.; E. D. 1~06 r., Or. 5~7, I4t, PlIoi•. 1568 f.; AP 9.t~6. Professor Do"er attracled my allention 10 a vase (Cd . 500 ... c.) (n, pI. 50): a mod,er (or sister) IOcing her I0Il (or brother) off to war, imitates H~kabe rather ineffectively, for me is wearing a vest under her oul~r garment . .. Cpo the Hodun story (note 55). I nOI~ in powing that, like Klytaimestra and l okasle (E. PM;".), . he whom Orient&! hilltQrian. call "Mother Ho:iun" Wal a "lIrong", widowed mother, who is rn~ntioncd mostly after the prnnatun. death of her hlUoond Yesubi. Like "Madame M~" (Laetizia Huonap.arl c), .h~ is much more the .trang mOlher Ihan the pliant wife. This famity constellation ;s Ihat of many conqucron (27). M TelejIMs "",},: sch. AI. Ach. 332; Hyg. fdh . 101. T/umirlrJ:;ks: Tltu. 1.136: Plu. V. Thtrn. "4. Cuicatured in AT. Ae},. 3a6 ff., ntsm. 68g ff. In Gen. 3a.~6, Jacob hold, the angel untH he obtains the bleaing he craves. In A. Suppl. (787 fr. ), the luppliQtion is reinfon:ed by th" .h...... of .. temple-defiling suicide; cp. Hd,. 7,'4', " Pnlir: Ancienl Egypt (D.S. 1.67.6); modern Egypt (K.J.D.): Vietnam (penonal observation); Sedang (ditto). V~IIId: Sparta (Plu. LacIJ#l. Ap. 3, p. ~4t B) ; Peman Empire (Plu. mcd. (·i,l. 6, p. 246 A. elc.). Cpo AItemid. 4.~3. Anw-: Mohav~ (, 8). Bre/UI: Mohave (s6). 17tumb ("fig"): Mediterranean area. Two sfrreo.'fintm ("horns") : Mediterranean area, etc.
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Klytaimeslra's DTeam in Auehylos' Choephoroi
This mt:aru that Klytaimestra issues a command and duns for a debt, in the guise of a supplication . The details of how Greek mothers bared their breasts arc discussed by Lear,n but the gesture itself, in A. Choe., deserves further comment. In Hom. ll. 2:qg tf., Heka be's geslUre is described: she lift.s her aged (and flaccid ) breasts with her hands ... as does many a nursing woman whose breasts are heavy with milk. Quite apart from the fact thai. since Klytaimestra must still be imagined as sexually attractive and therefore firm-breasted (infra)-so that she need not "lift" her breasts-the lext gives no de tails and stage directions have not come down to us. We can be sure only that, since Klytaimestra was played by a male actor, the displaying of the breasts was reduced to a
sketchy approximation of the Homeric Hekabe's geslure.99 Far more important than the a ctor's actual performance on-stage is the nexus between the dream and the murder scene. In dream Klytaimestra actuallyoffm her breast to the serpent-baby (531 ). The dream gesture and the stage gesture represent a kind of motif-splitting: the H omeric breastlifting is inverted in dream j the baby is lifted to the breast. The breastdisplay is emphasized only in the murder scene. But thi~ is at best a minor point, requiring no elaborate analysis. I note in conclusion again, that I know of no example of a maternal command given to a disobedient daughter which is reinforced by the display of the breasts that nursed her. Professor Dover plausibly suggests to me that, since daughters are not fighters, occasions for adjuring them strongly were different and fewer. I accept this ru; a valid explanation based on reality- but feel I should add a second , more "psychologi cal", explanation: I know of no Greek mention of baby girls who nursed violently and painfully- but admit that girl babies are seldom mentioned. This may perhaps mean that girls owe a lesser debt than boys to their mothers. tOO But there is present here also a deeper and more oedipal element, which deserves to be cons.idered as carefully as the "oral debt" theme. Sexual components: at5ec(u "" show shame-reverence. 'AI5Wc--etymologically connected with o:l50To: = genitals-has many shadings: shame, reverence, modesty, bashfulness. Now, in most languages. words denoting affects have many nuances which do not fully overlap with tho~ of their supposed equivalents in olhn languages. The word ol5Wc assuredly has no real equivalent in English. IOt ., In hi! edition of th~ lIi4d~, p. 5¢, App. G-!) f. "Had the aetordilplayed arlificial. flaccid breasll, thcromie poets would probably ha,·e had a fidd day with ;t--c:ith.". "·h",, th~ play was fint producnl , Or when it was r"v;ved~ mocking the 5Cen~ as they mocked th" Euripidean Td~phoo' ...,al"tie rags, which wer" the finl ofa ",ries (Ar. A'h. 4'4- 431 ). '" Both Ih" Nurse and Pho;nix complain aboul th" trouble of ra;..;"g boys (H om. ll. 9.49~ If. ep. E. Plwi~. '-433), (I recall thatth~ mortality ofboy babies is high~r than that of baby girls. ) ,., T o mak" mallen wone, languag" A may routinely associate c.".tain alfecll wilh certain reaction' in 3 mann.". which "'!eml wholly inappropriate to p"nons 'p"alting a diff~r~nl tongue. Thul, I Wa5 star tled by the information that Ihe (aggressive) Sedang call
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Krytaimestra's D1lam in Aischylos' Choephoroi I confidently state that ol6Wc always hall a Iluam:t: of St:xualityY12 The point of the display of the breast is that the adult son is shown that which he !hould cease 10 see all soon as female breasl'l begin to arouse him sexually. This is why this geslUre elicits a sexually ti nged shame. to) The second meaning of al5Wc (reverence) has a somewhat different source. The display of the materna! breast is a lso expected to elicit a p.sycho-stxual rtgressionl()ol to the outlook of infancy-to the time when the maternal breast represented nourishing love: the summum bonum which elicits reverent awe. Reaction 10 the Display: Though his duty aJ champion of the Trojans preven ts H ektor from obeying Hekabe's tender but commanding gesture (Hom . II. 22.80 f. ), he is obviously moved by it. H e would, one feels, have complied, had it been possible for hi m 10 do S0, for Hekabe is consistently described as a good mother. 'We cannol but believe her claim Ihat she had lovingly nursed the infant H ektor, stilling his hunger (= grief),IO:l Of course, Hektor displays reve rence, and even awe, far more than sexual shame. But e\'en a reac tion of awe does not automaticalry exclude a partly sexual reaction.106 Before I contrast H ektor's reaction with that of Orestes, I nole that the Greek poets also mention the non-maternal, "otic display of the fema le breast as a means of seductive supplication: Whe n the recaptured Helenc bared her breast to the ' wrathful Menelaus, the sword fell from his hand and he kissed his irresistible wife. 107 Disregarding the sexual element, the baring of the maternal breasl represents, as was shown, a " dunning" recall of an old dt:bt. III fac t, tbt: display reproduces the opening phase of actual nursing, in the hope of mobilizing memory traces of oral gratification and dependence onry. Because old Hekabe's breasts are too flaccid to arouse erotic responses, the erect penis an "angry" penis (suggesting the occummce ofanger-erections) and Ihat a nude Sedang man feehl "shame" (lim) when s.een by another man, but "anger" (116) when s.een by a woman. The (drunken) H ungarian'. tendency to "rejoice with tean" is a proudly lIc:lf-ucribed ethnic U"ait for H ungarians, though it mWII SttIl1 r.illy or degrading to non_Hungarians CU', chap. 6). '11 E"en the Homeric "aIS':', 'A~yolo," (H om. II. ~.787, 8.11118) has a sexual nuance. The Argives are to be shamed into displaying their manhood- wh ich, in Greek thought, includes that viril41 which the dfuninate and cowardly Dionysos iIO con.picuoudy lacks (45)·
I.' OidipoWi
j uotified his self-blinding by ,-uaUing that he .,,'" what he should ""
or '117' If.). M oha"e woman may insultingly display her breast to a man, and even offer 10 nurse him; th;. impli.,. tha. she regards him as an impolCnt boy c h ild ( ,6). She i"'pules 10 him a regression from manhood to infancy . .., The Greek expr.,..ion is hard to trandale exactly: " forget worri",," (Mazon), " lull pains" (A. T . Murray), "comolation" (Lang, Leaf, Myers). AI regards the wording, there is mention of the ~6~,,0, of Hekabe', robe. Thi. word can denote "hollows" in general-including even Ihe vagina and the womb. Tbat sense is a ttested already in E. Hel, "4.5 (lyrical puaage) and (for a linUS of the womb) in Hp. Nal. Pun. 3' . ,.. Cpo the worship of the)'Olli in India. On the "phallOl-awe" of certain women, cpo 55; on its presence in Sapph.jr. 3 ' LP, cpo 39. A grotrsque mistalr.e can sometimes high_ light an important p'ychological connection. One of Professor [)o\·e.', leu able lI udenls translated H elene', reverent words to PTiamOl: "a!6doc TO 1'01 Icc," (H om. /1. 3. (711 ) as: "You are a fool ish man"_ influenced by the Engli.h idiom: "You're a prick!" ..' N. LJJ. 1.5) ft; E. Atub. GIIO, etc. km,er ha~'e seen (S. , .. A
,08
Klylaimu tra's Dream in Aisclrylos' Choephoroi
and resemble her milk-heavy breasts of yo re, she is able to mobilize early and gende memory traces in H eklor,lOS who must remind himself of his dutiCli as Ik champion of Troy in order to disobey this tender maternal command. He resists it, but in a reverent and loving spirit: the man triumprus over the child and the son. Being psychologically nonnal, he refuses to " regress". The neurotic Orestes is in a very differen t situation. To begin with, Kl ytaimestra's breasts ma y not be imagined as pendulous, for she had not nursed Orestes-nor, one may suppose, her daughters Elektra and
Iphigcneia. Such a multiparous, but non-nuning, beautiful woman's breasts can he firm a nd attractive even past the age of fifty . This hypothesis is confirmed by at least two references to a still on-goillg sexual relationship between Klytaimestra and Aigisthos.IO!l Orestes therefore sees firm and youthful breasts-not the pendulous breasts of an aged or nursing woman- and such breasts can hardly evoke f01' him tender and pious memo ries of the nu rsing breast--evcn of those of his old Nurse. They appear to remind Orestes chiefly of their capacity to thrill Aigisthos the adulterer - and this angers him (904 ff., 917). K lytaimestra does not improve her chances of survi val by ineptly saying: " I was the om: who nourished you and with you I would grow old" (goB). Her remark only underscores that she is not yet old and unattractive. H ence, Orestes reacts to her wish to live with him with oedipal horror- as if in response to a maternal attempt at "seduction" (919), which it probably is (c p. chap. 2: 10 and Inachos). Last, but no t least, one must recall that, since Klytaimestra's tale of nursing Orestes is a lie, Orestes had fUl11n' before had a glimpse of his mother's breasts. For this reason, too, they cannot evoke memories of comforting milk. If they subjectively affect Orestes at all, they do so only sexually, as the sight of an y pair of firm breasts would affect a young man. What makes him hesitate after the display is not /Jltsonal emotion but a cultural reflex. An anxie ty-arousing sexual reaction on the part of Orestes can be inferred also on the basis of other considerations. Having been sent a broad early, Orestes had no time to develop a sense of kinship with Kl ytaimestra. In fa ct, the lack of this sense of kinship between mother and son- which is the legal and psychological theme of A. Eum.- no doubt facilitat ed Orestes' slaying of a woman whom, though she is biologically his mother, he apprehends functionally o nl y as a seductive woman : as his father's sensual, adulterous wife. In this respect the sending abroad of the child Orestes is a psychologically necessary detail of the plo t, for it increases the credibility of the matricide. lO. Thai m~mory IraCes ofth~ nursing breast ar~ p,..,..,nt even in adult hood it proven by "Isak""'er phenomeno"" (s9 ) and by B. D. Lewin't (70) d~mollltration that th~ " dream screen"- the background in fronl of which the dream e\'~n b occu r-is actually (he image of th~ breast, at seen by th~ nurseling. , .. Vv. 904 If., 9'7; bUI vv. ' 32 fT. probably refer 10 Ihe time of El~ktra'. finl youth. Professor Do\"~r ooncun: " I agree t hat we should thin k of Kl ylairnestrll as still having olrong sc,,-apP"a l. The idea Ihal .h ~ and Aigisthoo are JliII allractiv~ to each other is important. " cr. A. A,. ,651" ClwH. $9+, 8g3, 90$, S. EI. $89. th~
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Krytaimestra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
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This selfsame lack of dairy familiarity would also facilita te a non-filial, sexual reaction to Klytaimestra's displayed breasts.l1o I hold, in short, that Orestes reacted to the display of Klytaimes tra's breasts not filially but sexually- which only further exasperated his frustrated oedipal jealousies, thereby facilitating matricide. lll These findings bring one to a conclusion well known to child psychologists: some mo thers- and especially inadequate ones-behave very sed uctively towards their infant sorn. This is confirmed both by clinical data and by primitive and peasant customs.III Now, though maternal seductiveness is a psycho-analytical commonplace, it is always discussed somewhat gingerly, perhaps because, at the beginning of his career, Freud allowed some of his patients to persuade him that they had been physically seduced in childhood. After he realized that these tales simply misrepresented the PV·dwlogica/ seductiveness of parents, he and other psycho-analysts soft-pedalled- though they never denied outright-seductive parental behaviour. Still, so far as J know, I am the only clas.sical Pllycho-analyst (19, 23, 44, chap. 7) to have drawn the inevitable conclusion that the child's Oedipus-complex is trigge red by the pre-existing J ocasta (or Laius) complex of the parenlS, which manifests itself in seductive behaviour, particularly on the part of the mot her who, as modem experimental evidence proves, is genitally aroused by nursing. III II therefore makes good psychological sense tha t, in the most famous of all inces t my ths, Oidipous was exposed at birth-i.e., presumably bifort Iokaste ever nursed him . And, therefore, i t also ma kes excellent psychological sense that, in S. OT (707 ff., g80 ff.), this (bad, non-nursing) mother tenaciously ridicules the dreams and hints concerning incest, which greatly alarm her son-husband. The conclusion is inescapable tha t the possibility that she may have ma rried her son disturbs her not at all"0 Amongsl the Azande, whose kings marry Iheir daughlers, Ihe daughlers are senl away al an early age, $0 thai no "falher-daughler" sentimenll may devdop and OboU"1JCI laler on the coming into being of a sexual rcsponse (48). The following custom, which I qUOle from memory, has $imilar implicatiorn: in a arlain European peasanl !l()Ciely, brolheNisler marriagcs were formerly $Ometimes arranged , $0 as 10 a\·oid Ihe dividing up oflhe family's land. One Oflhe [UIUre spouses was lho:refore nOI raised at home, hut was .enl rar away, 10 as "'" 10 devdop . ibling-fedings lowards hi. (or her) fUlure $poute. On f,uuiliad ly as an oboeade 10 >eX"al aro ..... l, q ... \V",,'oom,a,d,'. >o",~,..h", ""lroorll<: aclS"menu (99, chaps. 14- 15) and Iheir crilique by Loo:b and Toffdmier (73). H' Cp. H amlel" jealousy of his unde'. sexual intimacy with hi. mol her (6, ) . One of my I'I"in. I ndian palient> leli home during hill adolc:sa:nce, " 'hcn he found his widowed molher in bed wilh her lover, for he had unCQnsciowly desired 10 become his falher's oedipalluccc:ssm {37, pp. 290 f. and passim)-a hope commonly observed in falherless boY' and, multll;" muldtufu, abo in mOlherless girls. '" Navaho mOlhers and Hungari an peasant "..,I·nurses soothe aying (boy) babi ... by stroking the;" genilals: sexual slimulalion replace< or reinforces Ihe soolhing and affeclionate giving of the b...,aSl. A baby boy, laken from Ihe breast before his hunger is stilled, promptly hu an (anxiely) ereclion. '" A nursing wOman sometimes iruisu on giving d,C breast 10 her husband or lover. Amongsl the Navaho, if Ihe woman has "100 much" milk, CUSlom demands thai Ihe hUllband draw offtlx: excl'Sl (.II, p. 90) . The SlriCI Mohave taboo On a man's kisoing his (even non_nuning) ,,-ire'. bre:a.11I constilUi(:l a cultural dc:fer.cc again.1 whal appean 10 be a lU"(lng lemptation 10 " imitale" incal by such an aCI (17).
"""
Klytaimestra's Dream in Aisch),los' Choephoroi though it panicks Oidipous. A better way of instancing the J oca5tacomplex would be hard to devise.114 I n short, while the display of the breasts is primarily a dunning, it is secondarily also a counter-oedipally actuated seduction, comparable in pari, to Helene's seductive-supplicating display of her irresistible breasts to the murderously angry Menelaos. One would expe<:t as much from a woman like K lytaimC5tra, who happens to be also H elene's sister. The Gums play no role in suction. The baby's lips enclose the nipple hermetically. T his permits the creation of a vacuum in the oral cavity, which d raws the milk from the breast. It is a matter of hydrodynamics only, discernible by commonsense reflection. T he funct ion of the gums is different. T hey simply clamp the nipple, keeping it in position and preventing its (accidental or voluntary) premature withdrawal. The more elusive, the mo re frustrating the nipple is, the harder the baby's gums-and, later on, t eet h~wi1l clamp it. No ne the less, K lytaimcstra's claim that Orestes nursed with his gums , does have a psychological sense. H ad she nursed OrC5tcs, she would have done so callously (supra). H ence, her infant son would have had to clamp he r nipple very hard, to prevent itspremalure withdrawal. II ' But Kl ytaimestra was an even more frustrating mother: she did not nurse OrC5tcs al all. T his is why her lie ascribes so great a role to Orestes' gums and why, in dream, the snake bites he r nipple. For only frust rated babies "bite" the breast, trying to prevent its escape and-as the adult imagines i t~" punishing" i t for its elusiveness.ll6 K lylaimestra's fit abo ut Ihe gums simply means: " Ilad 1 nursed Orestes, he W()uld haw had 10 clamp down hard on my reluctant nipple". H er dream says: " I deserve being bitten in Ihe breast for not having nursed my son." I n short, both the factual lie and the fanlastic dream reveal an important psychological tru th. Furthermore, there is also---in accordance with the law of ove rdelermination~anOlher nexus between the biting (teet h) of the dream and the sucking gums of the lie: Kl ytaimestra's absurd refere nce to gums seeks to dmy the possibility of a fatal bite conjured up by the d ream. No wo man who had lovingly nursed her baby would have had K lytaimestra's dream~and none would have ascribed an absurd role to the gums during nursing. Above all, no mother who had lovingly nursed her son would have been slain by hi m~probably nOt even if she had suhre"' Fr~l1d'l ofl_...,~atcd r~mark . that his disco"~ri,," were amidpaled by th~ poets, ;. confirmed by th~ faci Iha! a fine novelist, Mary R~naull (89, p. 93 ) highlighted Ihis Sophokl~an trait faT bc:tl~r than c~rtain psycho-analysts, who keep on writing about S. T - bl1l diM.x1 mO!ltly Ih~ nuane,," of ;nauuUllt ' .. rs~ fran
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Klytainuslra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
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quentty killed the boy's father. Hence, no matter what tradition and the text insistently harp on, the real (not just: the plausible) cause of Orestes' matricide was Kl ytaimestra's inadequacy as a mother and, serondarily, her "infidelity" to her emotionally immature son, who hated Aigio;thos with an oedipally jealous hatred and felt that his mother had " cuckolded" him quite as much as she had cuckolded his father. I cannot do better than cite v. 917: "Sham~ forbids me that I should mention this infamous salary." The full impact of this verse can be felt only b y those who sense tha t this "sha me" and silence are not inspired simply by cultural regulations but a lso (and perhaps even primarily) by Orestes' need to concealespecially from himself- the oedipal jealousy which motivates so much of his rage.117 Nursing Followed by Sleep is the nonnal sequence. In Hom. Il. 22.79 ff., Hekabe recalls that Hektor nursed, was appeased and then slept. In tire actual dream-se'juence, Orestes is swaddled and "sleeps", after nursing and biting (526 fr. ) . But, as alread y noted, Aischylos mentions rest btjore its cause (nursing), but specifies, of course, that it is the end of the dreamhappening. By contrast, in the lie (8g6 fr. ), the infant is said to nurse while very drowsy-a manifest impossibility, as anyone taking the trouble to watch or to ask a young mother will discover. For it is this lapsus which makes K lytaimestra's lie a psychologically credible self-betrayal-and her need for punishment is pitilessly revealed by her dream. I ndeed, in reallife, so obvious a lllpsus- the affirmation of so manifest an impossibility-in the lIlid~L of a lie on whose credibility one stakes one's life, wo uld reveal that the liar had a compulsion to confess (D.S. 2. 14.4) and a need to be punished (88}-and tha t is easily inferable from Klytaimestra's dream. I also note the word order in the lit: though sleeping and nursi ng are rep resented a s simultaneous, sleeping is again mentiontd first, whereas in the drea m-narratillt the final satiated sleep is simply men tioned btjort its cause (nursing), the sleep being realistically represented as the end of the tale (dream). This striking narrative sequence, like the word order in the lie, may, perhaps, be correlated with two fact s. The Nurse's narrati ve does not mention the satiated baby's slee p, but d oe:s mention that her own sleep was interrupted by the hungry bahy's cries. A s to Kl yLaimestra, 5he huuif is, in fact , asleep wlliu nursing her serpent-baby in dream. In her lie, however, it is the baby (Orestes) who is drowsy whih (allegedly) sueki ng hi. non-sIteJillg mother's nipple. Since a dream-nursing is, objectively, no t real and since very drowsy babies d o not nlil"lSe, the symmetry between the two fictions- the dream and the lie--is manifest also in this respect. Such symmetries and echoes cannot be intentionally contrived even by '" Though ~lalino ...... ki believed he had "proven" the inapplicability of the Oedipus t heory to a matr ilineal society, which allegedly- but only allegedly (9 .. )-denies t he existence of paternity, even children in orphan ages ud adopted children dc,·clop fu ll _ blown Q"dipus complexes in the usual way. Or"'t"" oedipal jea lousy of Aigisthos i. as authentie II' Hamlet'. hatred of his murderous and aclulterous unde (61), who behaved elUlCtlyas Aigislhos had behaved. On Oresta' affinili a ..... ith Hamlct, cpo G. Murray (80, chap. 8).
Krytaimt£tra'.s Drtam in Ai.schylo.s' Choephoroi the most experienced psycho-analyst, but seem to "come naturally" to a great poet. The literary cri tic, quite as much as the psycho-analystplodding along far behind the poet-can at times, with great effort and patience, follow on the ground the shadow of Pegasos flying effortlessly through the airs. These findings have some bearing even on a problem of textual criticism. The order ojword.s in the lie (sleep before nursing) and the interruption of the Nurse's sleep by the hungry baby's cries explain in part why I feel that, in the dream-narrative, vv. 528 f. (mentioning "being put to rest" = to sleep) are in the right place and should not be transposed after vv. 5:29-33, which tell of the nursing which led up to sleep. Though this point has already been made in the General Introduction (and passim ), I wish to stress here once more that, at this juncture, I am not "psycho-analysing" Aischylos. I am simply retracing the relationships between three interrelated passages of his drama and clarifying the nexus between the various images and narrative sequences. It is the manner in which the poet's mind operates that lends to his personages that psychological plausibili ty which this book seeks to highlight: the great dramatist's personages are real enough to be as anal ysable as if they had existence and being. In analysing the shallower and more obviously cont rived personages of a It.s.ser poet, one invariably ends up by analysing the author onry-for he does not create psychologically credible, and therefore analysable, personages.
ltuerpretatiOl1 The Ps)'cho-Anarytica{ interpretation of the dream should, by now, be selfevident: Klytaimestra, harassed by guilt feelings over not having nursed her son and a lso over Agamemnon's mu rder, fuses the two self-reproaches into one, and, in so doi ng, also fuses Agamemnon with his natural avenger, Orestes. This explains why Aischylos turned the Stesichorean snake, representing Agamemnon, into one represen ting Orestes. Before I go further, I must clear up one point of considerable importance:. Though the masculine (A. Ag. II ) Klytaimestra behaves in a highly non-maternal and sadistic way towards Orestes, in dream she is almost masochistically maternal, since, though bitten in the breast, she swaddles Orestes and lets him sleep. This contrasts sharply with H era's throwing away the violently-nursing infant H erakles (supra). T his implies Ihat, in her dream-behaviour- which deviates utterly from her real conduct- Kl ytaimestra does, after all, fulfil her femalem aternal potential for nursing a son at her breast. This discrepancy between her actual and her dream conduct only increases the plausibiliy of her dream, for, especially in the case of masculine, non-maternal women , one often observes behaviour which is a di.sgui.sed manifestation of the need to play the mother. Kl ytaimestra's choice of a weak, effeminate (305) lover, whom she has to protect and who owes everything to her, is typical of certain viragoes, who find an outlet for their inhibited maternal impulses in marrying a weakling. III II. Her calling the deaJ Aigisthos "valian t" (893) Jrul.nifestly negates the real facUl,
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Krytaimestra's Dream in Aischyws' Choephoroi
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The inference that Klytaime:nra does in dream what she failed to do in reality is strongly supported by the fact that in A. Chot. she "makes up" in dream for her failure to nurse Orestes, while in her S. El. dream she symbolically remmes her interrupted sexual relations with Agamemnon. These differences are only to be expected, for whereas, in A. CIwl., she ios chiefly a bad mother, in S. El. she is main ly a murderous wife. I n both dreams she "atones" for her sins of omission (and also of commission)- in each case with fatal results. ' One also notes that in A. Chot., though the dream threat emanates from Orestes, K lytaimestra---on awakening--seeks to appease Qnry Agamemnon's shade. This is partly justified, since she no doubt feels that only as long as Agamemnon's wrath lasts would he---or his Erinys-incite Orestes to avenge him. However, despite her dream, she is self~ destructively blind to the fact that Orestes has also strictly personal and realistic grievances against her- his exile and loss of fortune-as well as two infantile grievances: his mother had not nursed him and had also frustrated his oedipal ambitions, by making not him but Aigisthos Agamemnon's successor in her bed. Klytaimestra's oversight of these resent~ ments is typically self-punitive and explains her subsequent tactical errors: the display of her breasts which, never having nursed Orestes, elicit no tender gratitude, and the implicit seductiveness of her wish to spend her- not yet attained---old age at Orestes' side, which only stimulates oedipal anxiety and anger in him. The dream therefore clearly reflects the Super-ego inspired need to confess and to atone, commonly encountered in psychiatric practice (88) and already mentioned in D .S. 2.14.4. It satisfies self-punitive needs: Klytaimestra herself puts the serpent-baby to her breast and exposes herself to his bite. There remains to be discussed a matter connected with a major controversy amongst classical psycho-analysts. Freud's first theory asser!ed that all dreams represent wiosh-fulfillment. \Vhen confronted, during World War I, with repetitive and unpleasant war dreams, in order to preserve his wish-fulfillment theory of dreaming, Freud invented the primary death instinct, which such dreams supposedly gratify (53). Since this "instinct" has no clinical applicability (42, p. 399), and since there is no imaginable way of detennining its existence,1I9 I refuse to view Klytaimestra's dream as gratiiying a (non-existent) prilTUlry death instincl. I hold that her dream contains erotic instinctual gratifications, for--a~ already iloted- nursing involves a sexual arousal. Her "gratification" is, which are constantly ,!r(:ISe<\ in A. Ag. and in A. GMt. This maternal, old~r wife-o.on!ike younger lov~r, pattern is clearly P!"ekIIt in ~arly myths about various mother-godd esses and their juv~nile son_husbands. Though partly ohliterated, traces of the same pattern ar~ discernible also in tl,e relatiol1llhip between Iokaste and Oidipous, especialty in S.
OT. '" Cpo 97, '.vv. Instinct Thwry, o"ath I nstinct, ~tc. Anempa to link tbis " instinct"..,me hav~ don. (f, 111, 611)-with the second law of thermodynamiQ are absurd, for a ')'Item is not proptikd lowar
"4
K{yl4imulra's Dream in Aischylos' Choephoroi
however, tainted by anxi
( t) Arsan, Emmanuelle: L'Anti-Vierge. Paris, 1968. (2) Bailey, F. L .: Some Sex Beliefs and Practices in a Navaho Community, Papers of lhe Peabody Museum of American Arduuology and Ethnology, Harvard UnilJlJ'sity voL 40, no. 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1950. (3) Bateson, Gregory and Mead, Margaret: Balinese Clumu;ter (Special Publications of the New York Academy of Sciences vol. 2). New York, 1942. (4) Belmont, Nicole: Us Signes de La Naissance. Paris, 1971. (5) Bernfeld, S. and Feitelberg, S.: The Principle of Entropy and the Death I nstinct, lntenultional Journal ~ Psyclw-Analysis 12:61-81, 1931. (6) Sriehl, Walter and Kulka, E. W.: Lactation in a Virgin, Psyclwanalytic Quarterly 4:484- 512, 1935. (7) Buschan, Georg (ed.): Illustrierte VOlkerkunde 2. Stuttgart, 1923. (8) Cakuleva-Diamantis, Dobrila: Personal Communication. , •• The fint chapters of one ofLaforgue'. boob (65) cite striking examples ofquesu for punishment, disgulsed as unbridled quOIts for sexual pleasure. '" The Sedang hold that a mother Ingitu 10 love her baby only after she starts 10 nurse him (14, ~r/, p. 318). Amongst primitives, infanticide seldom occun afler the onset of nuning; c:JIceptiollll to thi. rule are quite rare (r/r/). '" This double fraud provides the baa;' for the American "alimony racltet".
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(9) Carmon, W. 8.: TJu Wisdllm I>jtlu Blidy. New York, 1939. ( 10) Chombart de Lauwe, M.-J.: Un Mllmi! Autre: l'Enfance. Paris, 197 J. (II ) Clifford, (Sir) Hugh : "At a Malayan Court" (in) ThtFurthtrSide of Silence. New York, 1922. ( 12) Cochrane, A. D .: Elie Metschnikoffand his Theory of an " Insti nct de la Mort", lnternational Joumal of Psycho-Ana£Vris t5=265--270, 1934· ( 13) Deutsch, Helene: TM PS;'cho{og)' of Women 2 vols. New York, 1944- 1 945. (14) Devereux, George: Sedang Fuld Noles (MS.), 1933- 1935 . (15) id . : Institutionalized Homosexuality of the Mohave Indiam, Human Biology 9:4g8--527, 1937. (r6) id.: Mohave Orality: An Analysis of Nursing and Wl':aning Customs, Psychoanalytic Quarterly 16:519-546, 1947. ( I7) id.: H eterosexual Behavior of the Mohave Indians (in) Roheim, Geza (ed.): Ps;·choo.nalysis and tJu SoOal Scientes 2. New York, 1950. (IB) id.: Mohave Indian Verbal and Motor Profanity (in) Roheim, Geza (ed.) : PS;·chotlllalysis alld Iht Social Sciences 3. New York, 1951. ( 19) id.: Why Oedipus Killed Laius: A Note on the Complementary Oedipus Complex, International Joumal of P.I)'cho-Alwlysis 34:13214 1, 1953· (20) id.: Primitive Gellital Mutilations in a Neurotic's Dream, Journal of lhe American Psychoallalytic Association 2 :483- 492, 1954. (21 ) id.: The Denial of the Anus in Neurosis and CuJture, Bulleti'l of 1M Philadelphia Associa/ionjor Psyclwanalyris 4:24- 27. 1954. (22) id.: A Study of Abortion in Primitive SoOeties. New York, 1955,~ 1975. (23) id.: Therapeutic Education. New York, 1956. (24) id.: Penelope's Character, PS;'choQ//alytic Quarterly 26:378--386,1957' (25) id.: The Awarding of a Penis as Compensation for Rape, International Journal of Psycho-AnafF.ris 3B :398--401. 1957· (26) id.: An and Mythology: A General Theory (ill) Kaplan, Ben (ed.) : Studying Persollality Cross-Culturally. Evanston, Illinois, 1961. (27) id.: La Psychanalyse et I'Histoire: Vne Application a I'Histoire de Spane, Annales: Ecollomils, Soci/ lis, Cilli{isaliotlS 20:18- 44, 1965. (28) id.: Loss of Identity, Impairment of Relationships, Reading DisabiliIy, Psychoanalytic Quarterly 35 :1 8--39,1966. (29) id.: The Exploitation of Ambiguity in PindarOs 0.3.27, Rheinisches Muslumflir Philologie 109:2Bg-2g8, 1966. (30) id.: La Renoneiation il. J'ldentite: Defense conlre J'Antantissement, RtVIlI FraTlfaist de Psychanalyst 31 :10 1- 142, 1967. (31 ) id.: Greek Pseudo-Homosexuality, Symbo{tu Oslotnses 42:6g-g2. 19 67. (32) id.: From Anxiety to M tthod in the Behavioral Sciences. Paris and The Hague, 1967. (33) id. : Observation and Belief in Aischylos' Accounts of Dream~, Psyclwlherapy and Psychosomatics 15:114- 134, 1967. (34) id.: L'Image de l'Enfant dans deux Tribus, Mohave et Sedang, et son Importance pour la Psychiatric Infantile, Revue de Neuropsychiatrn injantilt 16:375-390, 1968.
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(S5) id.: Considerations Psychanalytiques sur la Divination, Particulierement en Greee (in) Caquol, A. and Lcibovici, M. (cds.) : LtJ Divination. Paris, 1968. (S6) id.: The Realistic Basis of Fantasy, Journal of tlu Hillside Hospital 17: 13--20, 1968. (37) id . : Reality ond Dream: The Psychothn-apy of a Plains Indian. (Second, augmented edition), Ncw York, 1969. (S8) id. : Moha/M Ethnopsychiatry and Suicidl. (Second, augmented cd.), Washington D.C., 1969. (S9) id.: The Nature of Sappho's Seizure in Fr. SI LP, Classical Quarterly 20:17-3 1,197 0 . (40) id.: La Naissance d'Aphrodite (in) Pouillon, J ean and Maranda, Pierre (cds. ) : Echangf$ et Communications (Melanges Lilli.Strauss ), 2. 1::129-1252. Paris and The Hague, 1970. (41 ) id . : The Structure of Tragedy and the Structure of the Psyche in Aristotle's P~tics (in) H anly, Charles and Lazerowitz, Morris (cds.): Psychoanalysis and Philosophy. New York, 1970. (42) id.: PS)'Choanalysis and the Occult (ed. and contrib. ) (Reprint) New York, 1970. (43) id.: Essais d'Ethncpsychiatrie CeniTale. Paris, 1970. (Second edition 1973-) (44) id.: EthnopS)"Chanalyse Complimentariste. Paris, 1972. (45) id.: I.e Fragment 62 Nauck l d'Eschyle. Ce qu'y Signifie XI\OYNH.r, Revue dls Etudls Grecquts 86: 277--284, 1973. (46) Dodds, E. R,; The Greek.s and 1m Irralional. Berkeley, California, 1951. (47) Ellenberger, Henri: Die Putzwul, Der Psychologe 2: I-IS, 1950. (¥I ) Evans-Pritchard, E. E.; H ercdity and Gestation, as the Zande See It, Sociologus 8:400- 413, 19S2. (49) Fenichel, Olto: A Critique of the Death Instinct, The CoUecltd Papers fifO . Feniclull. New York, 1953 . (50) id.: The Misapprehended Oracle (in) The Collected Papers of o. Fenichel2. New York, 1954. (5 1) Ferenczi, Sandor: Guliiver Fantasies (in) Final Contribuliolls to lhe Problems and Methods of Psycho-Analysis. New York, 1955. (52 ) Ford, C. S. and Beach, F. A.: Patterns of Sexual Behavior. New York, 195 1. (53) Freud, Sigmund: Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Standard Edition 18. London, 1957. (54) Gorer, Geoffrey and Rickman, J ohn : Tlu People of Creat Russia. London, 1949. (55) Greenacre, Phyllis: Penis Awe and its Relation to Penis Envy (in) Loewenstein, R .M.: (cd.) Drives, Affects, B eho.vi()f. New York, 1955· (56) Groussct, Rene: L'Empirt des Sltppes, Paris, 1941, (57) Grubb, W. B.: An Unkllown People in an Unknown lAnd. London, 19t I. (58) Hallowell, A. I. : Bear Ceremonialism in the Northem H emisphere, American Anthropologist 28:1 - 175, 1926.
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(59) Isakower, Otto: A Contribution to the Patho-Psychology of Phenomena Associated with Falling Asleep, lntmzational Journal of Psyeho-Analysu ~~:466-477, 1936. (60) James, Henry : Tk Tum of the Screw (many editions). (6 t ) Jones, Ernest: Hamlet and Oedipus. London, 1949. (62) Kapp, R. 0.: Comments on Bernfeid and Feiteiberg's, " The Principle of Entropy and the Death Instinct", InttrnationalJourno.lof Psycho-Analysis 12 :B2--86, 1931. (63) Karsten, R .: The Head-Hunters of Western Amazonas: The Life and Culture of the Jivaro Indians of Eastern Ecuador and Peru, Societas SeUnliarum Froniea.' COmJMTItationu Hurrumarum Litterarum
7 no. I. Helsingfors, 1935. (64) La Barre, Weston: The Ghost Dana. New York, 1970. (65) Laforgue, Rene: Psyehopathologie del'&htc. Paris, 1944. (66) Lennig, Robert: Troum und Sinnestduschung hei Aischylos, Sophokles, Euripides. Berlin, 1969. (67) Uvi-Straus.os, Claude: L'Origine des Manitres de TaMe. Paris, 1968. (68) Levy-Bruhl, Lucien: Les Fonetions Mmtales dans Its Sod/tis lifbitum. Paris, 1910. (69) Lewin, B. D. : The Body as Phallus, PS)'choanalytic Quarterly 2 :24-47, 1933· (70) id.: Sleep, the Mouth and the Dream-Screen, Psychoanalytie Quarterly 15:419- 434, '946. (71) Linton, Ralph: The Marquesaru (in) Kardiner, Abram and Linton, Ralph: The Individual and his Sociery. New York, '939. (72) id.: Personal Communication. (73) Loeb, E. M. and Toffelmier, Gertrude: Kin Marriage and Exogamy, Journal of General PJ)'lhology, 20: ,BI- 228, 1939. (74) Lullies, R. and Hirmer, M.: Gritchische Vasen der rtifarchaischm Zeit. MUnchen, '953, (75) MacCracken, R. D.: Lactose Deficiency, Current Anthropology III, nos. 4- 5: 47!r517, [97 1. (76) Marcade,Jean: Eros Kalos. Geneve, 1965. (77) Masters, John : The Road Pasl Mandalay. London, 1961. (7B ) Menninger, K. A. : Man against Himself New York, '93B. (79) Merker, F.; Die Ala.rai. Berlin, 1904. (Bo) Murray, Gilbert: The Classical Tradition in Literature. New York, 1957. (8 1) Nilsson, M. P. : Geschichlt der griechischen Religion 12. MUnchen, 1955· (82) Nori>eck, Edward: Trans-Pacific Similarities in Folk-Lore: A Research Lead, Krother Anthropological Sociery Papers no. 12 :62--6g, 1955· (83) Onians, R. B.: The Origins of European Thought. Cambridge, 1951. (B4) Oplcr, M . E.: Japanese Folk &lief Concerning the Snake, Southwuttrn Journal of Anthropology 1 :24!r259, 1945. (Bs) Oppenheim, A. L.: The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East, Transtutions, American Philosophical Sode!>, n.s. 46, pt. 3. Philadelphia, 1956.
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(86) Preller, Ludwig and Robert, Carl: G,iechisdu MylhologU.. Berlin,
1894- 1 92 1. (87) Rapaport, lonel: intTl)duction d fa PsycJl(Jpathoiogie Collect jUt: La Sec" Mystiqr.u dts Skoptzy. Paris, n.d. (88) R eik, Theodor: C,st4ndniu,wang und Straflediirfllis. Leipzig, 1925. (8g) Renault, Mary: TJu BuLlfrom thtSta. New York, 1962. (go) Rohde, Erwin : Psyche. London, 1950. (g l ) R6heim, Geza: The On'gin and Function of Culture. New York, 1943· (92) id.: The Nescience of the Aranda, Bri/irk Journal of Mediud PsycholoD 17 :343-360, '937. (93) id. : H ungarian Shamanism, (in) R6heim, G. (cd.) : PS)'choanalysu and the Social Sci/netS 3, 1951. (94) Rosenberg, S. B. H.: Reis/ochlm naar de Getluinkbaai op Nituw
Guinta 1869-/87°. C's Gravenhage, 1875. (9S) Rousseau, G. S.: D ream and Visjon in Aeschylus' Oresteia, Arion 2:101 - 136 ,196 3. (96) Ruark, Robert: Something of Value. New York, 1955. (97) R ycroft, Charles: A Cn'tical Dictionary of Ps)dwanorysis. London, . g68. (g8) Wallace, A. F. C.: Dreams and Wishes oflhe Soul, Ameneon Anth,,,. pologist60::2S4-248, 1958. (99) Westermarck, Eduard: The flisrory of Humor. Marriage. London, 1901.
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Chapter 7
Klytaimnestra's Dream in Sophokles' Elektra
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KlytaimntStra's Drlam in Soplwklts' Elektra XPYCOOEMIC h6yoc TIC aVrl)v knv Elcl&'Tv 'ITO'TpOc ToO oov n: )(CqJoV OOnipav ol-llAicrv D.66vroc fie q>&c' fha T6vS' tipEcnov 1ri'j~al A~VTa odiTrTpov OVq>6pe1 lToTI rohoc, TavOv S' AtYIc60c l)( Tli TOUS' ww ~AaCTtlv f%lVoVTa 6WJ..6v, 4> l
417
420
(Jebb's text)
Trallslation Chrysothemis: " It is said that she [Klytaimnestra] beheld our father returned to light, near her [in bed] once more. Then he took the sceptre once his, but now borne by Aigisthos- and planted it into the hearth, and from it [the sceptre] a leafy branch sprung upward, which overshadowed all of Mykenai's land. " [Subsequently Klytaimnestra "sterilizes" her dream, by exposing it to Helios, the Sun. She (catastrophically) persi~ts, however, in calling it an ambiguous dream (SlCcWV ovelpwv). She also hopes that if its omen is good , it will affect her ; if bad, that it will affect her enem.ies (645 ; cpo Daniel 4. 19).]
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Cotntnents; The following views will be justified further on: ( I ) "Near Mr [in bedJ": cpo Bachli (3, p. 54): "sich wieder zu ihr legle". Nothing more explicit should be imagined to occur al this point. (2) "Tiu luarth" is, pate Jebb (ad loc.), indoors- it is the hearth alluded 10 also in v. 270. (3) " In/o" the hearth; so Mazon (in hised.) and Vernant (96, p. loB). Bowra's translation "on" (6, pp. 223 ff. ) means the same thing. Jebb's "at" ill, in view of what Agamemnon's gesture symbolizes, a euphemism, which he repeats more or less also at v. 270. (4) "Leafy brant"": Mazon's "laurier" seems inexplicable. Till Prob/mi. The Sophoklean Klytaimnestra's seemingly transparent (allegorical) dream is far more difficult to analyse than the Aischylean Kl ytaimestra's dream. The Sophoklean dream's "transparency" is the equivalent of a "red herring resistance" (34, 412 fr.) in clinical psychoanal)'3is. II persuades those who ignore the great mathematician Lagrange's warning: "seek simplicity, but distrust it", that they understand at on" all that such a pseudo-transparent dream contains. Actually, the latent psychological content of the Aischylean KlytaimOSlra's dream lies immediately below the "surface" of its manifCllt content. In the case of the Sophoklcan dream, a thick layer of literary and cultural traditions and meanings separates the two and must be pierced before the dream's latent psychological core can be reached. In short, the latent content of the Aischylean dream is encoded only once; that of the Sophoklean dream is encoded twice, and the two codes are not of the same kind. The tech niq ue of analysis to be used here, albeit somewhat similar to that used in the analysis of Atossa's dream (chap. I), must therefore be a particularly sophisticated one. In fact, the psychoanalyst's task begins where that of the philologist ends. S/esichoros, Aischylos and Sophoklu. Like his two predecessors, SophokIes, too, causes hill Klytaimnestra to have an ominous dream, but attributes a very different kind of dream to her. Yet, this externally jnnovating dream has a latent content very similar to that of the serpent dreams which Sophokles did wi choose to imitate. Before this can be proven, a great deal of literary and philological spade-work must be done. The first point to be made is that, the Sophoklean dream's "perspective" is closer to that of the Stesichorean dream than to that of the Aischylean dream, whose "perspective" is sui The Stesichorean and the Sophoklean dreams emphasize the dynastic element; the former mentions the Pleisthenid lein!;, emerging from a serpent; the latter the scepl" of the Atreidai. They appear to highlight the replacement of one ruler by another: in thill perspective the punishment of Klytaimestra is only a means to an end. It may be objected, of course, that Ploutarchos cites the StCllichoros fragment in order to illustrate the delays of divine vengeance L and therefore emphasizes mainly K lytallnClltra's punishment. But this finding is not conclusive, for Ploutarchos is not above citing a poetical fragment out of contexf, in order to illustrate a point which is the direct opposite of the point the poet sought to make (3 1). Aischylos stresses
generu.
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m. nun!. villd.
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p.
sssA.
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Klytaimnestra's Dream in Soplwkles' Elektra mainly the punishment of Klytaimestra, the bad mother; the reestablishment of the lawful dyniUty is, at leiUt in the dream, simply a consequence of the vengeance successfully exacted for a private offence. This interpretation is reinforced by the fact that whereiU the physiological-instinctual element is stressed in the Aischylean dream to the point of constituting ib; manifest content (nursing and biting), it is barely hinted at in the Sophoklean dream (near-coitus with a ghost) and probably also in the tantalizingly short Stesichoros fragment, whose latent sexualprocreative content WiU discussed elsewhere (chap. 5). Since, in determining the latent content of the Sophoklean dream, I will have occiUion to refer to the Stesichorean and AischyJean modebs which Sophokles did not replicate, I must prove at once that certain of their motifs, which Sophokles deliberately excluded from his Kl ytaimnestra's dream, unintentionally reappared in ollln passages of his drama (37). A careful documentation of this statement is indispensable, not only in order to avoid the reproach of having taken into account that which is "oub;ide the drama" (Ta mOc 1"00 6p6;llaToc), but also in order to justify in advance my many references, in connection with Astyages' second dream (Hdt. 1.108), which Sophokles did imitate, to Astyages' first dream (Hdt. 1.107) which he did not manifestly imitate. I begin by stating a general principle: when an author deviates from a traditional model, the discarded motifs tend to reappear- at times in a somewhat perplexing manner-in a passage of his work which is largely unrelated to the passage in which a pre-existing model is wholly or partly di:'lcarded or elsc radically modified. I have called this unintended and out-of-context reappearance of discarded motifs: "slippage" (37). From the philological point of view, this resembles the process whereby a gloss slips into the text, while from the psychoanalytical point of view it resembles what Freud called "the return of the repressed" (52). The uncontrollable return of the repressed is ~o well known, that it constitutes the point of a certain category of jokes which may be summarized iU follows: "You will get your wish if you manage not to think of a rhinoceros for twenty-four hours." This prohibition causes the person so instructed to think of a rhinoceros. I have fully C}
In connection with S. T,.
". lippage" in
Th~r. ~ . IIO
9 ~ 3;
a briefer disc .... ion will he found in my analysis of a
(31) .
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fIlako him fcar tbat hill uaughter Mandane's ~on might dethrone him, by marrying her off to a Pmian, who, though of high birth, is only a secondclass citizen in the e mpire dominated by the Aledes. (Hdt. 1.107). Th~ apotropaic or prophylactic device, which is m~ntioned neither by Aischylos nor by Sophokles, is innovatingly borrowed by Euripides: the usurpers, instead offorcing Elektra to remain single, marry her off to a free pe:uant . (E. El. 34 fr. ). In short, while discarding both the dream and the dreaming, Euripides borrowed and brilliantly developed what, in Herodotos, is the inurp1t1ation of a dream (related to the dreams others ascribe to Klytaimnestra) or, if one prefers: Astyages' rtactions to his dream and to ilS interpretation. This "slippage" becomes even more striking if one bears in mind that, in certain cultures, in which much attention is paid to dreams, the dream itself, its telling, its interpretation and the drealllel"'~ n:anions to the interpretation must, from the cultural point of view, be treated as a single and indivisible sequence (29, pt. I, chap. , ).3 It is even possible that it w:u this slippage which enabled Euripides to discard so completely both the dream-epiwde and its content. I must now turn to the ma nifest slippages in Sophokles. SusidUJrean Slippages: In the Stesichorean text, there is mention of the snake's "bloody crest". Since the sources of this Stesichorean detail have already been explained (chap. 5), I limit myself here only to this explicitly described image. Aischylos displaced the bleeding from the head to the nipple. Sophokles eliminated it entirely from the dream, but mentions immediaJeiy afur the dream (445), that the bloodstained murder weapon Wa:! wiped offun AgalllclllIlon's head, (;ausing his already doven "cn:st" tv be doubly bloody. For the literary critic, this detail, mentioned immediately afta- the dream, is part of its conteJ\t; fOf the psycho-analyst, it is a "free association" to it. Be it context or free association, the literary critic, quite ru much as the psycho-analyst, must take it into account in seeking to detennine the meaning of the dream. But there is more. The tale of the bloodying of Agamemnon's head is followed at ()flU by a description of ~CXaAlc~6c-of the apotropaic ablation of his corpse's extremities. Since I will show that this practice, too, is relevant for the understanding of the dream, I must consider it here in some detail. This rite manifestly interested Sophokles: he seems to be the only classieal author to mention the amputatwn detail twice.~ Now, it is j",,,,,uiuu.bk that olle of the amputateu "limbs" ~ hvulu IIvt have Ueell the phallos (32) ... especially in the case of Agamemnon, whose murderers sought to datroy his ljn~llge, root and branch (cp. E. Suppl. 514 f. ). Possibly, the earlier remark (98 fr. ): "Aigisthos cleaved Agamemnon's head with an a;<\:e like a woodman fells an oak" (opOc), not only anticipates the bloodying of his head, but also indicates that the comparing of Agamemnon to a felled oak- rather than to a slain lion or bull-is doubly significant: (I) It anticipates the dream-appearance of the sprouting sceptre, for sceptres were made of wood, adorned with gold . • Cpo also Dodds' IottOnd thoughts On Ihis matter (40, p. 39) • • Cpo S. ( Tr";l
KlytaimJUstra's Dream in Sophokks' Elektra (2) In myth, Dryas' (the Oak-man's) limbs are lopped off by his mad father, who thinks he is pruning a vine. (Apollod. 3.5.1 ). The assumption that this rite has a bearing on the dream seems supported by a curious fact: the amputation, though mentioned also in A. Choe. 439, is oot echoed by the Aischylean K lytaimes tra's dream, in which Orestes sucks blood (a nd milk) from the nipple. Now, in a fragment from another drama (Jr. 354 N2) Aischylos mentions another aspect of this apotropaic rite: the murderer takes into his mouth a clot of the victim's blood and spits it out. Thus, just as this (oral) aspect of the rite hall affinities with Klytaimestra's manifest dream in Aischylos, :so the Sophoklean reference to another a.ospe<:t of the same rite may be presumed to have a bearing upon his Klytaimnestra's dream. Having already mentioned that Sophoklcs imitated the dyna.ostic perspective of the Stcsichoros dream and also its (inferable) latent sexual content, I now turn to; Aischyltan Slippages. The most striking element of the Aisch ylean dream is the nursing of the serpent at the breast. It focuses one's attention on Klytaimestra's breasts and on the nursing of Orestes so strongly, that the Nurse's (genuine) claim to have nursed Orestes from the moment of his birth (A. Ghot. 749 ff. )-a sacrifice whose fruitlessness she now laments (cp. E. Phoin. 1433) -and Kl ytaimest ra's (lying) claim to have nursed Orestes (A. Ghoe. 8g6 ff., goB) forcibly remind one of the dream. The Aischylean dream makes these contradictory claims an integral part of the esselltial warp and woof of the Ghotphoroi. The Sophoklean dream COl\lains, of course, no allusion whatcver to nursing. NOlie the less, Sophokles took over from Aischylos the contradictory claims concerning the nursing of Orestes. That his Klytaimnestra should claim to have nursed Orestes (776) at the breast (llaCTwv) is perhaps natural enough. What is less so, is that, in S. El., Kl ytaimnestra's claim is contested by Elektra, who, like the Aischylean Nurse, claims to be the only Ollt in the house (KOT' OTKOV) to have "nursed" Orestes, and, like the Nurse, laments the wasted devotion ( 1143 fr. ). Now, had the Ghoephor(}i never been written, Elektra's words would at once be taken to mean /mly "tend er nurturing", which is the secondary meaning of the basic word Tpi'fKL', whose primary meaning is: to nurse at the brcast.s But anyone familiar with A. Chot., from which the motif of competing claims is borrowed must-be he an Athenian theatre-goer or a modern student of Greek- stop and remind himself that, unlike the Aischylean Nu~, the virgin Elektra can refer only to tender nurturing; that the Sophoklcan K ly taimnestra's claim to have nursed Orestes at her breasts (lJac£wII) is meant to be believed (776) . I do n(}t believe Sophokles to have tried to persuade us that Elektra gave Orestes the breast, nor do I feel that he expressed himself o bscurely.6 One's momentary bewilderment is due to one's awareness that the Aischylean Nurse, whom Elektra rcp laces here, did nune Orestes at the breast. It is this awkward and incomplete transposition of the competing nursing claims in A. Ghot. and the unrtlaltdnesJ , In A. CiJo,. bOlb th e Nunc ( 7.;,0) and KlytaimCltra (8g8, 908) usc: forln$ oClhis word 10 denote laclation; in S. El. ("43. "47) Eleklra uses illO denole mere nurluring . • No he did express himsc:lf obscurdy in connection ..... ilh the llippage at S. Tr. 9~3 (37).
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Klytaimnalra's Dream in Sophoklu' Blektra of these p~gel to anything else in S. '£1., which show that the dillcarded Aischylean motif of n ursi ng in dream "slipped" indirectly into the Sophoklean text. The only alternative would be to assume that Sophokles knew-and meant to refer to--certain highly unusual biological facts; a hypo thesU which I am not prepared to accept.7 These slippages of elements derived from the Stesichorean and the Aischylean dreams suffice to show that they kept on haunting Sophokles' mind even after he decided to discard them. They may therefore be legitimately cited in the course of an attempt to elucidate the latent meaning of the Sophoklean Klytaimnestra's dream. They also absolve me, in advance, from having to justify the use I will make of Astyages' first dream (Hdt. 1. 107), even though Sophokles borrowed details only from his second dream (1.108). Astyagcs' two dreams encode (symbolize) the same (latent) meaning in two--cxte rnally divergent- ways. Thill statement fits both what we know from various mythologies about recurrent or paired dreams and what psycho-analysts have been able to learn from the analysis of such paired or serial dreams (I, 4, 30, 57) which are, in the last resort, variations on a theme. This links them with recurrent dreamscommon especially in childhood and adolescence-in which the same meaning is repeatedly encoded in the same way. In short, the carefully selected group of non-Sophoklean dreams which I exploit in this chapter are all variations on the same theme: plus t;a change, plus c'est la meme chose. Borrowing is, both psychologically and culturally, a complicated proCCIlI. Not only are traits available for borrowing often nat oorrowed but, when borrowed, they may be discarded after a while, because they do not fit easily into their new context (65, p. 46, cpo 66, pp. 3'29 ff.). Even useful arts may be lost (OI)-as the art of writing was lost during Greece's Dark Ages. The impulse to borrow is, moreover, always partly counteracted by inertia and by outright resistances. Items are borrowed mainly for more or less unconscious reasons, and these "reasons" continue to adkre to the borrowed items even after they are incorporated into a new setting (36, chap. 8). Taken as a tkviation from the Stesichorean-Aischylean model, the Sophoklean dream is an innovation. But, when taken in conjunction with an Aischylean metaphor (A. Ag. g66 ff.), with two H erodotean dreams (1.107, 108) only one of which was manifestly imitated, and also with 1 The production of milk by a ~'iTRO i~/lJcla it extremely rare' I know of One reliably reported case only (7). A girl'. (or a virgin female animal'.) mammae can, howe"cr, occasionally produce colostrum (bees tingo) . T he Mohave India,," claim to be able 10 induce a flow of "milk" even io a post·menopausal grandmother, who must nune her orphaned grandchild (19). Nic. AI",. 14 f. pra.cribes young girl's milk as an antidole for a pooon; this is noteworlhy, "" Nikandros does not pre
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KlylaimlltS/ra's Duam in Sophoklts' Elektra certain Near Eastern models upon which the Herodotean dreams are patterned, the Sophoklean dream seems dai~·atj1l( . The Aischylean metaphor has more elements in common with the Sophoklean dream than has the Herodotean vine dream. But it is the existence (and interpretation) of the latter which probably incited Sophokles to incorporate into his Kl ytaimnestra's dream additional details borrowed from the Aischylean meta phor, but lacking in the Herodotean dream which resembles that metaphor in some respects. Succinctly stated, most of the Sophoklean dream's elemellis were borrowed from an Aischylos passage, but thtir incorpora tion into an (innovating) dream was made possible by the existence of the structurally somewhat similar H erodotean vine dream, whose (on tent also has affinities with the Aischylean metaphor. So far I have shown on ly how the Herodotean dream permitted the borrowing of addi tional tlemettLs from Aisch ylos. I must now explain why SophokJes borrowed these elements fo r a dream dealing with the myth of the Atreidai, rather than for one dealing with another myth . It suffices to cite two reasons : ( I ) The' inurprttatioll of the Herodotean dream is vay similar to that of the Aischylean and Soophoklean dreams, though totall y unlike the intended "meaning" of the Aischylean Kl ytaimestra '5 lying metaphor. (2) The Kyros myth has one crucial and unusual element in common with Atreus myth. Since H arpagos failed to expose K yros as instructed , Astyages decei ved him into eating the flesh of his own children (Hdt. 1. 119), as Thyes tes was deceived by Atreus into feasting on the flesh of his children.S T he only structural difference between the two traditions is that Astyages' warning dreams precede, while that of Kl ytaimnestra follows the cannibalistic reast. Moreover, in the Aischylean Klytaimestra's dream it is the baby who canni balistically a ttacks its parent. This " inversion" is not at all surprising, since parental and infantile devouring impulses are symmetrical and mutually reinforcing (35. chap. 5). These two findings suffice to explain why Sophokles borrowed elements from Aischylos and rrom Herodotos, in order to devise a new kind or dream fo r Klytaimnestra, rat her than for another personage, belonging to a different myth cycle. The process of borrowing having been clarified, one can proceed to a detailed scrutin y of Sophokles' actual models. The Manifest M odels or the Sophoklean dream are A. Ag. 966 IT. and Hdt. 1. 108. I n accordance with the programme outlined at the beginning of this chapter, I analyse first the cultural (philological, literary, historical) aspects of these models; the few symbols I mention are ofa type which the literary cri tic is accustomed to take in his stride, and does not consider particularly psychological. A. Ag. 966 ff. - a lying, flattering speech Kl ytaimestra addresses to Agamemnon- provides most of the elements of the Sophoklean dream: I cite (basically) Fraenkel's translation, inserting in square brackelll words which help to clarify the meaning of the text . • A. Ag. 121 7 If. , 1594 If., etc. E,"en FracnkeJ who, in h3 edition of A. A,. (ad 1594 If.) , 5trCSSCS dilferenco bctwttn (hc ""ani Mlya80 and Alre", u$Cd 10 deceive the victimized falhen, ad mits the $imi larity bctwttn the two cannibalistic feas ts.
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"For as, when the root remains, the foliage returns to the house, stretching over it a shade against the [scorching] dog-star, so, by thy [Agamemnon's] coming home 10 the hearlh of thy house, thou dost signify that warmth has come home in winter, and when from the sour [unripe] grape Zeus is making wine [ripening the grapes wi th heat], thcn at once there is coolness in the house, when the consummate master is moving about the house." Most of the elemtrW of the Sophoklean d ream are present in this speech: the re turn of Agamemnon, the hearth, the sprouting of the plant, thc great shadow it casts. T he sceptre is not mentioned, but what it rep resents -protective sovereignty- is the theme of the entire passage. The only missing element is the coital theme, mentioned neither explicitly, nor in a transparent allusion. 9 But the Aischylean passage also diffens from the Sophoklean d ream in several respects. T hough it shares many elements with the latter, these elements are juxtaposed in a different way: the structure of the two accounts is not the same. For example, the luxuriant foliage's great shadow is mentioned before there is any reference to the hearth. A furthe r difference is that whereas both the Aischylean speech and the Sophoklean dream concern imaginary events- the one being a lying flattery, expressed in the form of a metaphor and the other simply a dream- the Aischylean speech is meant to deceive, whereas the Sophoklean dream is a reliable warning, which the Sophoklean Klytaimnestra simply refuses to believe, and stubbornly holds to be ambiguous.1o I n short, the borrowing of Aischylean elements is obvious;\! the non-borrowing of iheir structure is equally manifest. One must therefore find another source, from which Sophokles horrowed the structure, th e designa tion of the narrative as a dream, and, specifically, a dream, which not only contains similar elements, but whose interpretations and consequences are the same as those of the Sophoklean K lytaimnestra's dream . Only if another model, providing precisely the dements missing in the Aischylean speech, can be discovered, does one understand why Sophokles was able to borrow some of the elements of the Aischylean speech (metaphor). In this borrowing, the second model functions as an intennediary betwecn Aischylos and Sophokles: it serves as a link between the two texts. Astyages' stcQnd dream (Hdt. 1.108) is the Sophoklean dream's main model, content-wise, structurally, in its interpretation and, above all, in • I would hesitat" to ViUe that "o""rshadowing", """.mth in winter ", "ripening grapes" and "moving about" hint at a "deep" sexual meaning. ,Vhether they do or do not, could only be dcterminrd if one could put Aischylos on th" analytic couch. Since thaI cannot be done, speculations bordn-ing on "wild p"ychOlinalY""" an: nOI JX'rmissible
1.50, go). ,0 S. £I. €45; cpo 6, p. "''''5 . One cannot link thi.o detail with the tradition that Kassandra's prophecies fall o n deaf ears. K assandra is unable 10 penuade; Ih e Sophokl"an Klytaimnestra refuses to be persuaded . " Bowra cites (6, p. ~5~ ) an example of an almost literal borrowing: A. Ag. 1343, t345, cpo S. EI. 1415 f. u It is hardly n~ to explain why Sophokles did nOI borrow the fM ni jrsl demen ts of lh" first dream. Urination can M I be fitted into Sophoklean drama, though it i. a recurrent them" in Ari.stophanic comedy £.9*, s. vv. citeo about a dozen ;nstances) .
Comedy regularly breaks taboos,
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K!ylaimntstra's Dream in Sophokus' Elektra
being, unlike A. Ag. 966 ff., a dream. But it can be shown that even though Sophokles did not borrow any of the manifest ekments of the first Astyages dream (Hdt. I. I 07), these clements are, none the less, present in the lalent
content of the Sophoklean dream,12 I will therefore show that both of Astyages' dreams are Near Eastern "culture paltem dreams"ll or r esemble certain mi racles, which can, both psychologically and structurally, be treated as dream equivalents. I present here, for th e: moment, only the raw data, though in some instances I add a word or two in square brackets, indicating the element of the Sophoklcan dream with wruch some detail will eventually be linked. Asryages' First Dream: The urine of his nubile, but as yet unwed, daughter Mandane floods Astyages' capital and all or Asia (Hdt. t.(07). It roretells Astyages' dethroning by Mandane's son Kyros (Cyrus, Kurush).!' N ear Eartem Equivalents: A Mesopotamian dream book list.'S a large number or urination dreams (76, pp. 264~66) . Moreover, the only Mesopotamian dream which roretells the logically unroreseeable accession or a penon-Qr the dreamer's son- to the throne is a urination dream (76, p. 265a). There is one major difference only between Astyages' (or Mandane's) dream and the Mesopotamian urination dreams. Ir I understand Oppenheim's translations and comments correctly, in Mesopotamia only men dreamed or urinating. There were, however, also dreams about the urine (not: the urinating) or remales: some men dreamed or drinking their wives' urinel' (76, p. 266a). This finding seems to make Ktesias' attribution orthe urination dream to Mandane herselr culturally inappropriate, at least wiThin the rramework or Near Easlern patterns. The urination dream has several links with Astyages' second dream. It roretells the same dire event; the same message is encoded in two difrerent ways. In both dreams that which Mandane produces (urine, vine) emerges rrom her genitals,16 and both spread inordinately. I note in this connection that in many Mesopotamian urination dreams the urine $puads oul (divides into several streams?) as soon as it emerges rrom the meatuS.! 7 As to the urination dream's link with the Sophoklean dream, I state, for the moment apodictically, that it appears in Klytaimnestra's dream in disguise only; it is represented by the hearth: by fire. Asryages' Second Duam: A vine l ! sprouts rrom Mandane's vagina and "Fint called "official dreams" by Malinowski (; 0, p. 92 If.). Renamed "culmre patt ern drellIlU" by Lincoln (64, p. 41 ) and introduced undu Ihal name inlO Greek uudies by Dodd. (39, chap. 4). Their occurrence ;. uudentand~bk both 'n cultural (j6, ch ap. 9) and in psychological (ltg, pt. J, chap. 7) terms. In some societies Ihe young are instrucled 10 have "corn:et" dreams (95). "Cle . ap . Ni c. Dam. FHC 3.399.65 attributes IhiJI dream to Mandane herself. " For similar Mohave Indian dreams, cpo 3"', p. 136. Some Micronesian w",men urinate during the orga.m (23). " I specify Ihat in bolh inslances Ihe vagina is mean!. In 1.106 ,,1601(.>\/ should nOI be lranslaled as "womb" (Ra""linoon ). 1 have yel 10 encount er a primitive wOman who doa 110/ believe thai she urinales from the vagina; even modern female college graduates oflen do nol know that the urinary meat!!' ;. located out.ide and above the nginal introit!!'. "Since th .. actually happens to some men when they urinale after coitu" the Mesopotamian urination dreams may conceivably be "posl-coital dreams". Bll! thai is aJ il may 1<. " The domesli c, gTapc-bearing vine i. meanl, cp. LSJ ' .v. 4~""l"oc. COmpa .... C .... 40.9 fr.; A. At. 970.
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overshadows all of Asia. (Hdt. 1.108) . Since this dream is dreamed after Mandane's marriage, she may be presumed to be pregnant at that time . .}fear Easltrn Equivalents (I ) X erxes' dream (Hdt. 7.19) : the otive garland he wears o n his head first sprouts luxuriantly and then vanilshes. [The olive recalls item 5, infra ; the garland may correspond to the sceptre.!~J (2) Nebuchadnczzar's dream (Dan. 4.10 fr.) : a huge tree is cut down but not uprooted [A. Ag. g66]. It is, for the time being, bound with strips of iron and brass [golden sceptre], but the prophet predicts that it will sprout again, later on. (3) Pharaoh's imprisoned butler's dream (Gen. 40.9 If.): a vine sprouts and divides itself into three branches, which produce grapes. The butler presses them and serves their (fermented ?) juice to Pharaoh . [Branching: Mesopotamian urination dreams; drinking the juice: drinking urine( ?).] (4) The miracle of Aaron's rod (.}fum. [7.8) : The rod, representing Aaron's headship of the Levi tribe, sprouts during a contest with the rods of other tribal leaders; this makes him supreme in all Israel. (5) The miracle of Athene's olive tree (Hdt. 8.55) : though burned [hearth], it sprouts again, thereby foretelling the ( Phoenix-like) rebirth of Athens from its a..'lhes and its ultimate triumph over Persia (13). This miracle's links with theNear East are self-evident; I know of no pre_Persian_ Wars precedent in Greece, for the Euboian vine (infra) ils no real precedent. Since, in S. El., the sprouting sceptre is substituted for the Stesichorean and Aischylean In(J.ke, another Nea r Eastern miracle also deserves mention : (6) Aaron's rod turns into a serpent (Exod. 7.10) ; this is a challenge to Pbaraoh'5 supremacy.20 As regards Greek equivalents, the male meaning of trees in Greek dreams was discussed by Bowra (6, p. 225). Nothing need be added, save that Klytaimnestra's cioubts about the meaning of the dream may, in part, be due to the fact that such dreams tend to be good omens for the dreomer, rather than (as in S. El . 480 if. ) for someone else. It is important to stress that such dreams seem to be closely linked with the successful overthrow of established authority. This probably explains why X . Cyrop.~in which Asl}'ages' relations with K yros are afTectionatedoes not mention these dreams. I note in conclusion that sudden sprouting seem to have interested Sophok.lC5. He mentioned, in his lost Th),tstts (fr. 235 N~ ) , an Euboian vine which sprou ted and ripened grape! daily (<::p. E. Ph . 229 fr.) . Since, in this case, only th<:: bunches of grape sprout suddenly. tha t incident is a very incomplete parallel to the S. 1:.1. dream, but has some affinities with A. Ag 966 if. and with the dream of Pharaoh's butler. I repeat thaI 1 cite it here not as an equivaJent, but as evidence ofSophokies' preoccupation with this theme. "CIclln-rpo" = ).vxolc CT''''''''''II'IT'''1\ (the campion rose, or which garlands aN: made, cpo Ps.-o.c.3.100) . .. T he "contcst of . hamans" element (cp. Apollod. E/>. 5.2 fr. and conotlc:u similar
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cont",u;n many eultu .... 84, etc. ) ia repc"'"""ted by the tran. for""'t;on ofth" rocIo of Pharaoh'. IOOth ... yen into serpenl•. B ut Aaron'. serpent ti"'
affinitics with the dream or one
or my patients 1.35, chap. 6).
KlytaimmSlTa's Drtam in Soplwklts' Elektra Tht Htarth Vemant (96, passim) conclusively proves that, even though the Athenian woman had to leave her native hearth and join that of her husband, the hearth is the female centre of the "social space" oCC\lpied by the household. ' ·Vhat matters most hcre is, however, the subjective "dream-meaning" of the hearth. In interpreting the S. El. dream as a wital dream, Vernant (96, p. loS) ne~ari ly takes it for granted that the hearth represents the female genitals. It is this symbolism which 1 now propose to document in some detail. I begin by noting that since what is left of the Stesichorean dream does not describe the behaviour and the location of the serpent, and since the Aischylean dream mentions, in addition to the serpent, only the breasts, the hearth may-despite A. Chot 49-wdl be the one wholly new element in the manifest content of the Sophoklean Klytaimnestra's dream; the sceptre is clearly a substitute for the Stesichorean-.o\ischylean serpent . It may even be argued that, by U5ing a more allusive symbolism than Aischyios, Sophokles could afford to introduce "coitus" into the (a/tnt content of the dream: the .Aischylean nursing and biting, described explicitly,21 is replaced in Sophokles by a symbolic coitus. This finding fits my thesis (24) that the amount of labood instinctual material represented in an authentic work of art is proportional to Ihe amount of symbolization. Before discussing in detail the hearth symbolism, some attention mUlit be paid to the more concrete and pragmatie aspects of this dream hearth. The Hearth is lnd()()fs. I t is, presumably, the one ncar which Agamcmnon was slain (5. El. 203, 266 ff.).22 But it is self-evident that the hearth which Vernant considers to be the female centre of the house was the one located indoors .. . where Agamemnon was slain during the banquet (203). The following considerations also support the view that the hearth was loca ted indoors : ( I) In Homeric passive ("listener" ) dreams, the dreamer "does not suppose himself to be anywhere else than in bed" (39, p. 105). The same is certainly true of several tragic dreams: A. Ag. 420 ff. , E. Rh. 782 ff. , and probably also orIo's (t\. PV64s ff.) and Atossa's (A. Pm. 176 ff. ) dreams. Iphigeneia's dream (E . IT 44 ff.) manifestly begins with her lying in bcd. Though in tbis dream Kl ytaimnestra is an onlooker, rather than a (Homeric) listener, she remains passive throughout the dream. This creates a strong presumption that she "supposes" herself in bcd- indoors. (2) Nothing in the text suggests that Agamemnon had to walk any distance, let a lone go outdoors, 10 reach the other sacred hearth. (3) It is an outside possibility that the reference to the "shadow cast" by the branch mighI also suggest an indoors hearth, for Vernant {96, " I recall, ho ....·~\'~r, pr~"iously ciled ~xp"r irn~nu (chap. 6. nol~ 113 ) whkh pro\'~ Ihal nursing ~licits snual cxcilem" nl • ., Contra : J"bb, ad ....... I 7 If., who locat.,. th" dream hcarth oUIJide. in 'he aV~1\ (court).
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p. 124) clearly links both woman and the hearth with the shade:Zl the hearth is equated with the woman (infra). (4) Much more persuasive is the fact that ghosts tcnd to reappear where they were slain; since the Sophoklean Agamemnon was slain during the banquet, he was necessarily slain indoors, for no Homeric outdoors banquet is suggested by any detail or hint. One can foresee the objection that a Greek quecn's marital couch was not located in the great hall, ncar the sacred indoors hearth. But, according to Lorimer (69, p. 426), it was located just there, between the back wall and the hearth . An even morc obvious retort is that no plausible dream reproduces reali ty photographically: it stylizes it. In o rder to be able to introduce the hearth symbol, Sophokles had to displace Klytaimnestra's bed. But there is more: one can actually trace the dtformation of reality in the Sophoklean dream back to a realistic Aischylcan detail. The Aischylean Agamemnon was not slain during a banquet, but while being bathed (A. Ag. 1 107 ff.). If one could suppose that Sophokles knew the ground plan of the Palace of Pylos (97, fig. 35) or of some similar palace, one could urge that at Pylas the bathroom, with a built-in bathtub, was located next door to the chamber containing the hearth. But it is more probable that Sophoklcs had in mind somewhat simpler arrangements : one notes that the slain Aischylcan Agamemnon does not fait (as would be more natural at Pylos) into the bathtub, but into a (portable) hot water cauldron (A. Ag. 1128 fr. ). Be that as it may, the Aischylean bathing scene, which took place- quite realistically- indoors, contributed to Sophokles' placing the dream's bed and fire-place indoors, by mcans of recourse to the mec hanism of "condensation" commonly met with both in real and in literary Greek dreams (39, p. (06).2-4 Hearth = Vulva is an almost self-evident symbolic equation, whieh it is easy to document for Greece. I begin by citing Artcmidoros' explicit statements : ( I ) Heart h = oven = woman in her procreative capacity ( 1.43). (2) The hear th represents the life and the wife of the dreamer ( 1.74). (3) A woman warms a man the way fi re does (2.9). (4 ) A frying pan represents a lecherous woman (2.42 ).15 Artemidoros' equations are not late inventions; they are foreshadowed in much earlier works: ( I) M el issa~s ghost tells Periandros' emissary to remind her husband that he had "baked his loaf in a cold oven"-that he had eommiued " H e liots in this connection somc of th e following text:!: X. £Con . 4.~, AgtS. L~4, Hell. 3+19; Pl. Phdr. ~3ge; Plu. V. Age•• 9.5, Ap. Lac. '3, p. ~ogC. But in A. Ag. g66 ff. and Hd t. t.l08 the shado .... ing obj ec t io not in the hou"" (cp . chap. 8, nOle 53) • .. A literary consideration deserves at lealt bricf mention. T hough the word ,C>c assuredly denotes that light which differentiates the Earth from gloomy H ades, it may pnlrajll anticipate alJo the mentioning mthe (lit) hearth. Such anticipatio!lll are common in great poetry. Like modulatio!lll in m".ie, they insure the cohesivcn= of poetic discourse, by providing an aMOCiati\"e-all".ive link bet,,·un nlCces;;ive images. If this li terary argu_ ment ;1 accepted, il also helps One imagine a hearth localed indoors. 11 Cp o ibid.: mortar = wife, pade = husband, cpo note 66.
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necrophilia with her corpse (Hdt. 5.92 1'), c( 59). This tradition has affective affinities with K lytaimnestra's necrophiliac dream,16 (2) The hearth, in S. El, 266 ff., is the recipient of (semen-like) libations, poured into it by Aigisthos, appersonating (89) Agamemnon. This passage is immediauly followed by a mention of his cohabitation with KI Ylaimncstra .. . into whose vulva he pours another kind of "libation".
(3) The Roman equus (Xtob" rite 27 is also relevant here, since the sacrificed stallion's "cauda", suspended above the sacred hearth, dripped blood into it. I have, on Ihe basis of compelling anatomical and physiological considerations, shown that this "cauda" was not the tail but the penis of the animal (33). I have shown so far that the hearth is a symbol of the vulva and vagi na: it is a recipient for the phallos (here represented by the sceptre ) and for semen, or semen equivalents. But, without ceasing to symbolize the vagina as it really is, the hearth can at time:s also symbolize the female organs as they are sometimes fantasied 10 be. The fantasy in question is repo r ted not only by neurotics, but a lso b"y normal women and child ren; it is also encountered more than once in myth. It is the symbolic equation: father's phallos = mother's phallos (acquired from father during coitus) "" foetus and /or child)! I have documented this fantasy for Greece so copiously elsewhere (32), thai I will mention here only one- very telling- Greek example, already cited in chap. 6: Though Poseidon boasts that a god always impregnates his mistresses (Hom. ad. 11.249 f.) , he himself docs nol impregnate Kainis. frultad of a baby, he gives her a penis: he t ransforms her into a man (22). Taking he reafter this equation for granted, I will now dte examples which show that the hearth, though often rep resenting the female organs, as they are, can also represent them a s they are sometimesfantasitd to be. ( I) At least two hearths contain a phallos capable of impregnating a n unwed girl and the child so conceived becomes a dethroner or at least a successor of a king .19 , . On Greek necrophilia. cpo (59) and (.:17) ' II might, ..,f wune, be argued that I , mysdf. had express«! the opinion (.:17) that if there be coi tus in H ad .,.. it e..,uld only be witus Pt. dnum. Now, in Greek, then: is actually a wnnttliOI1 between "O\'el1" (I'II'I/O<), the privy (A.r.fr. 353; H sch. '" ~OTfpWv) and the dunghill (1""'100) (CalliIJLJ'. 2,6 Pr.). 1 would not think <.>f arguing that Peria ndros cohabited with his wife', corpse anally. I .imply note that both necrophilia and coitus per anum ar~ unfruitful, "" i. an anal wha bitat ion with A.ph rodit e'. slatue (Luc. Amer. 14 fT. ), and that coitus per anum with wOm en $C<'ml to ha,'~ been common enough in Greece ( ~7 , 41, cpoalso H dt. 1.6t ). ~'I ore over, since ooth necrophilia and coitus per anum arc perve ... i..,n., both roult from a contaminali..,n ofscxuality by aggression (U, pp. 3~4 If.). " Plu. QU6(1t. Rom. 97, p. 287A ; F.,.ws '. \' . october <'
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KfylailTl1Ustra's Drtam in Sophok/a" Elektra
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(2) Even a hearth which does not contain a phallos can emit a spark (= semen) capable of impregnating an unwed girl. The child, so conceived, is named Caecuhu and is deemed to be Vulcanus' son .J() In this case, too, t he dethronement motif is almost to tall y eliminated: Cae<:ulus simply shares with Romulus the trait of having been a bandit before founding a city (Praencste).ll There are, moreover, hearths which contain a baby-equivalent, and femal e organs which behave as though they were hearths. ( I ) Althaia's hearth contains a firebrand which is apparently the "external soul"-or even the "doublc"- of Meleagros, who has just been born.l2 (2) Hekabe dreams of giving birth to a firebrand; to the nefarious Paris.)l The links of this tradition with the structurall y symmetrical miracle which announces the birth of thc tyrant Peisistratos (Hdt. 1.59) will be discussed further Oil. I Can mention only in passing the somewhat tangential belief that o ne can be born, or reborn from the fire or from a cauldron, or <:an be "reborn" immortal by having fire burn away one's mortal parts. J • \Vhat is, by <:ontrast, relevant is that fires <:apable of <:ausing pregnancy, or else symbolically " pregnant", tend to be associated with sexuall y active, and even hyper-active women. Kl ytaimestra is notoriously polyandrous (Stesichor.fr. 46 P = 26 B = 170) ; Romul us' foster mother is named " Lupa" (bitch-wolf) (Plu. V. Rom. 4.3) ; H ekabe behaves like a rabid bitch (E. Hec. 1173; Q .S. 14.347 fr. ) and- probably after bcing stoned- actually turns into a female dog (E. Ht e. 1265)'lS And leI it not be objected that K yros' foster-mother is called " Bitch", even Ihough Kyros is not born from fire , for I win show subsequcntly that fire is part of the latent content of Astyages' firsl drcam. Summing up, the hearth may be said to symbolize the vulva, while the sceptre stuck into it represents the phallos. This leads up to a scrutin y ·of the relationship between the hearth and the sprouting of the (phallic) sceptre which it now contains. The Hearth aJ a "Terrain" motif is seldom given sufficient attention; it is Vernant's (96, p. t 14) interest in the social significance of the hearth which throne and permits the relati,"(" atl("nuation of the ,,"urpalio n motif. That mo tif is also mUled in Ihe Sen·iUl T ulliu. myth: he , uecttd. hi. falhe r-in-l aw. Jt Cpo the nume rous a ncient soure,,", ("i led by Powell (78), which mention HephaislOS' premature ejaculation. T he . pontanroU5 (non -coital ) ejac ulations of the gods are a lso capable of procreating childRn (J!l). " c...cc ulu. i. nO' only falhercd. by fire but , after his exposure, i. found near a fire ; h is lIame may be connected wilh blinking (perh aps while tooking at a bright fire). V. Am. 7.579 If., 10,544; cpo Varro ap. se t.. Veron. ad V. Am. 7.681 and Servo V. ArR. 7.678.; Solin. ~.9. lZ A. ChIN. 607 f.; Apoliod. 1.8.2 and Fra zer ad loc. , cpo also ( 13). lJ Pi. Pae. 8; e p. E. Tr. 9'9 ele. T o make mati .. ,. e,'e n clearer , in H yg.fdh. 9' snakes emerge from Ihe burning lorch- a deJail deri\"~-d perha ps from the lost E. Aux. (so Frazer ad Apollod. 1.8.2) (cP. 9 1). ,. Rebinh from fin:: the Phoenix (Ov . Mel. 15.392 fr. ; Sial. Silv. 2.4.36) ; from a cauldron: Pdop5 (Pi . O. 1.37 If.; Apollod. £p. 2.3 ) ; an old ram (Apollod. 1.9.27 ). Burning to acquire immortali ty: H erakl",,: (S. T,. fin. ) ; Demophoon (Hom . h. Co. 235 fr. ), Achille... (A.R. 4.86g fT., Apollod. 3, ' 3.6 and Fruer ad loc.). "On sioning, as Ihe (QWI of Ih e metamorphosis: (86) .
. atenal
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echos :Ia al.llor
Kl;'laimnestra's Dream in Sophoklts' Elektra leads him to sIress Ihat the s<eptre sprouts only after being thrust into the hearth. Yet, there is something particularly arresting about this detail. Not one of the non-Herodotean models or precedents so much as mentions the "soil" (or soil equivalent) from which the plant sprouts. Even A. Ag. 966 ff. simply mentions that the plant is Ilot uprooted and there is a hint of the same kind in Dan. 4.9 ff. By contrast, Hdt. 1.108 specifies that the vine grows from Mandane's genitals. For both the structuralist and the psycho-analys t this specification may be held to refer retroactively als<> to the (im plicit ) " tcrrain" from which urine is produced (Hdt. 1.107). Its mention in the second dream can, so to speak, be treated as a "once and for all" clause.l6 Even more mi king, particularly from Ihe literary vicwJXlint, is thallhe "terrain" is mentioned in the discarded Aisehylean prcccdcnt. In A. Chot. 543 Orestes goes out of his way to substantiate his interpretation of Klytaimestra's dream, by strcS5ing that bolh hc and Ihe scrpent came out of the same place: out of KI),laimestra's vulva. In short, whereas the "terrain" is part of the interpretation in A. Chot., it is part ortllc dream itself in S. El. This falls just short of being a genuine (displaced) slippage, sincc, as strcssed before, in a dream-oriented cult ure the dream, its telling, its interpretation, etc., form an indivisible whole. By COntrast, the ser pent's Orestean swaddli ng bands ( A. Chot. 544) may not be treated as "terrain". They faintly recall thc iron and brass strips which bind the dream trce in Dan. 4.[5. and the gold covering of the Atreidai's sceptre .17 The conception of the maternal sex organs as a "terrain" from which something can sprout, filS well Greek ways of thinking. Oidipous, in committing incest, is said to have ploughed (a nd seeded) the furrow from which he himself was born.J8 (A. Sept. 752 IT., cp o E. Ph. 17 If. ) Hearth (Fire) and Urination. Thro ughout this chapter I ~tressed a clinically commonplace finding: it is nO I easy to disregard or to "forget" things at will. What is ostentatiously ejected by the front door, usually re-insinuates itself in disguise through the back door. If Sophokles knew Astyages' vine dream, he also knew his urine dream.)\I Traces of the urination dream should therefo re be discernible in the lalmt content of the Sophoklean dream . .. I have already ,ubstanlia ted thi, view by citing, in nOl~ [6, popular idea s about female urinalion. " This comparoon does not undermine whal is !.aid. furl he. on, alxrul such metal bands, since il was . hown above Ihal child: pilaU,,". A discU5llion of the lOCial and psychological meaning of .waddling would, unfortunately, <<:quire a great d ea l of l pace. Cardul slUdies of Ih is practice . how Ihal in wme cu\turo, where sw addling i, rouli"e, the infanl is ,-iewed as danger(\{" both 10 olhen and 10 himself: Ihe swaddling ""rvo 10 .eslrain him. ( 7", p. 107 fr.• with ci tal iom of additional lit eralure. ) Cpo alw the gold teaf covered rorpso of royal Mykenaian babi",. " T he group of my students who, in 1968-(ig, worked on the S. £1. drea.m, drew many interoting parallels between it and the Oidipous myth (and Oedipus complex) . Since their Ilnding> were more suggotive Ihan conelu,ive, I do nOI outlinc them here, 101 this merely ,u&golive ma.terial shou ld prejudice the reader against the genuinely wndusive data pl"OC'nled in Ihi. chapter. " H en>
circulation by 429 B.C. Also, Sophokles
sup~ly kn~w
HerodotOli .
. atenal
~
:lerechos de al.llor
Klytaimneslra's Drtam in Sophoklts' Elektra
'35
Even though Sophokle~ did /Lot w now .my of till; manlfest dellleIltli of the dream about Mandane's urination, that dream can be linked with the one totally IltW manifest element in the Sophoklean dream: with the hearth. Though the introduction of the hearth motif is culturally extremely plausible (supra), the fact remains that Sophokles sefuted this symbol from amongst a number of other, cultura!ly equally plausible, alternatives, such as the sheath of a sword, etc. His prifert1lCe for the hearth calls for an explar.ation. Sophokles' "good" (and conscious) re3.'lon was the cultural suitability of the hearth; his "real" (and unconscious) reason for seltcting it from amongst equa!ly appropriate alternatives was the existence of a ps)'chological nexus betwten firt (hearth) and urination. Before proving this latent nexus, I propose to recall first the manifest similarities betwee n the S. El. 417 ff. and the Hdt. 1.107 dreams. ( I) Both "mean" the same thing; the same warning message is encoded in two different ways. It is encoded in a third way in Hdt. 1.108. (2) In all three dreams an extremely copious-and, indeed , overwhelming- "thing" emerges from the female sex organs or their equivalent, the hearth. (3) In all three, the thing produced spreads out al (mce. Since I have a lready shown that these dreams are Near Eastern culture pattern dreams, it is legitimate to stress again that in numerous Mesopotamian urination dreams the urine "spreads out" (divides into branches?) apparently the moment it emerges from the meatus (76, pp. 264- 266). (4) I n all three, an almost supernatural Jtat is performed- and urinary fcat~, particularly in dream, reflect ex(.:c:s:;ive ambition:'o (5) Urinary feats are attributed almost exclusively to men, largely because women cannot perform urinary trielu. 41 (6) In this dream, the feat is not a qualilalillt but a quanlilatiw one. This may conceivably- but only conceivably-explain why Ktesias attributes this dream not to Astyages, but to Mandalle.42 Indeed, popular misconceptions notwithsta nding, the urinary stream of women is more copious and stronger, since their urethra is shorter and wider than that of men. 4l (7) The "qualitative" ("trick") feat motif is, however, symbolically anticipated in Astyages' first dream: the vine sprouts sk)"Ward.44 I now turn to the manifest nexus bet.....een urination and fire (hearth), on whkh the evidence is not simply conclusive but overwhelming. ( I) There exists a statistically significant correlation between bed~Cp. Fr<::ud: 47, ~Ol, ~04 r., w8 r., 468 fr., 48, 6.j, fr., 49, [7:; fr.; 53, 9 1 r., 5 4, go; 55, 102, 187 fr. Cp. espttially one of Freud'. own urination dreams (47, 468 fr. ), in which he malches H erakles' cleaning out of Augciu' stables. '[ Somali folkJor,: stresses this female "handicap" ,:83, p. 20~ ). Child study- even amongsl primiti~cs (10, p. ~8:;)_ho~ that little girls Iry to duplicate malt urinary fealll. Convcnt.:ly, some primiti>·t boys perlonn feats .hnwir.g thcir masculine "superiority", by exhibi tionistically "urinating backward, like women and mares" (16) • • , CtCl. ap. Nic. Dam.fr. 65, FHG 3.399' . J Information prnvided by ProfCllOr Pierre Aboulkcr, M.D. "A Mesopotamian man's dream of urinating skyward fOr<::tell! hi. SOli'S brilliant <:arCer and the shOrtllClS of his own life (76, p . 26:;b) . I notc, as a curious coincidence, 11", 1 """'IUllli>~ call II", uri" .. ry 'y",cm a "\rCC".
Klylaiml1tstra's Dream in Sophoklts' Elektra wetting and firesetting (74). I, myself, had occasion to study such a case (i8). (2) The psychological basis of this nexus was at least briefly outlined by Freud (56, cpo 43), in a paper only a few of whose interpretations are frankly speculative. (3) In a number of cultures the nexus between fire and urine J..'l explicit.~S
(4) Myths, literary works and jokes readily link fire with urine.46 (5) As regards rites, it suffices to refer briefly to the equus october ritual (su pra) and to recall, in addition to the equation: blood = semen, also the almost commonplace equation: semen"" urine (76, p. 265a).·7 (6) The fire = urine nexus is also confirmed by the finding that the same "message" can be encoded tither by means of afire symbolism, or by means of a urine symbolism. What makes such symmetrical encodings possible is the well-known technique of "symbolization by opposites" in mythology and folktales, qui te as much as in literature, humour and dreams. Both structuralism and psycho-analysis recognize the affinity between structurally or afTectively symmetrical narratives. I . already mentioned that the nefarious birth of Paris is foreshadowed by Hckabe's dream of giving birth to a firebrand. A symmetrical (water) miracle foretold the nefarious birth of the tyrant Peisistratos: The wain in the sacrificial cauldrons bubbled over, though no fire was lit under them (Hdt. 1.59). I doubt that the overflow of water from the cauldrons-which universally symbolize the female organs-is meant to represent the breaking of the birth wa ters (amniotic fluid). The " bubbling" clearly suggests that the water represents urine, which docs bubble .•' I t may therefore be asserted with considerable assurance that there is a strongfantarmatic nexus between fire and urine. Though Sophokles com., The Mongol is forbidden to urinate into fire (56) . Yuma Indian ...·oman can render themselves barren by urinating into fire (45, p. t59). S«Iang Moi mcn bare their so: organs to prevn.tjungle fires, when they burn down paru of the jungle to dear new fields ( ' 05 ). The staple food of the Masai is a mixture of milk and blood (cp. A. CII«. 546) curdled with ...ku and cow's ~rint (73). E ven IYlQre striking is the alleged tradition that urine (though not water) cculd put out Grttk 6~; this idca would never have ari'ICn wen: the ill'lp~I" to urinate inlO fire non...,xiSlcnt . .. Most .trikingly in the cue of Gulliver in LilIiput (9") . Zeus ca~ both lightning (fire) and rain_ and Strepsiades professes 10 b<:lie,·c that Zeus caU$el rain by urinating into a ,ieve (Ar. Nub. 373 f. ). The relevan<:<: of this joke for our purposes is incr~a.scd by the fact that Zeus the bolt-hurler (~,""'JlGTI\~) is turned into Zeus the excrement thro ...·er (Cl
••
Klytaimneslra's Dream in Saphokles' Elektra
'37
plete1y discarded the urine theme of Astyages' first dream, he reintroduced its latent content (fire) into his Klytaimnestra's dream, by inventing a completely new dement- the hearth- for which there is no equivalent in his Stesichorean and Aischylean models. Gra~s and Urinatian
I must now deal with two loose ends. It is extremely striking that in several sprouting dreams the plant is the domestic grape vine (6.l1TTtAoc). It is mentioned in Hdt. 1.108, in the dream of Pharaoh's butler and in the Aischylean Kl ytaimestra's metaphor, though not in the Sophoklean dream.49 The grape yields, of COUl''!lC, )'ellowish wine. In dream, Pharaoh's butler actually gives Pharaoh the (fermented ) juice of the grapes LO drink and the Aischylean Kl ytaimestra's reference to "wine" seems to imply drinking.~ Mandane's urine floods Asia- and floods usually cause deaths by drowning. Last, but not least, Mesopotamian men dreamed of drinking their wives' urine (76, p. 266a).51 I note these facts, but hesitate to make anything of them: the data are not copious and explicit enough for their interpretation to carry conviction, even if one added that olives- which are mentioned in two analogous accounts (dream of Xerxes, miracle of Athene's olive)-also yield a yellowish fluid . Some speculations may be advanced also in connection with the wineurine-milk ne,",us, as long as it is clearly stated that what I offer here are sJNculations, and not interpretations. Milk, which is so important a motif in the Ai~chylean'5 Klytaimestra's dream, is totally lacking in the manifest content of the Sophoklean dream. However, the principle that nothing is ever totaU)' forgotten or discarded makes it desirable to look at least for traces of the milk theme in the Sophoklean dream. As indicated previously, Mandane's copious urination is a " phaHic" feat, "proving" (in fantasy) that she is any man's equal. A relatively minor collateral detail may also be recalled here: the vine in the butler's dream has three branches and produces grapes and wine. Now, Ploutarchos did not have to read Freud to discover tha t the number "3" is a male symbol.~l
This being said, I recall here again that there is on record (7) at least . , Cp., howevu, the Sophoklean and Euripidean references to th~ miraeutous vine of Euboia , 5upra• •• Cpo the Aischylean Agamemnon's faHing into a cauldron: he is apparently both wounded "lid tlroWMd; few oommentaton take Ihis latter detail into accoun t (A. Ag. 1l~8 fr.) . .. The drinking of female urine-and particularly of that of prostitutes-is a wellknown perversion. Pathan wOmen urinale into the moutlu of o;aptiV<:!l. I n some areu of Siberia, where only the rich can afford the intoxicating m .... hroonu, the poor intoxicate thenuelves by drinking the urine of the rich. A more magical theory ofsuch urine drinking is proposed by La Barre (60, p. (78). Even horses lick up their own urine, if they are deprived of salt. For M ohave urine drinking dreams, cpo 30, p. [38. n Plu. Ql=rl. RDm. 2. p. 26.tA (probably I pcnis+ 2 testes). I note dUI;! th" p;uu.ge deats with nuptial torches (fire).
'3'
Klj>taimTllstra's Dream in Soph()klu' Elektra
one case in which a woman took great ("phallic") pride in her ability to make her milk spun further than a man's pha1!ie products can spurt : it proved her superior to men.$J She dearly equated milk with semen and (male) urine. T his is not surprising, since in belief, custom and fantasy (dream) alike, all bodily secretions are usually interchangeable.5-4 The equation: milk = urine = fire may- but onv may-thus provide ajaint connection between the (omitted) milk motif and the (new) hearth motif.
Till Sceptre Though I have tried, throughout this chapter, to discuss first the objective and cultural aspects of the various dream items and to interpret their symbolism only afterwards, this section would become needlessly labyrinthine if I did not discuss the sceptre symbolism first, particularly since this symbol is so transpa rent th at its interpretation is not likely to meet with much opposition. Sceptre _ Slaff - HUl7UJn Helper: S. DC 848, 1109. Sctptn = Serptnt is made evident by the fact that Aaron's rod can either tum into a serpent (Exod. 7.10) or else bud (Num. 17.8) and does so in both cases in a power-conlest. Snakes are entwined a round Hermes' rod and t he equivalence of various types of rods and sceptres is, despite minor differences, fai rly obvious (96, p . [08, note 2). This makes it fairly certain that, in the Sophoklcan Klytaimnestra's dream, a sceptre is substituted for the Stesichorean-Aischylean serpent. I also note, somewhat tentatively, that whereas the Aischylean serpent is swaddled (A. Chat. 529, 545 f.), the sceptre of the Atreidai is notoriously covered with gold--of which more anon. Sctptre = PluJllos is impJicit in Vernant's view (96, p. 108) that the dream represents coitus- and Vemant is nol in sympathy with psychoanalysis. Cpo also the myths ofphalloi in the hearth (supra), and Luc. VH 1.2:2.
The Sprouting rif the Sceptre, after being th rus t into the hearth, appears to reflect the view that the father is the child's sole progenitor (A. Eum. 658 fT. ) : the father seeffi'l to deposit a kind of homuncuJus into the woman, who then nurtures it.~s Bu t the sprouting of the sceptre may also hint at continued sexual potency, which in some groups-such as the Shilluk (Ol )-is a prerequisite for the holding of royal power. Though Greek hero myths are less explicit on this point than are Shil!uk practices of G reek divine myths, ~ enfeebled old kings oflt':n yield the royal power to a suc" The .ymbolic equation.: nipples = penis, breast '" testes, are commonly met .... ith in clinical practice ( ~8) . ,. One can bewitch a person by geuing hold of ~n)' of hi! bodily secretions, Or of his hair or nail clippings. Being ..,.il..! in dream by ""y of one', wife. bodily secretions is believed by the Moha ve '0 cause illness (3 Q , p . '38) . "This theory of procreation has been somewhat too confidently link..! with patriliny: the matrilineal Hopi Indians have identical th~ es (11) , whil e th ~ p
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ecr.os de al.llor
Klytaimmstra's Dream in Sophokles' Elektta
'39 cessor:37 the "overshadowing" motif in A. Ag. 966 and in Hdt. 1.108, quite as much as in S. El. 417 fr., may well point in the same direction. Now, I have already indicated that the sprouting of this sceptre is comparable to the sprouting of Nebuchadnezzar's chopped-down tree and of Athene's choppcd-down and burned olive- and that all are comparable to the ritual mutilation ofa corpse (or body), which Apollod. 3.5.1 explicitly links with the pruning of trees or vines. In addition, I have already noted that it is inconceivable that llaex,a;\\ q.lOC should not include also the ablation of the corpse's sex organs, since that is an extremely common way of mutilating corpses,~! and, as said before, the usurpers tried to uproot Agamemnon's entire lineage (even fathered by his ghost?). I therefore hold that the sceptre represents not simply the phallos of Agamemnon, but, specifically, his dbLl/td member. This spe<:ification will render more comprehensible what will be said subsequently about the "circulating" sceptre. We possess a good deal of information a bout the sceptre in question, which will materially contribute to the clarification of iu meaning in the dream. Tk Origin of this sceptre already foreshadows its transmissibility: Hephaistos made it and gave it to Zeus, who handed it to H ermes, fo r transmission to AtreWi (H om. Il. 2. 101 ). It may be said that this sceptre "circulated" (Th. 1.9) even before it reached At reus, and was then transmitted to Atreus' heir (cp. the Trojan royal sceptre: Q.S. 2.136 fr.). Th COft of the sceptre is a n unspecified kind of wood,59 stripped of its branches and bark and therefore so permaI1ently dead that Achilleus represents the possibility of its sprouting again as the very prototype of the absurdly impossible.~ The fact that, in S. EI. g8 C, Agamemnon is compared to an oak sheds no light upon the nat ure of the w ood of which the sceptre is made- but may strengthen the view that a W()oden objeci can repre;ent in dream one of his organs. Tk sceptre is "goidtn"-i .e., either wrapped in thin sheet-gold or else studded with gold nails or rivets.61 If, as I think, a wrapping in gold foil is meant- for the dri ving of too many nails into wood might split it-some interesting inferences may be made. The Atrcidai's sceptre, which sprouts .. Pde"'-AchilJe",-NeoptolemOil (E. Androm.); Kadmos-Pentheus (E. B". ); Pher"". (E. Ale); Laerles_Od ysseu. (Hom. ad.), ep. 85, • .vv . .. CopiolCl documentation in (]~), \0 which may now be added the irnpauibility of laking foreskin trophies from th e circumci.ed Aqu iyawasa (77, p. 2 1, note la), and references to pc:nis trophies in ancient Egypt (0.5. l.tB.~, 1.55.8 f., etc.). Admiral Coligny's Adm~I"
corp&<: wa < 10 mutilated <.1"" "8
th~
St n .. r.h"J "m~'W'< n;s'" m_cre .,.
th~
Calvini... _
who, incidentally, reciprocaled during Ihe uprising in the Languedoc (6], pp. 505, elc.). Even a woman's pubis may be "scalped" : th~ Princ!:S:ie de Lamballe 's during Ihe French revolution; Cheyenne Indian women'. by the lroopc:n of a Colorado National Guard Cavalry Regimen t (s8, p. 178: a veiled all",ion 10 this fact) . .. The branch whi ch 'prou'" from il is, likewise, un.pecified; as n01ed, Mazon'. "laurier" is graluito", . .. Hom. If. J . ~34' Though Achille", speau specifically orlhe speaker'. sceptre and not of the Atrcidai, this makes no real difference (¢" p. 108 It ). especially a.s regards the malerial of which """PIres were made. " J ebb ad vv. 417 ; cpo Hom. fl. 1.15, ~46; 2.~68; ad. 11.9[, 36g.lfgolden nails were used, M ykenaian .word handl"" adorned wilh gold or .ilver nails sugS"'" how this ""as done (69, p. ~fu; 97. p. 5[7). Cp. the name (or tpithct) Chrysaor.
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Klylaimne.slra's Dream in Sophoklts' Elektra in dream, is wrapped in gold;62 Nebuehadnezzar's dream tree, after being cut down, is bound with iron and brass, but will flourish later on. (Dan. 4. 15, 23.) J ust what purpose t hese bands of metal served the Biblical text does not tell. Whether they were meant to inhi bit the stump's sprouting during that King's madness, or to prevent its splitting and rotting until the time came for it to sprout again- after Nebuchadnezzar became a great and glorious King (Dan . 4.34 ff.)-is anyone's guess. I insist here simply on the UchniqlU of ringi ng wood with metal. I begin with a reference 10 an ancient Ephesian stone pounde r or pestle, ringed with tin inlays,6J which I assume to be decora tive imita tions of the fu nctional metal bands which prevent wootkn pounders and pestles from 5plitting.64 The metal sheathing of the Atrcidai's sceptrc may well be an imitation of bronze.ringed staves, wherewith one occasionally pounded the ground or smote an opponent. T races of a rough use of sceptres exist in the H omeric epics.6' Therefore no t only wooden pounders, but also early wooden rods ("sceptres") destined for rough use may have been bound with metal bands. Now, the Ephesian pounder in question has a striking particularity: it is even more ostenta tiously phallic in shape than any pestle must be. T he glans and the sulcus coronarius are accurately imitated.66 Thus, since the sceptre in K lytaimnestra's dream stands at once for the phallos and for the child produced by the phallos, it is of some interest to note that both male organs and babies arc, at times, "ringed"- sometimes with metal- both actually and symbolically.67 "As were the COrp:les of royal ba bies in Mykenai {Iupra., note 37}. " Fint published by Cook, 12,3.898, fig. 73 ' , pI. 67 . .. As technology develops, functional elementt often turn inlO mere decorath'e elements. Though there;' no pott ery in clay. l""" Polynesia, Ihe decorations of Polynesian pottery· equivalents show tbat Polynesians made coiltJ pollery before Iheir migralion 10 their present home . .., H om. /1. J.~45; ~ " 99; ~65; Od. 2.80. The hypolhetical bronte ringed .taves I have in mind may bave resembled Ihe metal·ringed bamboo lath; of policemen in India. " Tbe "pestle =- pen;''' and "mortar _ vagina" equalions are widespread. Greece: Artemid . 2 . 4~; Mohave (3 Q) : Ikuilc:o (65, p. 45), elC. n P,ni.J: T he prol""tive tying of a Siring around Ihe foreskin a nd the OCcurrence of peniNheatm amongst primitives. I n parts of I ndonesia the skin and glands of Ihe pen;' may be incru"ed wilb precious ' Iones, elc. Cerlain South Amn-ican Indian. increase tbe pleasure of their wives by ringing the sukus coronariw with a goat'. eyelashes. Ancient alhldes in training and also certain slaves were inlibulaled witb melal rings (~). A neurolic patient sometimes put a padlock around hi. ocrolUm ( ~8) . A neurotic wife, mucb enamoured of her hu.band, adorned hn- hwband'. penis wilh ribbom and boWl (68). A patienl bad fantasies about a penis lied up with ' lring, like an old.fasbioned salami or like a rolled roa." and-wing rubber bands--onoe lried to lie up his own penis in such a manner , SO as to increue the pleasure of his m;'lress, after seeing a picture of a Far Eastern bard.rubber ring IUpposed to promole erection by tbe compression of the dorul vein of the pen;'. Perveru sometimes put metal rings amund Iheir flaccid organs, which, after an ereclion ,,",ues, mus, be removro with metal . a,..•. Some use wedding rings for such purposes: Ih;' .hros ligbl upon t he wroding ring .ymbol;'m. Bahy: The most obvioUll equivalents are swaddling bands, all in A. CIwt. 529, etc. Even mOre striking;' the tradi · tion Ihallhe Egyptian " Kadmos" gilded "Semele'." prematurely born infant, "Dionysoa" (_ "Osiris") (D.S. 1.23.4 f. ). Th;' gold .heath apparently replaceo ZeUll' "Ihigh" - wbich m ay be a euphemism mentioned by Greek tradition in th;' conlext (E. 8 fJ. gG, de.).
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I strenuously insist that I do not cile these facts so as to suggest that sceptres were gold plated in order to make them symbolize a phallos and /or a baby. I seek to indicate only thaI the gold plating of the sceptre dots 1101 preclutk its being a pha!los or baby symbol. An yo ne reading more into my remarks Iha n I inlended, is ir responsibly indulging in "wild psychoanalysis" which the real psycho-analyst is the first to condemn (50,90). I will return to the problem of golden organs in Greek t raditions somewhat further on. The Problem of Circular Transmission must now be considered in detail. Perhaps the mO$! striking example of something that circulates, with the circulation twice ending by a return to the one who, at one point of t he tale, "emits" or sends it out, is the H ydra's poison. The story is so wel! known that I do not document each of the steps in the "circulation" or this poison; only unusual versions are substantiated by the citing of an ancient authority. The H ydra is particularly poisonous; after killing this monster Herakles uses its body-fluids to poison his own arrows. With one of them he slays N~ who raped-(lr tried to rape (37) -Deianeira. The dying NcsSO!S gives Deianeira his blood and semen, persuading her that, used at the proper time, it would insure H eraklcs's fidelity to her. \Vhen Herakles proves unfaithful, Deianeira sends him a robe smeared with this poison, that kills H eraklcs. The c hain is: H ydra- H erakles- Nessos- DeianeiraH erakles. H erakles, ready to be burned alive on Mount Gite, gives his bow and arrows to P hiloktetes, who consented to light the pyre. Philoktetes is subsequently bitten by a hyd ra (water snake), or, according to Servo V. Am. 3.402, is wou nded by a poisoned arrow (resembling his own). The chain is: the H ydra- H erakles- Philoktetes- a hydra (poisoned arrow). The pattern discernible in familial curses (67) ~mbles this one. Su bsequently Philoktetes ~ lays Paris with one of his arrows. Then, at Krimisa, Philoktetes builds a temple to Apollon-the-Wandtl'"tr (,AAal6c) (Lye. 913 ff. ).68 This is one of Apollon's rarer epithets and may therefore be significant, though the fact that the archer Philoktetcs should have built a temple precisely to Apollon- an archer god- is natural. I cite this tale of the circulation of the Hydra's poison since, like the sceptre, it returns to the one "emitting" it- and, in ract, it does so twice ( Herak.les and Philoktet(3). (Cp. Apollon's arrow: Q.S. 3.83 fr. ) The Circulation of the Sceptre, so strongly emphasized by the text, may possibly be cited as an argument mili tati ng against the view that the ~ceptre ~ymboliz:es Agamemnon '~ phallos.6!I Instead of rctrcnching m)'1lclf behind Cicero's argument: "Nihil tam praepostere, tam incondite, tam monstruose cogitari potest, quod non possimus somniare" (Cic. de diu. 2.71.146) (cp. chap. 6, note 26), I propose to show that it is precisely the sceptre's circulation which proves that it represents, in dream, the phallos of Agamemnon. For gotd-teaf CO"trw baby corps.e! (note 37). For Pythagoras' golden thigh cpo 8, p. ~3 . I I But that epithet may mean only: absmt from home (K .J.D.) . .. And/ol'--1U Vernanl luggeslll (.96, p. , og)- his son, which, symbolicaJly (child _ phallos), is much the same.
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The basic consideration was admirably discussed by Snell (88, p. 5, fig. 2), in another context. Some lacunae of the Homeric vocabulary pertaining to the living body and iUi o rgans or parts, together with certain early Greek representations of t he body on vases, suggest that the Greek's body image resembled a completed "ji~aw puzzle" (contra: H erter). I have shown elsewhere that such a body image-and the notion of a ncar-total organ autonomy which goes wit h it- is far from rare and is both culturally (ethnologically) and clinically interpretable (35, chap. 13)· I cannol attempt to broach here the immense topic of circulating organs and of vicarious physiological functioning in myth, in belief, in ri tual, in informal custom and also in (neurotic) fantasy.w I will therefore define only three of the notions which appear to underlie the sceptre symbolism in this dream, a nd will illustrate ea ch of them with one Greek example only- aski ng the reader to take it on faith that many other examples exist. ( I ) Circulaling "'gans: The three G raiai have only one eye and one tooth between them and use them in rotation. (A . PV. 792 ff. ) (2) The a rmlating "essence" (" mana" ) is exemplified by Cheiron's ceding his immortality to Prometheus. (Apollod. 2.5.4 ; 5. 11.1 0.) (3) Ablaud "'gans continue loJunction: At Delphi, women can " awaken" Dionysos' phallos. ( Plu. de Is. tt Os. 35, p. 365A.)71 I recall in this connection my conviction that, in the course of the ~O:CXaAlq.l6c to which Agamemnon's corpse was subjected, his phallos, too, was ablated.72 OfcoW"Se, in reality Agamemllon's phalJos Wall not grafted onto the body of Aigisthos and then regrafted onto the "body" of Agamemnon's ghost. Even the manifest dream does not go quite so far : it is the sceptre that twice changes hands. But it seems probable that, underlying this relatively plausible symbolic representation, there is the fantasy of the circulating organ and , a/or/jori, of the circulating essence. Before I tackle this problem, an important fact must be noted : In vv. 266 fr. , which list almost all of Aigisthos' usurpatio ns-including his usurpation of Klytaimnestra's btd- the usurpation of the sceptre is strikingly omitted. n T his omission becomes even more striking once one notes that the dr/am mentions only the usurpation of the sceptre. Such almost ostentatious omissions are psychologically highly significant. 74 Even purely '" A study of Ihis notion is on the point of b<.ing completed. Cpo chap. 6, note 9'. Cpo also the phalloi in hearths, dm:US$Cd in connection ....ith the hearth symbolism, supra, nOle ;29. "The corpse'. extremities were cut olf,'" that the crippled ghost could noltake revenge. Since dead hero:>es could father human children (H dt. 6.69) and . ince Agamemnon'. murderers tried, above all, to destroy his descendants (and avengers), one would have to .....ume, on these grounds onl y, that his phallos was ablated , even if the taking of phallic trophies were far le!ll widespread than it actually is (j.a). Cp. Nil'lSon (75, J', p. JOo), also supra. " T here is no mention of a scepln: ;n A. Ag. ¢6 If. either. "A p.'Iychoanalytic colleague could not interpret one of his own dreams, in whicb then: was a fUhbowl containing three fishes named M ark, Matthe.... and Luke. When I said: "What about John?" my COllealfUe replied: "Now I undenta~d my dream- it is about a man named J ohn." (The fonner Christian symbol: fish _ Christ makes this interpretation a certainty, though that l ymbomrn i. derived from the initial.s l.x.a.y.C). 1!
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KlyttJimrwlrtJ's nrtmn in SophaHn' Elektra literary considerations require that vv. 266 ff. should be viewed as complementing the dream. Vernant (96, p. 107) considers it anomalous that the (effeminate) Aigisthos should move into (the manly, A. Ag. II ) Kl ytaimnestra's palace, the wayan Athenian woman moved into her husband's home. But surely the real point is that, in so doing, Aigisthos behaved like any newly made king of the pre-patrilineal- and even like many new kings of the heroicperiod. Menelaos hi mself moved into Tyndareos' (and H elene's) palace at Sparta, u Oidipous moved into Iokaste's palace at Thebes.7s Many myths describe the "normal" procedure of killing the king and marrying the widowed Queen; Aigisthos simply inverted this traditional sequence. But even so it is fairly apparent that the moment he began his usurpations and, above all, began to share Klytaimnestra's bed, he took over Agamemnon's social niche and functions, for it is only a slight exaggeration to say that Kings were made in the Queen's bed.76 A Queen, seeking to seduce some yout h, offered him not only her favours, but also the throne: she contemplated viricide. But in E. Hipp. 1010 Hippolytos spontaneously rejects this potential offer. In short, a crwporeal phallos acquires the additional quality of being a royal phalJos, through cohabitation with a Queen. It is in this sense that one may find in the dream a trace of the notion of a transmissible, circulating "essence" -the essence in question being royal status. Even sociologically Agamemnon's recuperation of the sceptre in dream is incompltle, until he "re-consecrates" it by implanting it into the hearth (= Klytaimnestra). Only then can the scep tre sprout once more." These findings explain also why Aigisthos' is called a cowardly lion. (A. Ag. 1224.) Like Blaydes, Paley, Headlam and Mazon, I hold that "Lion" was the name-title or title-name of the High King of Mykenai. 71 It is perhaps the script Aischylos used which prevented him from writing "Lion" instead of (like the copyists) : " lion". It is of great interest that only in A. Ag. 1259 (and nowhm else in the Oresteia). Agamemnon is called a lion ... whose place in bed is usu rped by a mere wolf: Aigisthos. One should perhaps write " Lion" (At<.:lv) in both instances. 79 Once Lion is capitalized, the expression "cowardly Lion" becomes understandable, for a personally worthless man can still be the Lion King ; the insults which Achilleus heaps upon Agamemnon, the man, prove this. (H om. II. 1.122 If.)eo "On the socio-historically tra ... itional character of the latter episode, cpo (i'5) . ,. Cpo AtClSlll'. Ihree royal husbands, H dl. 3.88 elc. (chap. I) . " So phyliological a re-consccration is nOt un-Greek . Hera ga"e the adult H erakles the breast (Iupra); SOme monuments represent H era as actin g out a birlh of H erakl ... Cp o chap. 6, nOle 56. " M ylonas not .. that the Pdopidai came from Asia, where both real and symbolic liom abounded (E.R.D. ). The usual argument is the lion-gate of Mykenai; an additional and perhapl better argument is that""9< Agamemnon wean a lion', pelt (Hom. II. to. ~3). "Lion" is a .uitable lille for a paramount King, cpo "Conquering Lion of Judah". But, I doubt that A. Ag. 1~58 and A. CIwt. 938 shed light On litis problem. 7t In A. CIr«. thefirst and only time Agamemnon'. natural heir Oresles (togelher with Pylades) is called alion (v. 938) u while he rcas.scrts his claim to the thron e by killing his mother. For A. Ag. u~4 1 cannot accepl Fraenkel's explanatio.... H George III'. re.;UrTent ps}'Chotic bou ts did not aboluh hi. royal !Calus. Similar historical examples exist.
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Krytaimnestra's Dream in S()ph()kles' Elektra I n fact, for the sociologist, the notion tha t Agamemnon's sceptrephallos has to be properl y re-consecrated by cohabitation with the Queen (and not simply with the IOOmall Klytaimnestra) parlly explains why, in the d ream, coitus is represented by a thr us ting of the sceptre into the hearth, instead of by means of an undisguised coital dream (corresponding to the direct reference to Aigisthos' adulterous coitus in vv. 266 fr. ). On the basis of Vernant's anal ysis of the function of the hearth, it could reasonably be argued tha t the hearth represents the Queen's fem inine parts bellff than do the actual organs of the IOOmall Klytaimnestra. The symbolit:: cohabitation of the royal sceptre with the queenly hearth is a better symbolic revalidation of Agamemnon's royalty than would be an explicit coital dream. I must strongly stress that the arguments I just advanced arc sociological and literary, rather than psychological. They deal wi th more or less conscious and socially mo ulded symbols. The psychological reasons explaining why the dream represents coitus symbolically, ra ther than explicitly, will be discussed fu rther below. Considering the role of royal cohabitation- a ritual act almost approximating a sacred marriage (lep6c ycrll6c)-in the d ream and its sociological implications, many problems would be left in suspense without a careful scrutin y of the na/ure of Aigisthos' usurpations (listed in vv. 266 ff. ), both in strictly sociological terms and in terms of their psychological implications as well. For, as wil! be seen, so far-reaching and manifold an usurpation, the replication of so many of the absent- and then murdered- K ing's functions and roles, must have both a socia-cultural basis and psychological conxqucllccs. ( I) T he socia-functional basis of Aigisthos' usurpa tions is the fact that, as soon as he began to occupy thc segment of "social space" formerly occupied by Agamemnon, he became sIJCiairy the same "person" as Agamemnon. What is involved here is the concept of social representation and of functional substitutability. Indeed : ( I) H e who wears a mask is Ihe one his mask represents. (2) Ifboth A and B stand in a rclationshipx to C, then A is functionally substitutable to B (and vice versa), but only (a) With respect to C (and his equivalents), and (b) Within the framework of the x relationship. I n classificatory kinship systems this functional substitutability ( /7 ) can even entail a slJdal tum-implementation of selfhood (71 ), creating the mistaken impression (36, chap. 6) of a pS)'Chol()gical lack of the sense of the "self" (67).81 (II) \Vhat, from the sociological point of view, is functional substitutability, is, from the psychological point of vie w, what Sperling {89l called an "appersonation" . It seems superfluous to examine one by one the "Two Sed ang ~-Ioi cousins (and ben friemb) had married the ume man. I asked OI"Ie of them: "Arc you j ealous .... hen your husband cohabilS with your cousin and co-wife?" Th e young woman- a .Irong character and an individuali.t- rc-plied: "Why mould I? She i. {for .uth p~rp""'JJ the ..... me penon as I." In sueh _ :ieli..,. e,'cn subjcctivc feelings may be expro<ed in terms of a .rocial relationship Of" role. A planter, who genuinely loved hi. native miltro<, . aid \0 hcr: " I low, you; you areasWltlgirl." She replied affectionately : " I love you- you arc my hurb,...d." Some othcr form. of social substitutabili ty werC discUSK
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psychological consequences of all of Aigisthos' usurpations, though I wish to stress once morc that, in vv. 266 if., the pouring of libations into the sacred hearth- which jebb (ad loc.) rightly dee ms the same as the one nea r which Agamemnon was murdered (203)-precedeS" a mention of his "pouring" another kind of "libation" into Kly taimnestra herself. I will consider only the fact that Aigisth05 wears Agamemnon's robes. His doing so can be fully j usti~ed by socia-economic considerations. (I ) In Greek (and Mykenaian) society fin e textiles represented much work and were very valuable. Even Periandros was stingy enough not to place Melissa's clothes on her funeral pyre (H dt. 5.92), (75, p. 179). (2) The robes in question may well have been part of the King's regalia; they were no more "cast-ofrs" than the sceptre was a "secondhand " stick. But this socia-economieally fully undcrstandable wea ring of Agamemnon's robes52 also has psychological dimensions or consequences, whieh supplement and complement its cultural dimensions (32,36, chaps. 4, 5). A wholly convincing- because unexpected-
Two H omeric passages show that the ancients were aware of the fusion of the clothes with the body in the body image: (I) Hom. fl. 16,4 1 fr.: Patroklos dons Achilleus armour; he expects to be mistaken for Achilleus and to behave like his friend. (2) Hom. fl. 17.209 fr. : Achilleus' armour, stripped from Patroklos' corpse, fits itself (by shrinking?) to Hektor's body. Ares thereupon ente rs him (as he occasionally seems to enter Achilleus), so that his (expanding?) limbs are filled with (Achillean) valour and might. In short, Hektor becomes-partly even physically- a double of Achilleus, though- .rign!ficanlly-not ofPatroklos, since the latter also simply appersonated Achilleus. I hold that these H omeric passages help us understand the psychological .. A good equivalent it Penelope's demand thaI her fUlUre husband should be abl e to bend Od)"S5Cus' bow (Hom . Od. ~I.'4 "A personal experien(e has similar implka tion •. In '943, at the end olt tle day I finl put on Ihe uniform of a U.S. Naval Officer, I do.z~ off in an armchair. When I 1>o.gan to wake up, I saw a sleeve with gold braid lying on my lap and woke up completely wilh a olart : I had not rccogni~~ the .ICl':\·e (and hand ) a. my O" ·n. ,. Cte. f r. 8g; Ich. AT. Ao. '553; Plin. HN ,.22.1 , e.e. Ethnology furnithe even mare striking example. The men of certain South American Ind ian tribes routinely bring about a luxation 0{ the penis, and are th erefore able to conceal i . inside the skin and the fatty tissue of the lower abdomen, which plaY' .he role of"clothing" ( 1/, glI). According 10 Ihe Sedang Moi , the placenta is the cloak (_ blanke» of .he foet us ( 15). T he M ohave Indian baby'. cradl e· board no. only appears 10 he treat~ as parI ofil.! body, but e,'en delimits Ihe "social.pace" the baby inhabil.!: Ihe baby i. not an inhabi tant of the hOlls-e, bUI of the cradIc. If a uadlcd baby dies, only its cradle i. burned; only after it ceases to be c",dl~ is the house burn~ down al il.! death (20).
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K!,ytaimnestra's Dream in Sophoklts' Elektra
dimensions and consequences of Aigisthos' wearing Agamemnon 's robes: his complete social usurpation and his psychological appersonation of Agamemnon. H e may possibly have worn on occasion even Agamemnon's lion-skin cloak (Hom. Il. 10.:23). If those who hold tha t the name-title of the H igh King of Mykenai was " Lion King" are right- and I think they are-Aigisthos even appropriated Agamemnon's " name" . IS If, as I think, the sociological concept of " functional substitutability" and the psychological concept of " appe rsonation" have a bearing on Aigislhos' complete usurpation of Agamemnon's role, functions, (perhaps ) name-tiele, queen, etc., this, too, renders more plausible the view that the circulating sceptre of the maniftsl content of the dream is a reflection of the fantasy of the circulating organ (and "essence" ), which I believe to be present in the latent COnient of the dream. But even if this inference is not accepted, the least that can be said with assu rance is that the " circulation" of the sceptre cannot be viewed as evidence disproving the inescapable interpretation of the sceptre as a symbol of the phallos, of the hearth as a female organ and of the thrusting of the sceptre into the hearth as a coital symbol. That much is admiued evcn by Vernant, who cannot be suspttted of being sympathetic to psychoanalysis. Excursus." Greek traditi on kllew of golden organs: the " rea l" (?) golden thigh of Pythagoras (Arist.fr. 19[ R. ) and the (faked ) one of Alexandros the fal se prophet (Luc. Alex. 40). Burkert (8, p. 23) speaks in this conne<:tion of shamanistic dismembering and rebirth rites; Dodds speaks of tattooing (39, p. 163). Both theories imply lesions of the body. This view is indirectly supported by the fact that Komaitho cUlsoffPterelaos' one golden hair (Apo!Iod. ~.!.4 . 7 ., etc.) as Skylla culS off Nisos' purple hair (Apollod . 3.15.8, etc.). The alread y cited gilding of the prematurely born Osiris (which seems to replace the prematu rely lost protection of the womb) tends to suggest that golden, or gold covered, organs or parts of the body are somehow to be linked with bodily lesions: the gold may either be a prosthesis86 or a protective covering, pa!liating a real or symbolic defect. I recall o'nce mo re also the gold-leaf covered corpses of royal babies at Mykenai. The problem of these golden organs is too complex to be discussed here; it is not even certain that sufficient data have survived to penni! them to be satisfactorily interpreted. M y sole purpose here is to show that the few existing traditions concerning golden organs do n.ot militate agairut the inte rpretation that the ("golden") sceptre of the Atreidai is, in. dream, a phallos. The Evolution of the Dream is inseparable from its affective tone. The trend of the d ream can be clarified only if, like Vern ant (96, p. [08), one admits from the start that it is a transparent female coital dream ; such " I recall Ihe r~p"almly formu lalffi hyp<'llhesi. Ihal "' MinO!!" ,..alI a title also oonslrued all a name-all wall p"rhapl ' ·Pharaoh". r am ~"en in Iympalhy ... ith Ih~ hyp<'llhesis, formulated by a fin~ and scholarly novel is t, ~f i.s ~hry R~nault (80), Ihal "'"7 Eleusinia n year_king was limpl y called K~rk yon, Ihe tille scrving also as a nam e. Cpo supra, " Lion" , nOle 76 . I I I n which ca.sc "thigh" ma y ..... e11 be a cup hcmi.m. Cpo Pdop" ivory .houlder , ... hich is a prool.hesis.
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dreams are repeatedly a ttested for Greek women,S7 though less often than fo r men, perhaps because male erolic dreams leave visible traces (42, Itsl. 423, no. 14, etc.). Structural considerations- which I must repeat again, so as to enable the reader to bear them constantly in mind- also support this interpretation. In vv. 266 ff., the libation poured into the hearthprtctdts a reference coitllS; in the dream concubitus is alluded to bifort there is a symbolic rep resentation of coitus with the hear th. T he d ream is manifestly dysphoric and, were it a real dream, the dysphoria would be experienced already in sleep : it is an anxiety dream. ( I ) The anxiety dream sent by Agamemnon's wr athful shadell8 is obviollSly not a simple wish-fulfi llment dream. Indeed , in principle all dreams about the dead a re ominollS.89 T hey arc more ominous tha n usual if the dead person is seen to carry something (ps.-Hp . i1l.fomll. 92)- a5 Agamemnon carries his sceptre. (2) Dream coitus with dead penons, who are 1101 heroes receiving a cult,90 is especially harmful, for twO specifiable reasons: (a) Many groups believe that the dead lure the living to the land of the dead, by providing for them instinctual gratifications (COitllS, food) in d ream (30, passim). (b) I n addition to the dream being ghostly and nec rophiliac, K lytaimnestra's coital partner in dream is "inappropriate", nOI only because she herself had murdered him, but also because, in a waking state, she would not ijnd him desirable. I cannot discuss here the vexing problem of such dreams, which stem to run counter to the wish-fulfi llment theory of dreaming. I must content myself with citing some clinical observations. Dreams of coitus with an inappropriate partner seem to be especially frequent in limes of great and realistic psychological str es5. 9t T his is particularly true of women who unconsciously equate coitus with aggression and are therefore obliged to "erotize anxiety".92 The mingling of erollc elemenl.'l and of anxiety explains why this dream - like that of Mendaos (A. Ag. 420 ff. )--can be divided into two acts. (I) In the first, m anifestly IWII-symbolic, part of the dream, Agamemnon simply lies down beside K lytaimnestra (3, p. 54). Since this meaning of the opening venes is justified in connection with an analysis of the location of " Penelope: Hom. Od. !I\l.88 ff.; Demaratos' mother : Hdt. 6.6g; etc. Epigraphic evidence: fit, Itsf. 4~3 ( ., IG IVl, I) no. 4.:1: (with a snake), lell! explicitly in nos. ~3, 39, 4 1, 4l1: ; ItSI. 4~6. &veeal other testimonia concern homosexual dreamJ of men . .. A. Cho
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Klylaimnl$tra's Duam in Sophokld Elektra
the hearth, I consider here only the extent of Agamemnon's activities in these opening verses. (a) Even though ol.l1Akw can also designate actual coitus,93 I hold that, in these verses, it denotes only corporal proximity. (b) It would be aesthetica lly unsatisfying if the opening part of the dream included an explicit coitus, repeated s;'mbolical!J in the second pan of the dream. It is not denied that this can happen in some dreams-but such a sequence would be hig hly unusual. A comparison with the sequence in vv. 266 fr. will help clarify matters, even though it does not involve a dream. Coi tus is first Sj'mbolically represented (the poured libation) and is then referred to explicitly. T his could happen in a dream which is not particularly anxiety arousing: the initial symbolic representation of coitus would lead to an increase in the pressure of the instinctual d rive upon the " dream censor (17, pp. 505 ff. ). When the resistances of the la tter are overcome, an explicit coital dream can succeed a symbolic one. But Klytaimncstra's dream is an allXiel)'-arQusing, guilt-laden and necrophiliac dream. 94 It would be psychologically more plausible if such a dream, beginning with a situation which under normal circ umstances would lead to coitus, suddenly turned symbolical, so as to prevent a sudden, panicky awakening.~~ Only by recourse to symbolism, a/the crucial moment, can the dream continue 10 perform its function of " guardian of the sleep" {47, pp. 233 f., etc.)-though at the cost of depriving the drea mer of a complete gratification. Exactly the same happens, in a somewhat different way, in M enc:laOll' d ream, where, despite desire, a complete d ream coitus would a bo be psychologically intolerable (chap. 3). These considerations require that 6\.uAlav should not be taken to signify coitus- and, so far as I know, it is not ta ken in that sense by a ny commentator. Understanding that wo rd to refer simply to a lying down side by side, causes the dream sequence to become psychologically plausible and aesthetically satisfying ... and it is never superfluous to reinforce accepted interpretations by new considerations. But this conception of the dream seq uence also has a further advantage: it sheds some light upon the paradoxical consequences of the dream : K lytaimnestra's logical(y unjustifiable dou bts a bout the meaning of the dream (64S) become pS)'chological(y understandable the moment one realizes that, while objectively ominous and generally dysp horic, her dream abo contained, at least in a symbolic form, instinctuaHy gratifyi ng elements. H er perplexity is a direct consequence of the "erotization of anxiety" in the dream.96 " S. OT 367, 11 8~; H d l . 1.IBQ; E. Htl. '400; x. Smp. a.QQ, Mm,. 3. 11.4, etc . •• On ancient Credo necrophi lia, cpo (59) and (27) . .. Cpo chap. 6 and Ihe rrferenceo il conlaim 10 ,uch awakenings, and eopcclall y to lha l of the AiKhylean K lyta;meolra. " The erotization of am, iCly i, much more commonly mel wilh than one may think. Two selll of dam must . uffiee for present purp<>SC!. T he fi nt concern. Ihe occurrence of .ponlane<>u. ejaculation. in adoleocClI1< during di fficu lt examinations. The second ConCern. penom who compul$iyety seck risks in conne<:tion ... ith sexual aCli"ilieo: risks of dete<:lion and ocanda l. risk.. even of disease or pregna ncy. T he classical .ludieo are Ih..e of Laforgue (61, 62).
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Psychokgical lntnprelalion: Nearly everything in this section is already foreshadowed by the rest of the chapter. K lytaimnestra dreams symbolically of coitus wit h her murdered hushand's ghost. Were Klytaimnestra a real patient, I would probably try to discover whethe r her's was a post-coital dream: o ne in which he r real bedmate-the effeminate but m urderous Aigisthos-is transformed into a killer of women. After all, Aigisthos Wall a close kinsman of Agamemnon; under normal circumstanees, he would have had to avenge his death. This fact is, so far as I know, rather consisten tly overlooked. 97 All that need be added here is that- precisely because she is (defensively) "manly" (A. Ag. I I , elc.)- Kl yt.a.imnestra is just the kind of woman who would experience coitus as an aggression. She would therefore prefer an effeminate, subordinate husband to a virile and independent one ... and yet be disappointed by he r chosen spouse's lack of vi ri lity. The sprouting sceptre in the hearth is a reflection of her phallic ambitions, but is also retrospectively maternal, since she is not about to conceive a child either by Aigisthos, or by the ghost of Agamemnon. What matters most psychologically, is the close link between coitus and murder in this dream,-a link made more dreadful still by the fact that the " phalJos" in question, though certainly ablated in the course of the I-IOCXah1q.&6c, yet returns : in dream in the form of a circulating sceptre, and in reality in the form ofa murderous, exiled son, who also "circulated" - a nd was believed dead. But the psychologically most interesting aspect of the dream is its pSlwm-transpareney, which eonr.t'al~ how d~ply its trll t' latt'nl oontent is buried. Genuinely transparent dreams are commonly dreamed by children and hysterics. Genuinely opaque dreams are often encountered in the analysis of obsessive-compubives. But pseudo-transparent dreams, which conceal the dream's real opacity, I have encountered mainly in the analysis of severe character-disorders with manifestly perverted and even criminal leanings, and with almost uncontrollable acting-out tendencies. Since this characterization is fully applicable to K lytaimnestra, the dream is plausible also in th is respect. Yet a caveat must be entered here. Every pari and alIpcc t of the dream is psychologically plausible. What continues to disturb me about it, is the manner in which these individually plausible aspects, details and structures are put togelher, creating the impression of something cOll/n·lIed. H ence, despite everything that can be shown to be psychologically plausible, I continue to feel that, taken in its entirety, th is dream is more literature than dream. If a patient told it to me, I would suspect that the actual dream had, on awakening, undergone a considerable amount of (perhaps unwitting) "secondary elaboration"." This finding explains why I have left to the last the scrutiny of this dream as literature . .... Kin·murder creata insoluble problems in societia based on the vendetta principle: the murderer is also the avenger. Cpo chap. 4, note ,8. n CpoGeneral l nlroduccion, regarding dreams recorded by Artemidoroo and regarding the dr<:ams of Ati$ceida the RhelOr, which arc, al long last, available to the p
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KlyUlimnestra's Dream in Soplwkln' Elektra
Literary Aspects: As a literary device, the Sophoklean dream is less satisfactory and functionally less ne{;e5Sary than is the Aischylean Klytaimestra's dream. Yet, it i~ a more literary dream than its Aischylean equivalent. Both these findings indicate that the motif of Klytaimnestra's dream had be{;ome threadba re through too much use. Sophokles tried to renovate it, by changing its manifest content; Euripides simply eliminated it from his EkktTa, though he hints at it in E. Or. 61B. I hold that the Sophoklean dream is d ramatically less satisfactory than the Aischylean one, because it encourages the stay-at-home daughten and the Choros more than it encourages Orestes, who appean only some 600 verses later. In this and other respects, the dream is a far smaller driving force in the development of the Sophoklean plot, than in that of the AischyJean narrative. On the whole, except for upsetting Klytaimnestra and encouraging her helpless antagonists, the dramatic role of the dream is negligible. It is less satisfactory than its Aischylean equivalent also in some other respects. Anyone- be she Kl ytaimestra, an English charwoman, or a German secretary- would be badly upset by a dream like that of Klytaimestra in A. Chat., whose manifest content is close to basic human anxieties, to fears of mutilation, etc. If the Aischylean Kl ytaimestra told one her dream, one would seem foolish if onc asked her: "What about this dream upset you?" One would sound foolish even if onc were a simple pygmy hunter, for the anxiety arousing nature of that dream is both self-evident and extreme. By contrast, one would not sound foolish if onc asked the Sophoklean Klytaimnestra: "What upset you about this dream?" Moreover, if one did ask her that question, she would not, like the Aischylean Klytaimestra, reply: "Can't you see for yourself?" She would explain- at length. I have, in dfe{;t, done little more in this chapter than ask that question and provide K lytaimnestra's answers, with such commentaries as Artemidoros would perhaps have added to her explanations. The point I seek to make is that this dream's capacity to frighten the one who dreamed it is not due to its manifest content-save only for the appearance of a dead person. I ts truly frightening content becomes evident only aflu it is interpreted-eith er the way the Greeks interpreted dreams, or the way a psycho-analyst in terprets it. What is most frightening about this dream is its latent content- and that content would be most clearly perceived in thl': dream, for it would be accompanil':d by a marked df$phoria. I concede that such dreams do exist and that it is a touch of (unwitting) psychological subtlety which caused Sophokles to devise a dream whose most frightening element is its [aUnt content. which would be more clearly perceived during the dream than on awakening. But this subtlety is likely to be lost on the audience, fo r much cultural, literary and philological spadework had to be done before that latent content could be brought to light. Another dramatic defect of this dream is that its manifest content does not anticipate the climate and deed of terror which it heralds ... while the terrifying Aischylean dream does anticipate it. That the climactic scene should be simply foreshadowed, rather than fully anticipated, by the dream is defensible from the literary point of vicw. What is less defensible •
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is that it should be the deeply disguised lalent content of the dream which foreshadows it. The understatement is, to my taste, too extreme. Given the tenousness of the nexus between the dream and the murder, and given also the fact that it is only the hidden, latent content of the dream which foreshadows the murder, two conclusions seem permissible: ( I) The dream, taken by itself, is psychologically plausible enoughthough more plausible for the psycho-analyst than for the lay Athenian spectator. (:2) For the rest, I cannot persuade myself that it plays any truly necessary role in the Sophoklean tragedy. It is, in some respects, a literary heirloom, which tends to clutter up the scene, simply because one refuses to get rid of it. One moves it from the mantlepiece to the piano and then to a shelf, one tries to renovate it by giving it a new coat of paint (a new manifest content) ... but it still r emains an encum brance. Stesichoros and Aischylos had already squeezed the last drop of dramatic usefulness out of it. Euripides quietly turned the old battle-horse out to the pasture, and contented himself with an indirect allusion to it, in a drama which dealt with the aftermath of the murder only (E . Or. 618). I t is probably Sophokles' failure to renovate and to rejuvena te this traditional motif which persuaded Euripides tha t nothing further could be squeezed out ofit. It is not without interest that, on the whole, later mythographers and writers ignored the motif of Kl ytaimnestra's dream. The main literary conclusion to be drawn from all this, is that a dream can be psychologically plausible and interpretable, witho ut necessaril y serving any useful literary end, and the prime literary requirement with respec t to any motif is tha t it should be necessary.
Bibliography ( I) Alexander, Franz : Dreams in Pairs and Series, In temationalJoumal of Psyeho-Anarysis 6:446-45:2, 1925. (2) Ashley Montagu, M. f. : Ri tual Mutilation among Primitive People, Ciba Symposia 8:421 - 436, 1946. (3) Bachli, Erich: Die kansl/emelle Funktion VQn OriWlspriicllen, TrdumtTI usw. in tier grieehiscllen Tragodie. Winterthur, 1954. (4) Baumann, H. H .: Ober Reihenfolge und Rhythmus def T raummotive, Zentralblatfftir Psycho/herapie und ihre Grenzgebitu, 9 :2 13-1128, 1936 . (S) Hehr, C. A.: Aelius Am/ides and tile Sacred Taies. Amsterdam, 1968. (6) Bowra, C. M.: SQPhrx:lean Trageqy. Oxford, 1960. (7) Briehl, Walter and Kulka, E. W . : Lactation in a Virgin, Psychoanarytic Quarterly 4:414- 5 12, 1935. (8) Burkert, Walter: Das PrOOmium des Parmenides und die Katabasis des Pythagoras, Phronesis 14 :1- 30, 1969. (9) id.: Jason, H ypsipyle and the New Fire in Lemnos, Classical Quarterly 20:1 - 16, 1970. ( IO) Burrows, E. G . and Spiro, M. E.: An A/QU Culture. New Haven, 1953·
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(I I) Caspar, Franz: Some Sex Beliefs and Practices of the Tupari I ndians (Western Brazil), Rillista do Musal Pau/isla n.s. 7:1103-244, 1953. ( 12) Cook, A. 8.: Z eus, 3. Cambridge, 1940. (13) Delienne, Marcel: L'Olivier: Un My the Politico-Religieux, ReIiIUl fk l'His/{Jire fks RdigionJ 178:5--23, 1970. ( 14) Devereux, George: Hopi FuM Noles (MS.), 1932 . ( 15) id.: Sedang Field Notes (MS.), 1933- 35. ( 16) id.: L'Envo1.itement chez les I ndiens Mohave, Journal de fa Srx:iiti des Amiricanistes de Paris n.s. 29:405- 412, 1937. (17) id.: Social Structure and the Economy of Affective Bonds, PS)'chaanalytic Revuw 29:303- 314, 1942. (18) id.: The Social Structure ofa Schizophrenia Ward and Its Therapeutic Fitness, Jaurnal of Clinical Psychapathology 6 :23 1- 265, 1944. ( 19) id.: Mohave Orality: An Analysis of Nursing and Weaning Customs, P!JIchaarwlytic Quarterly 16:519-546, 1947, (20) id,: The Mohave Neonate and I ts Cradle, Primitive Man 21 :1 - 18, 1948 , (21 ) id.: Mohave Paternity, Samik~a, Journal rif the Indian Psycho-Analytical Sociely 3:162- 194, 1949. (22) id.: The Awa rding of a Penis as Compensation fo r Rape. International Journal of Psycho-Analysis 38:398-401, ' 957· (23) id.: The Significance of the External Fem ale Genitalia and of Female Orgasm for the Male, Journal oj Ihe American Psychoanalytic ASJociolion 6:278-286, 1958. (24) id.: Art and Mythology : A General Theory (in) Kaplan, Ikrt (ed.) : Studying Personality Cross-Culturally. Evanston, Illinois, 1961. (25) id.: Sociopolitical Functions of the Oedipus Myth in Early Greece, Psychoanabtic Quarterly 32 :205- 2 14, 1963. (26) id. : The Exploitation of Ambiguity in Pindaros O. 3.27, Rheinisches Musalmfiir Philalagu 109:289-298, 1966. (27) id.: Greek Pseudo-Homosexuality, Symbolat Oslaenses 42 :69-92, 196 7. (28) id.: The Realistic Basis of Fantasy, Journal of the Hillside Hospital 17:13-20, 1968 . (29) id.: Reafily and Dream: The Psyclwlhnapy of a Plains Indian. (Second, augmented edition.) New York, 1969. (30) id.: Mohave Ethnopsychiatry and Suiciu. (Second, augmented edition. ) Washington, D.C., 1969. (SI) id. : The Nature ofSappho's Seizure in Fr. SI LP, Classical Quarterly 20 :17- 3 1,1970 . (32) id.: La Naissance d'Aph rodite (in) PouiHon, Jean and Maranda, Pierre (eds.) : Echanges et Cammunitalians (M /langes lilli-Strauss), Paris and The H ague, 2 .1 229-1252. 1970. (S3) id.: The Equus Oc/()btT Ritual Reconsidered, Mnemosyne 23 :297- 301, 197 0 • (34) id.: PS)'choanalysis and Ihe Occult (Reprinl). New York, 1970. (35) id.: Essais d'Ethnopsychiatrie G/nirale. Paris, 1970. (Second edition 1975 ·) (S6) id.: Ethnopsychanalyst Campllmmlariste. Paris, 1972 .
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(37) id. (and Devereux,]. W.): Les Manifestatiornde I'Inconscient dans Sophokles: T,achiniai 923 sqq. (in} Psyduvudyse et SrKiologu comme Mttlwrks d'EWdt us PhiTwmlnes Histmiques tl CultUTels. Bruxelles, 1973 (38) id.: Trois Reves en serie et une Double Parapraxe, EthnopsychoiogU (in press). (39) Dodds, E. R.: Tht Greeks and tk Irrationol. Berkeley, Calirornia, 195 1. (40) id. : Pagan 4IId Christian in an Agl tif Aw{)'. Cambridge, 1965. (41 ) Dover, K.].: Eros and Nomos, Universi{)' ofLondon Institute ofClassicai Studies, Bulletin 11:31- 42, 1964 . (42) Edelstein, E.J. and Ludwig: Asclepius 2 vols. Baltimore, Maryland. 194-5· (43) Erlenmeyer, E. H. : Notiz zur Freudschen Hypothese nber die Zahmung des Feuers, Imago 18:5- 7, 1932. (+4-) Fenichel, Otto: Tk PsydwantJiytic Thtory of N turosis. New York, 1945· (45) id . : The Symbolic Equation: " Girl _ Phallus" (in) Tk Golilcted Papas ofO. Frnichel2. New York, 1954. (46) Forde, C. D.: Ethnography or the Yuma Indians, Universi!Y of California PublictJtwfIS in American Arduuology and Ethnology 28, no. 4, pp. 83- 278, 1931. (47) Freud, Sigmund: The Interpretation of Dreams, StandtJrd Edition 4-5, London, 1958. (48) id. : Fragment uf a.1l Alla.l ysu. uf a. Ca.se uf H yste ria., Standard Edition 7· London, 1953 · (49) id.: Character and Anal Erotism, StandtJrd Edition 9. London, 1959. (50) id .: "Wild" Psycho-Analysis, Standard Edition II. London, 1957. (5 1) id. : Great is the Diana of the Ephesians, Standard Edition 12 . London, 1958. (52) id. : Repression, St(Z1Jda,d Edition '4. London, ' 957. (53) id. : From the H istory of an Infantile Neurosis, Sianoo,d Edition 1]. London, 1955. (54) id. : Civilization and its Discontents, SttJnoord Edition 21. London, 196 I. (55) id.: New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis, SttJndard Edition 22. London, , g64. (56) id. : The Acquisition of Control over Fire, SlandtJrd Edition 22. London, 1964. (57) Gahagan, L. : The Form and Function of a Series of Dreams, ]OUTntJ[ of AbnormtJl Qnd SocitJl Psyclrhlogy, 29:404- 4OB, 1935. (58) Grinnell, G . B.: Tk Fighting Cheyennes, Norma n, Oklahoma, ' 958. (59) Kouretas, Demetrios: Trois Cas de Necrophilie dans l'Antiquite, Comptes Rmdus, 5~ Gongri s de PsychitJtrie tt de N eurologit dt Langue FrtJllfaise pp. 705- 71' . Strasbourg, 1958. (Go) La Barre, Weston: Tk Ghost Dance. New York, 1970. (61 ) Laforgue, Rene: De I'Angoisse a l'Orgasme, Revue Fr4liftJise de PsychantJlyse 4:245-258, 1930- 1931. (62) id.: Psy,hopathologU de i'Eckc 2 • Paris, 1950.
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(63) Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel: u s PaysQns du Langutdot. Paris, 1966. (64) Lincoln, J. S. : Th, Duam in PrimitilJt CUl/Uftl, New York, 1970.
(65) Linton, Ralph: The Tanala, Field Musuem pological Series 22. Chicago, '933.
of Natural History, Anthro-
(66) id.: The Tanala of Madagascar (in) Kardiner, Abram and Linton, Ralph: The IndillidUilI and hu Soci,!>'. New York, '939, (67) Lloyd-Jones, H ugh: The Justice of Zeus. Berkeley, California, 1971. (68) London, L. S. and Caprio, F. S.: Sexual D eviation. Washington, D.C., 1950. ( ~ ) Lorimer, H. L.: Homer and tlu. MCJnummu. London, 1950. (70) Malinowski , Bronislaw : Sex and Repression in Savage Society. London,
'9 2 7. (71 ) Mauss, Marcel: Une Categoric de J'Esprit H umain: La Notion de Pel'3onne, celle de " Moi" (in) Mauss, Marcel: Socia/agie et Anthra~ pologit. Paris, 1950 . (72) Mead, r.,·Iargaret and Metraux, Rhoda (eds. ) : The Sturfy of Culture at a Distan(t. Chicago, 1953. (73) Merker, F.: Die A/afQi. Berlin, 1904. (74) Michaels, J. J.: Disorders of Characttr. Springfield, Illinois, 1955· (75) Nilsson, M . P.: Gt schichtt der gritchisclltn Rtligion 12. MOnchen, 1955. (76) Oppenheim, A. L. : The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near~East. Transactiolls, Amn-ican Philosophical Socitty, n.s., vol. 46, pt. 3, 1956. (77) Page, Denys : HistoT)' alld lilt Homeric Iliad. Berkeley, California, 196 3. (7B) Powell, Benjamin: Erichthonius and the Three Daughters of Cecrops, Cornell Studies in Classical Philology 17 . New York, 1906. (79) Preller, Ludwig and Robert, Carl: Griechische Mythologi" , 189419 21 . (80) Renault, Mary: The King M/JJ/ Die. New York, 1958. (S I) Rivers, W . H. R . : Psychology and Ethnolagy. London, 1926. (S2) Rohde, Erwin: PV'che. London, 1925. (83) Roheim, Geza: Psycho-Analysis of Primitive Cultural T ypes, Inll!TlUltional Journal of Psycht}-Anarysis 13: 1- 244, 1932 . (84) id.: Hungarian Shamanism (in) R6heim Geza (eeL) : Psychoanarysis and tht Social Scitnces 3. New York, 195 1. (B5) Roscher, W . H . : AusjfJhrliches Ltxikon dtr gritchischen und romischen Mythologit. Leipzig, IBB4- 1937. (86) id. : Das von der "Kynanthropie" handelnde Fragment des Marcellus von Side, Abhandlungm dtr philologisch-histarisc/ren Classe dtr Konigljch Sachsischen Gesellschaft tkr Wisstnschajten 17, no. 3, 18g6. (B7) Seligmann, C. G.: Th, Cult of Nyakang and the Divine Kings oj the Shilluk. K hartum, 1911. (BB) Snell, Bruno; The Discouery of lhe A1ind. Cambridge, Massachussetts, 1953 · (Bg) Sperling, O. E.; On Appersonation, International Journal of PsychoAnarym 25: 128--132, 1944. (go) Sterba, R. F.: The Abuse of Interpretation, Psychiatry 4 :9- 12, 194 1 •
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(92) (93)
(94)
'55 Stinton, T. C. W.: Euripitks and tlu Judgnunt of Paris (Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, Supplementary Paper ii). London, 1965. Swirl, J onathan : CuflifJt1"s TralJtls. 1726. Teitelbaum, H. A.: Psychogenic Body Image Disturbances Associated with Psychogenic Aphasia and Agnosia, Journal of Nervous and Menial Disease 93:581 - 612, 1941. Todd, O. J.: Intkx Arislophaneus. Cambridge, Massachusetts,
1932 . (95) Toffelmier, Gertrude and Luomala, Katherine: Dreams and I;>ream Interpretations of the Diegueno Indians of Southern California, Psychoanalytic Quarterly 2: 195--225, 1936. (g6) Vernant, J.-P.: Mythe tI Pensle ,hn: its Crees. Paris, 1966. (97) Wace, A. J. B. and Stubbings, F. H. (eds.): A Companion to Homer. London, 1962. (gB) Wagley, Charles and Gaivao, Eduardo: The Tapirape (in) Steward,J. H. (ed.): Handbook oJSoulh American Indians 3 (Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 143). Washington, D.C., 1948.
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Chapter 8
Three Euripidean Dreams: Variations on a Theme (Euripides: Rhuos, Hekabe, lphigllleia amongst 1M Taurian.r)
Three Euripidean Dreams: Van'a/iDns on a Theme
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Introduction Though the arrangement of this chapter differs appreciably from that of the chapten devoted to the three versions of Klytaimestra's dream, my analysis of the three surviving Euripidean dreams concerns a very similar problem. Klytaimestra's dreams may be compared to dreams dreamed by three different persons in response to the same strong stimulus, which is part of the "residue" of the previous day. The three Euripidean dreams seem to be the equivalent of what, in clinical practice, are called "dreams in series" or " paired dreams": they are repeated dreamed "responses" to some basic and, at times, quite early problem or trauma. Although I do not neglect the latent content of these dreams, one of my main objcctiva is to show that countless manifest, latent, structural and psycho-analytical aspects of these three dreams are so deeply interrelated, that the dreams in q uestion must be considered as variationsby the sa17U! "composer"-on a single theme: on that of the so-called "primal scene", which is the child's real or fantasied, but always anxietydistorted, experience of his parents' coitus. If, as 1 hope, I can demonstrate this, my findings have some bearing on the still controverted view that the drama Rlusos, which we possess, is the Rhesos of Euripides, and not that of an " unknown author" having the same title as the hypothetically lost Euripidean drama (134). Since the whole controvcny is most ably discussed by Ritchie (125), who, like myself, holds the Rlusos to be authentic, I can dispense with a general recapitulation of the problem, limiting myself nrictly to a discussion of the fundamental similarities between thc dreams of Rhesos' Charioteer (E. Rh. ), of Hekabe (E. Hee. ) and of Iphigeneia (E. IT)-and , of coune, to the psycho-analytical scrutiny both of the dreams themselves and of their basic similarities. However, since, in this case, what matters most is the presence of a great many similarities, I do not analyse the dreamJ individualb'. My analysis is focused on the points of similarity, for it is this that interests most the Hellenist. But this does not mean that 1 short-change the psycho-analyst! Given the fact that nearly every item of each of these dreams has its counterpart in the two others, the analysis of the similarities is also a full analysis of all of their details. Moreover, just as, in clinical practice, one can annlyse two or more dreams- especially if they are obviou~ly "serial" or "paired" dreams, dreamed by a patient during the same nightsimultaneouslY, to it is legitimate to analy~e these dream-variations on a single theme joint!;. Though this may be an innovation in the psychoanalytical study of literary dreams, it is only very slightly innovating in tenns of clinical practice. I state emphatically that I did not set out to prove the authenticity of the R.hesos. In fact, I was struck by the !imilarities between the three dreams btjore I discovered that the authorship of that drama was disputed. Much of the first draft of this chapter was written before Ritchie's excellent book (125) fell into my hands. Whatever flaws this chapter may have, that of starting from a preconceived idea is not one of them. t • Simi\""ly, I did not go to the Mohave I"d.ia.n resen·"t.ion 10 ;nveotig"te their p-yclIi .. tric
Three Euripidean Dreams: Variations
011
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One last word may be said about the somewhat unus ual organization of the material presented in this chapter. As alread y indicated, the concurrent analysis of "serial" dreams is by no means unusual (48, passim). I therefore note only that a separate analysis of each of the three Euripidean dreams would have doubled the length of th is chapter. I also realize that I would probably have facilitated the acceptance of my interpretations, had I placed the terminal sections at the beginning of this chapter. But I decided to adopt a different order of presentation, so as to illustrate a relatively new rwthod of analysing what the literary critic calls "parallel passages"- such as serial dreams. I am confident that those who read carefully the texts or the translations of the d reams under scrutiny, will have no difficulty following my argument. I concede that this chapter is not exactly "light reading". Tho~e who rend it attentively will no doubt decide for themselves whether the effort was worth their while. ideM and praclices in order 10 pro"e Freud righi- for at Ihat lime ( 1938) I was an opponenl of psych04nalys;'. I ....·as forced 10 become a Freudian by my Mohave data (19. pp. ~ f. ) .
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Three Euripidean Dreams: Variations on a Thnne
PHCOY HNIOXOC )Cae' IiTTvov S6I;a Tt(: TTopk,.aToo· hrrrov<: yap &c le~ K&SlcpPT]~&-rOW 'Pnot' 'TfapEerC:X:, dBov, w<: 6vap 6oKwv, AVKov<: trrt~~a<: !Spalav ptcxlV' &lvoll"Tt: S' oVN 'Tfw~ucii<: ~lVOV TplXa, i'jAavvov, alS' lppEyKov l~ &pn]PIWV 6v1J6v lMovOOI K6:ve)(ohllOv cp6~T]V, tyw S' alJVvwv &ilPOO: t~EYE!polJal nWAolclV' lvvvxoc yap t~c.::.plJa cp613cx.
780
1'011.101
78, (Nauck's text)
EKABH <1> CTEpoTfO t!.lOC, <1> O
68
TlnOT' aipolJal {VVVXoc oV-rw 5ellJa<:l, cpaq1a<:IVj W 'TfOTvla XMv. ~QVO"IM'tpVywv 1Ji"i"ftp 6vdpwv, crtrO'TfhrrfOlJal lvvvxov 6<+'tV, ~v m:pl 'TfaI86c llWO TOO ~30lJivov KaTa 9pijKT]V 0:1.1,,1 nOAv~eiVT]c"ft "iAT]C evyaTpOC SI' 6vdpwv [fib yap} cpoIXpav [6<+'1V l\.laOov] t6OT]v. W X66vlot 6Eol, a::xaTE 'TfaiS' tlJ6v, &: IJ6voc oi1<WV ~p' IT tllWv """v XIOvWST] 0p~K1lv KaTt)(u ~dvov 'TfctTplov CflVAco
70
75 80
85
"he'
95
(Meridier's text)
141lrENEIA lx KalVo S'
~K.EI w~
cpJ:povca cpO:q.tctTa,
42
TTpOC aleEp', ei TI Sfj ,.68' ler'lxKoc. \I-nvctI TiicS' crrra),Acrx6E1ca Yi"ic oha:111 tv "Apyel, TTapewa.CI S' tv Idoolc WSEIV, X60voc 8t varra CEIc6ijval ~, cpruyflV 5t t<6:~w erOca epry"ov elcl&l11 S6IJWII TThvolITa, ".m. S' tptl'f'I)lOV rnyoc fk~Afl~ 'TfpOc ovSac t~ 6:Kpwv eraell&v, M~w
C80f tv
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Euripilkan Dreams.' Variations on a Thrnu LilMal Translations
E. Rh. 780-788: "And in my sleep a delusion (dream-image) !tood by me; for the horses which I tended (fed?) and used to drive standing by Rhesos in the chariot- as it appeared in my dream, I saw that wolves had mounted upon them and were perched (hanging on) their backs; and both of them, beating with their tails the hair of the horses' skins, were urging them on; and they (the horses) were snorting, breathing forth rage from their throats, and tossing their manes high [Reiske]. And I, trying-to-repel the beasts from the horses, woke up; for nocturnal terror was rousing me." E. Hec. 68-97: "0 dazzling-light of Zeus, 0 dark night, why am I in the night thus lifted with fears, with apparitions? 0 august Earth, mother of dark-winged dreams, I send-away-from-me ( = send back?) this vision of-the-night, which, about my son who-is-being-kept-safe in Thrace and about my beloved daug hter Polyxene, a fearful sight, in dreams I perceived, I understood . • 0 gods of the Earth, save my son who, the one anchor still of my house, inhabits snowy Thrace in the keeping of his father's (guest-) friend. There shall be something new, there shall come some tearful tune to tearful women. Never before did my heart shudder and fear so incessantly. Would that I might see here the inspired soul ('+"'Xl')) of Helenos or Kassandra, 0 women of Troy, that they might j udge (interpret) my dreams. · 2 For I saw a dappled fawn being tom by the bloody claw of a wolf, after being dragged pitifully from my knees by force. And this is (also?) the fear I have: there came ihe ghost of Achilleus above lhe topmost crest of his tomb and demanded as a gift-of-honour one of the much-suffering Trojan women. Therefore from my (child), from my child turn this away. you gods, I beg."l E. IT 42-60 : "Now the strange apparitions, which the night has brought to me, I will tell out to the open-sky (aI6l')p), jfindeed it is any help to do this. It seemed in my sleep that I had got away4 from this land and was living in Argos and that I was sleeping in the midst of the maidensquarters; and the back ( = surface) of the earth (X6ov6c) was shaken with heaving. And I fled and standing outdoors saw the cornice of the building falling, and the whole house in ruin, dashed to the ground (ouSac; also: • Not" tm.,t "dreams" is twic" in the plural (infra). Th" middle section, between asterisks, is anap ..."tic . • Th" mum of escape are not specified. This may /JerIMJn imply that not a real escapo:, but only .. rqRSSion in tim" is mean!. Cpo infra. 1
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Thret Eunpilkan Dreams: Variatwns an a Thenu
1J6voc 0' tAtlofSr) c'rii;\'oc, We l~£ IJOI, 66lJ'o.lv TraTJ'41wv, tK 0' rnlKpCr:vwv K61lac ~av6o:c K~lvOl, ofetrlJa 0' MpW'rrov ;\.a~Tv, KC%yw TIxVT)v 11')vo' I'lv lx,w ~WQ)q6vov TLI1C1>c' 06pal\loy Mav We 6avoVlJEvov, ..:;\.alovca. TOWap 0' WOE CVIJ~W T66E' TffivT]K' 'Ople'rT] c, ou KaTT]p~61JT]\I ~yw. c'rii;\.01 OiKWV e!ci TTaio£c cipcrvEc' tMJCKOVCI 0' ovc av xtpvLfkc ~wc' ~lJaL
50
55
yap
ovo' au CVVCnvaI TOWap k cp(;\ovc
lxw·
(Gregoire's text)
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Thee Euripidtan Dreams: Variatiom on a Tlumt pavement, floor) from the top of the roof-trees. And a sjngle column was left, as it seemed to me, of my father's house; and from the capital of it there hung down Jight-colourcd hair;3 and it assumed the voice ofa man. Then 1, observing this rite of killing strangers which I have, sprinkled it6 with water, as if it we re about to die-{I) weeping. I interpret the dream thus : the one who had died is Orestes, and he it was for whom I perfonned the ritual; for the pillars of a house are its male children; and those whom my holy washing touches, die. I have no ot her friend s who fit into my dream. "7 These translations sacrifice elegance of style to absolute literalness, for here the literal content alone matters. S The Dala and Ihnr Exposilion. The basic data are of three types: ( I ) Dreams narrated by the dreamer. The texts and translations are given above. A ssociations: The passages immediately preceding and succeeding the dream-narratives; aho direct all usions to the dreams in the rest of the relevant dramas. Thus, though the appearance of Achilleus' ghostrecalling that of Polydoros in the Prologue-is known to Hekabe only by report, it is an association to the dream, fOf she says: " And something else also frigh tens me" (E. Htc. 92 ff.). . Collateral Matmal: E. (Antiope)fr. ~203 N2 duplicates both the content and the spatial arrangement of one element in Iphigeneia's dream : hair (of ivy) tops a column. 9 F. Robert's (127) plausible view, that Orestes planned to enter Artemis' temple from above, is also a datum. The collapse of the palace in dream resembles the so-called " Palace Miracle" in E. Ba. 586 If. T he obscure manner in whicn the "descent" of the hair is described somewhat re<:alls the strange manner (E. Ba. t t t t fr. and Dodds ad loe. ) in which the tree ontO which Pentheus is perched, is made to "collapse" (is uprooted), bringing Pentheus within the reach Ortne murderous Mainades - as the hair ends up within the reach of Iphigencia's hands. These images seem Euripidea n. Other Euripidean images, whose content or structure- but not both- also resemble a dream element, are memioned either only in passing, or else not at all. As in the other chapters, Greek, ethnological and clinical data are only used to strengthen certain interpre tations. The texts are treated conservatively; they did not have to be strained to '''H ung down" - a vexing expreosion (M. Hada" "sprouled forlh"; Gregoir<:: l u this passag~ th~ colour ~cr.o6O(; = l S to be light, Ihough in PI. Lys. ~17d a dark colour may be meant. I n thu drama the word is also applied to the colour of blood and oloit (vv. 73, 633) . • Praumably the Mi, (M. H adas: "him"; this cannot be right , for Iphigeneia does not ooonnot as ret Ih~ hair and a person. G~oir<:: "this column", which E.R.D. thioks may be right). 1 Interpn:tation by an e>I'.cl",ion of the unsuitable-perhaps refiectillfj: uncertainty. (The ioterpretation does prov~ to be wrong. ) " I gratefully acknow ledge Mr Philip Vcllacon'. help with these tranllatiorn. I, whO$('. nati,'e language is not English, would not have dared 10 brutalize it to ouch an exlenl, in order 10 achieve absolule lileralneu. I Cpo E. n... I '70. On the "hair _ ivy _ curly" nexUl. cpo 144, p. '35, note I. " poussai~n1·· ) .
IQ
On the Greek symbolic equation: tree '" column, cpo inrra.
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Three Euripidum Dreams: Vanoa/ions on a Tkmt
yield up their meaning. Unequivocally outlined realistic Images are occasionally "completed" . Since a realistic wolf claws the fawn fatally, qf/er that young animal was torn from H ekabe's Jap, and since no one else is present in the dream, nor anyone in reality nul symbolized by Ihe wolf, I sec no alternative to the view that the wolf himself lore the fawn from H eka be's lap with its claws. The wolf must therefore be visualized, at least to start with, as "arched " over the sealed H ekabe's knees: the wolf's front paws on her lap, its hind legs on the ground. By contrast, in I phigeneia's dream, 1 do not "supply" or even imagine the sound the crashing of real masonry would produce, partly because dreams are mainly visual experiences, but mostly because one sound- · that produced by the hair- is explicitly mentioned in the later part of the dream. In fact, one notes- and can interpret- the absence of sound in the first part of the dream only because there is a sound in its second part. Finally, I have tried to mention cvery anomaly and /or Jlriking omission in all three d reams and have interpreted somc of them. My description and quasi-structural analysis of the Euripidean dreams' manifest content is almost entirely objective, in that I seek to highlight similarities between the three dreams. I identify these patterns by means of a technique comparablc to the Aristotelian "decoding" of the changing refle<:uons of an object in moving water; the pattern is revealed by whatever remains inva riant in the successive transformations of these reflections. I deliberately refrain from exploiting fully the techniques of structural analysis ( /8), in Ltvi· Scrauss' sense ( /08, etc.), for chat would make this chapter considerably more difficult to read. Besides, since structuralist and psycho-analytIcal mcthods arc, I believe (46, 57), complementary, their interpretations tend to converge. I simply add thaI my psychoanalytical interpretations arc here as conservative as the inherent complexity of psychic processes-and especially of those of a great poet- wiH permit.tl Unfounded charges of "wild" over-interpretation will not simplify stubbornly complicated processes. All dream elements mesh and each of them is heavily over-determined even in poetry. This made many cross-references unavoidable. T hey could be kept at a minimum only by assuming that the reader would thoroughly familiarize himself with every detail of these drearm, before reading their analysis and interpretation . SO~ Euripidt an Characteristics of the three dreams may now be enumerated. The Euripidean atmosphere and outlook of the dreams, as well as of their pathos is, I thin k, unquestionable. Also Euripidean is Ihe use of children--or of child-equivalents- to achieve that pathos (note 134). Rhesos' horses are carefully lended and the Charioteer's concern for them is almost maternal. Hekabe's dream-faw n is lap-nurtured. "Orestes'" hai r is sprinkled, though in a typically ambiguous, Euripidean manner: the hair of baby brothers is washed protectively; that of sacrificial victims with murderous intent. The dream personages are quite active- more so, for example, than " F",ud said thaI If one could but analyaefulry One singte dream, the patient's analysis would be finished.
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Three Euripitkan Dreams: Variations on a Theme in A. PV, or in A. Eum.- and the imagery's vividness is worthy of a poet said to have studied painting. l1 Yet, the drearru are relatively nonflamboyant: though they have, or are believed to have, a prophetic or clairvoyant dimension-deceptively so in E. IT-the imagery is appreciably closer to that of the real dream than to that of the allegory, or of a dream diosguised a.'I an allegory (A. Pm., and, to a lesser extent, S. El.). Something like a Euripidean dream could, I think, be dreamed also by real Greeks or by modern dreamers. This finding fits both the widely accepted view that Euripidean perwnages are credible and Dodds' observation that Euripides handled the irrational in a psychologically realistic manner (63). Since 1 hope to show that all three dreams represent a reaction to the same intra-psychic tension, derived from the same (real or fantasied ) "outer" eJl;perience, I might as well express here a view which, as my experience of men and the world increases, seems increruingly persuasive to me: reality's representation ( = science) may well be only the rational common denominator of irrational fantasies- a common denominator which strips off Pegasos' win~ and the hippocampus' body and tail, leaving only the horse of daily experience and of textbooks of zoology . .. while the winged Pegasos and the real hippocamp continue to haunt our dreams (cp. General Introduction). The great merit of Euripidean dreams is that though they are peopled with the oniric equivalents of Pegasus, they do not stray into the non-world of the Chimaira (as do some of Ailios Aristeides' dreams). These considerations appear to justify my analysing first the manifest contenl and structure of Euripidean dreams and only then teasing out also their latent content by psycho-analytical means; I found this procedure useful also in clinical work (48). TI1roughout, I seek to highlight the accuracy of Euripides' observations, the realism of his exploitation of the material and, above all. the dazzling skill he shows in preserving the structure and latent content o f his (hypothetical) model-ofthe Primal Scenein his three creatively divergent variations on a basic theme. The Dramatic Funttion ofa dream is to influence the plOLll The secondary elaboration which this presupposes does not make the dream psychologically less interpretable than sought incubation drearru.14 The Charioteer'~ dream is, strictly speaking, a stylistic device and not a driving force; Lesky ( 107) would probably call it a "reaction". Its " prophecy" (rule: clairvoyance) is immediately fulfilled ( = verified).! ' The dream barely reach es into lhc drama. A sluggish spectator in dream, the Charioteer becomes (compensatorily?) hype ractive on awakening. "On Ihis tradition, cpo '3-1, i. 3, p. 314 and note 3. Cpo V. Eurip. 116 If. Il I therd"orequestion Ri tchie'. ( 125, p. 1(9) view, thai the E. Hn. Prologue (which the dream presupposes) could be dispcrned wilh itruc!Unlly. On the Itructure of E. Hn. cpo infra. "On incubation drea ...... cpo 64, pp. 110-116, ~03, nOIC 83 and passim; 67, ~ , pp. t4 5 If. Though if an Jroquou drca ..... Ihat he receives a gift, he mwn be given il also in reality, hi, dream, too, i. interpretabte ( 1-#1 ) and 00 are .intitar "ooul wish" drca ..... from Kamtchatka, etc. Cpo chap. 6, note 89. "Th.i.o i. of H omeric in.pinlion. Ritchie ( t2$, p. 75) noles that th e only olher Greek dream fulfilled with equal rapidity is that ofRhesol h;~lr, H orn. Ii. 10: 497.
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Three Euripitkan Dreams: Variations on a T hnne
Guilt-ridden because of his initial inactivity, he irrationally accuses H ektor of murder and horse-theft. Now, according to a number of other sources, Rhesos' invincibility depended on his horses' eating Trojan grass and d rinking Trojan water.16 Only in E. Rlz. does his invincibility depend on his spending a night on T rojan soil. n T his slight modification of the tradition was probably necessary, since othenvise even the distraught Cha rioteer would have realized that it would be self-defeating for Hektor to steal Rhesos' horses. La H ektor may simply have cast a longing eye on Rhesos' horses, having just renounced his claim to Achilleus' team in favour of Oolon, whom he hardl y expected to fail. 19 What better substitute could there be for that immo rtal team than R hesos' horscs?20 Though such a thought might cross even a H ektor's mind, he would certainly never act upon it. The Charioteer's irrational accusations are mere " projections", motivated by his obsessive preoccupation with his horses, even in dream. The Charioteer did not intuitively read Hektor's thoughts, even though, still befuddled by sleep and by shock, he might have been especially sensitive to subliminal clues. If he is " right", he is accidently so, and Euripides so intended it; he ha rdly meant to represent the Charioteer as a mind-reader. Besides, the Charioteer's c haractcr matte rs less for the plot than does his dream. In short, though the quarrel reveals much abou t the Charioteer, all it tells one about Hcktor is tha t this magnanimous ma n would deal gently even with a distraught and irrational subordinate. The dramatic functi on of the E. Hec. dream must be appraised first in relation to that drama's much maligned nructure.21 The presence of a "break" in its middle is a misapprehension of the modern mind, obsessed with the importance of young girls.22 Athenians may have viewed .. s.:h. 11. 1<'.435; EU!lalh. in II. 8[7-',6; A~ciWl Nyugr.fr. 3, i, p. ~30 Ribbco;k ; V . .'len. 1.469; Serv. V. Am. 2.[3; M yth. Vat. [.~03. This may be an allusion [0 an Asiatic manner of demanding feallY. Xerxes asked Greek ~itie'l for earlh and water: (Hdt. 7 . 3 ~ ) ; a~cording to Hungarian tradilion , Ihe conqueror Arp;l.d (IX Cent. .... D.) asked for earth, wa[er and grass (for his hona) . Such data may j usl cnnceivably hinl al a loot (rad i[ion thaI, in exchange for hill help, Rh rsos asked 10 be recogniud as suzerain, or at leaOl as su preme commander (cpo Gdon's ~onditio!U, Hd t. 7. I~8-162 ) . " Thi., 100, may suggCSt "laking possession". In Central Europe, the room in which a ""vereign On~e oJept, was known eV.,r after a. Ihe e. g.. Maria Thn-esia room (cp. also E ngland). A Maori king mWlt be ca r ried acrOSS land whi~h does not belong to him; were hill foot to tread iI , the land would become hill ( ~p. also H ippi as' loss ofa toolh: H dt. 6. (07). " M oreover, in E. Rh. , [he hones praumably grazed On T rojan soi l ; they were ha rdly s[olen before that, as rep,){[ed in la I C sources (V. Alii. 1.469 and Servo ad loc., elc.) . I. And rightly 110. E. Rh. itself highlights the un reliabililY of primitive and an~ient """ tind. (808 ff., .,te.). '·A~~ord ing to Patin ( "9, 3, 2, p. 155) th., naWl betw,",n the two leaOU was fint pointed om by T h. Borel ( IO) . l ! Even R itch ie ( '25, p. 109) rel uctantly ~onced"" Lhat the E. Htt. Prologue is not ind ispenlable. Were that 110, one would also ha" e 10 abandon [he drea m, which presuppose the Prologue. The dogma of the bad ~omlru~tion ofvarious E uripidean pia)" . hould be reconsidered. W. N. Bale. (7, p. '99) nOles that E. Tr. gi" e5 an impression of unity when performed, though nOL when read. The appreciation of a Grttk drama'. unity requires visu al imagina[ion. Zl They ..,Idom an: cynoourCll in primitive and non'occiden[al societi." ( /03 ). Some Hellenists, appalled that no words an: wasLed On Mauria's consumma ted ..,If-=ifi~e
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Three Euripidtan Dreamt; Van'a/ions on a Tlume
Polyxene's fate simply as a prelude to the greater tragedy of the lasl male Priamid.21 Polyxene's impending immolation only pushed Hekabe 10 the brink; it took Polydoros' mu rder to make her topple over it. That this is as it should be . .. by Greek standardsH ... would probably have been more ob~ious in Aischy1ean or Sophoklean tragedy, since Euripides anticipated at times the modem (and Hellenistic) interest in young girls. At the same time he was also a better culture historian than his peers: myths show that Mykenaian women we re freer and socially more importa nt than Athenian oncs.2S Yet even Euripides was sufficiently Perik1eanat least in his works- to rep resent a young girl's death simply as a means to the end that tru.ly matters.26 Even in Euripides' last play- the lAthe key problem is the shore-bound Achaian fleet and not I phigeneia's doom, and this despite the fact that the poet grew bolder with agc.27 T here seems to be no exception to the rule that a young girl's death is incidental,28 and this quile apart from the fact that it necessarily takes place off-stage, while the main action unfolds on-51age. 29 H ekabe's own reactions also show that Polyxene means less to her than Polydoros. Though briefly grieving and praying in the end over her daughter's known plight, she prays first and chiefly for the hypothetically endangered Polydoros (59 f. ). Also, though she does not beseech Agamemnon to save Polyxene, in order to avenge her son she pleads like a procuress that Agamemnon owes her something fo r the sexual use of K assandra's body (824 f.),30 which is a commodity to be sacrificed for her brother's sake.)1 (E. Hmul. ) ~v~n aMum~ Ihal a pa.ssag~ has bun lost ( 133). Maluuia'. (and perhaps Euripides' ) conl~mporaries felt ~haps that Ihal i. wha t young princ.,...,. wer~ there for. But Prof.,...,r Dover llrongly disagrttS with this last hypothesi, and he may well be right and I wrong. " Helen"" having mad~ hi, peace with th~ Greeks, ,,,.Ionger counu. But it is hard to 'Ie<: why Menelaos doe. not "count" al A. Ag. 89f1. - unlw he is still believed to be IOSI at sca. Fraenul'. notes, ad loc. arc implausibl~, I think. l< Tills is &aid in the SCllS(: in which Wilamowitz (in hi. ed. of E. HF) said that "il is a~ ;t .should be" !hal Euripides should have been regularly defeated not only by Sophoklcs, but also by leMCr men, No agrttmenl i. implied in either CMe, " I ~islen:d elsewhere (.,5) my disagl'ttm~nt with the cUSlomary underes limation of the Athenian wife'. role, !hough I certainly do not concur wilh iu o,uC$timalion by C. Schman ('35, chap. 7)· " E. EmMA. scetm focused on Alhens' fate and On the paren u ' grief. In S. Anl.- an admiuedly W~U -<: OfUtructed play- Krn>n is cr uohed not by Antigon e'., btlt by H aimon', death, whim climaxes and end! th ~ Iragroy. Th e paramount imporlancc of Klytaime-tra'i d~ath in A. Chol. , S. El. and E. El. does nOI di,prov~ my point: Aigisthos is only a . habby and .hadowy wufJ'cT and Klytaimes tra mallen mainly because Ordlcl malte" ev~n nwre. " And, as often happens, also more traditional in forn' (E, Ba.) : cp. Ih e reappearance of the fugue in Beethoven', late works. "Perhaps bttau.st; fictitious to Euripides' concemporarie- (K.J.D. ) . But cp. Plu. V. Thtm. 13.3, V. Arisl. 9.1 f. and the .ap~",,6, (scapegoat ). "On Ih .. dichotomy, cp. (5,,-) . .. Cp. Hom. II. 24.477 ff.: for H eklor'. lake, Priamus kisse- Achilleus' murderous hand., Paru of E. H«. read like a ,avage parody of the Homeric outlook. " Cp. Plu. Amal. ,00 B: A Grttk 5Ometime- prostiluted hi' wife, but never hiJ I'l'DmtMS. (But cp. Luc. Col. to. ) The m~n of Sardis app.arently contemplated laving their Ii".,. by .urn:ndcring their . pou .... to the beoieger (P.o. ·Ph... Pard. Min. 30, 3'~ E IT. ) "routine practice among the euhurally man-<:enten:d AUllraliaru; ( 136) E. Ale. i. clearly man a:nten:d: PherC$ is a man, AdmetOl both man and King-Alkoti. is only a woman;
Thm Eunpidean Dreams: Variations on a Theme
The I~t word on all this is said by Iphigeneia : it is the sons that matter (E. IT. 57). The "break" disappears the moment one overcomes the modern obsession with the imporlance of young girls and re-learns the dynastic outlook.12 It becomes equally non-existent if one remembers that the topic ofa Greek traged y is an event or problem, and not a personality.3J The already adequately tight structure of E . Hee. is made completely coherent by Hekabe's dream, whose fawn symbol represents both her son and her daughter. Few literary dreams have so high a degree of dramatic functionality. By comparison, this dream's influence on the plot, while great, is not of paramount imporlance. It does transfonn Hekabe's agitated dep ression and despair into a fierce, scheming, brutal courage; more striking still, her passivity in dream is replaced by a savage activity. Euripides might have achieved the same ends also by some other means, though hardly by a dramatically and poetically more compelling one. What more one could ~k from an- admittedly superblyforeshadowed-dramaticdream is hard to see. Moreover, the dream echoes also the appearance of another phantom: that of Achilleu! (E. flee. 37 f. ). As 10 Iphigeneia's dream, in order to avoid repetitiousness, the discussion of its dramatic functions must be postponed until later. I therefore list here only its most salient consequences. The d ream practically turns Orestes into a QCTtp6noTIlOCl4 and makes Iphigeneia bloodthirsty. This, together with her conviction that her brother is dead, decre~es Orestes' chances of being recognized and increases the risk that he will be i5
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Three Euripidean Duams: Variamns on a T hetm Viewed in ano ther way, in Greek d rama the uream narrative b fuuctionally akin to a Messenger's speech.J.6 It is, in a sense, "News from Nowhere"-and Ihe reporting of unca nn y (dreamlike) occurrences by M essengen is even more characteristic of Euripides than of his two great peers.17 The Charioteer's account of his dream gives relief to his stor y and may even suggest that the human wolves were as.'listed o r sent by a Supernatural Being. H is sudden transition from sleep to wakefulness explains in part also his wild accusations and pcrhaps even his (medically premature) wound-delirium a t v. 83S. n I n so fa r as H ekabe mentio ns the appearance ofPolydoros in dream, her narrative is also akin to a Messenger's report. As to Iphlgeneia's dream-narrative, it is "News from Nowhere" par uctllenct; technically, it fuses the functions of Polydoros' prologue allll of H ekabe's dream-liarrative into vue. Doth ill E. He!;. amI in E . IT. the dream narrative is so elosely integrated with the prologue that it can be distinguished from it only by means of purely external criteria. Psychologically no separation is pD$Sible: the content of the prologue is, in both cases, funnelled into the drama by means of a dream-as off-stage happenings afe funnelled into E. Rh. th rough the Charioteer's d ream. Tk Psychol9gical Appropriatene.ss of Dreams increases their plausibility. The d ream is a highly individualized produc t oCthe psyche; the C harioteer could not have dreamed Iphigeneia's dream.l 9 A real dream fits the dreamer at a given point of his existence; in literature, a plausible dream mus t also fit the plot. 40 All Euripidean dreamJ satisfy these requirements. I examine here only the general appropriateness of the dream for a given dreamer at a cer tain point in time; the appmpriatenes.o. of the symbolization, of regt"<3ion in time, and so forth, is discussed in the corresponding sections. The Charioteer is almost obsessively preoccupied with his horses; he sees all life and his own duties in a horse perspective. Though R hesos is murderedfirsl, the Charioteer is awakened only by his dream of danger to his horses. This is not only psychologically subtle, but also echoes the H omeric Do/ootia (Hom . II. 10) in whieh-save for a final whistle ( IO.S02 ) - both the murder a nd the theft are apparently committed in complete silence. Also, I can a ttest from personal experience that even the C harioteer's heavy sleep is plausible : Rhesos' army had been a long lime on the march . and had, no doubt, faced danger.! en route. For the liMIt time in many weeks the Charioteer need not sleep with one eye open. Objectively, his ,. Char"ctcru.:;caUy, Kly",imCl""" dream u. told not by henelf, bu' by !he Choroo (A. CIu>t. 523 ff. ) which, in Ihis instance, does not comm~n! bul informs-aIle",,! to begin with . I n S. EJ. her d",am is reported by Chryaothemis. " E. Ba., HI':, Hipp. , lA. etc., cpo (54) . .. Ritchie (U'j) : added relief, pp. 75 , t38 ; delirium : p. 13'. H A hysteric does not dream like an oh&essive, oar a .... oman like a mao, nor a child like an adult (75. pauim). An Eslrimo does no! dream like an I ndian (54, chap. 4) . Several adolescents boarding in a therapeutic $Chool for devia~t youngsters tried to dcttive their rapcctive therapist!, by exchangiog their dn:aou. The fraud w"" dete<:ted almOllt at once; the borro.... ed dreaou simply did not "fit" the alleged dreamcn (3~, pp. 27t ff. ) . .. Pt.-Hp. 111$I11III. 88: Aris!. i/l.Ul1M. 462al5 ff.; Hdt. 7.16: Emp.fr. ,oS D-K: Cie. do divi~ . 2.67: Lucr. lUll. TeI". 44'3, 5.7 24: Patin ( 119. 2, p. t~ and n. I) ; Dodd. (64, p . 118) , etc.
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Thrtt Euripitkan Dreams: Variatirms on a TMme
d ream is a symbolic understatement : it phrases a military disas ter in ter ms of a horse then. Even this is perceptive: the survivors of bombings may obsessively- and defensively- grieve most over the loss of a keepsa ke. Hekabe's dream is equally appropria te, because its symbolism is both regressive, a nd present-centred. In dandling her "baby" ( = fawn) on her knees, the old woman regresses to the happy times before the siege of Troy, while the old Quttn hopes that her son would avenge the fall of Troy and rebuild its razed walls. Her maternal dream is tragically appropriate. Unlike young Antigone, or Intaphernes' wife, this old widow cannot say: " Ah well, I can always have another chi!d."~l But, at the same time, the old Queen's dream is prescnt-centred: she is the only possible leader and defender of the captive Trojans. I phigeneia's dream also filS her. Hekabe is a Queen, for whom the state is more important than its ruler; I phigeneia is a princess in distress, mo re family ( = dynasty) than state oriented. }<'or her: "l'Etat e'est Papa!" --or at least Orestes, who may yet restore the might of the House of Agamemnon, as distinct from that of still mighty Argos.~2 Her own dreamhorizons are almost as narrow as those of the Charioteer, and, as befits a formerly sheltered princess, who is now a privileged captive, her dream is the most self-centred of the three. Not one of the three d reamers could have dreamed the dreams of the other two; eac h dream fits onry the one to whom it is attributed. The general app ropriateness of these d reams may therefore be held to have been proven alread y, though the analysis of their o ther fea tures will furnish further proof of their appropriateness. T lu Manner of Dreaming is unusual in all three dreams, though whether Euripides realized this is uncertain, for most people take it fo r granted that their own manner of dreaming is the natu ra l one.4l Even Greek dream books have relatively little to say about atypical ways of dreaming. The E. Rh. dream is not only unusual, but of a type well understood already by Aristoteles.44 I t is elicited by the impact of sounds on the sleeper's sensorium; these, the dream-work converts into appropriate imagery and then incorporates into the dream, with rela tively little dis tortion. I n so doing, the dreamer denies their external origin, by "properly" reacting to them in d ream; this dispenses him from waking up at once, in order to respond to these stimuli a lso in reality (chap. 4, nOle 61 ). Such d reaming is a lip service which the dreamer pays to reality, for it helps the d ream fulfil its role of guardia n of sleep.41 Reality's contribution to this d ream is ., S. AnI. 909"""<)12; H dl. 3. "9. E,·e n Euripides' Andromache wilt ~ar anolher child (E. Amirom. ), to comfort her for the loss of rulyanax (E. T road. ). Bul, in H ome,..,., P oly_ doTOS i. not H eka~'s son and is killed in combat . .., Th e COnIralIl U e'= mD..., complele : th e Trojan dyna:ny w .... aUlochthonow; the Pelopidai, like many other mythical rule,"", were outside,"", immigrants or even usu rpe,"". E.lT. 5'0 implies only miuule (cp. Thu. 1.111.) • .. A clinical psy<:hologist discovered only during his own analym Ihal hi. d reaming in colour w.... rdati vely unU$ual. "Amt. i/Uomn. 462al5 fr.; d. diD. JOIlln. 46Sa5 ff.; ep. Dodd.< (64, p. 114) for G r~k dreams of this type . • , S. Freud (75, passim). This brilliant hypothesi. has now r<:<:eived experimental confirmation. Subj cc'" permitted to sleep, but awakened as SOOn as their electroencephalo_ gram indicates that Ihey are beginning to dream, do not feel rested. If this is done
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at least as great as the contribution ofthedreamer's psyche; the Charioteer's dream achieves almost the maximum of reali ty awareness a dream can achieve. Moreover, the extemal sounds which triggered the dreaming process ultimately awaken the sleeper. Hekabe's dream has similar characteristics, Ihough more in lerms of dream-book theory than of psychology. It, too, is said to have been elicited by an "external" stimulus: by the appearance of Polydoros' phantom (cp . chap. 4)' The spectator probably expected him to appear to Ius mother as he appears to them: in his "real" shape (d6wAOV). However, Hekabe's "dream work" transforms this "stimulus" (= double) into a fawn. This is less realistic than the Charioteer's transformation of sounds into a very appropriate imagery. Still speaking in terms of dream-book theory, the anxious H ekabe's contribution to the content of the dream is therefore greater than that of the tired but unanxious Charioteer; the reality aWareness of her dream is, moreover, less great than that of the E. Rh. dream. Iphigeneia's dream is unusual in scveral respects. It is a d ream in colour: the hair is light coloured (~cxve6c) . .fIi Sound, barely, alluded to in the Charioteer's dream (snorting), plays a great role in it. It is not clear, eithcr psychologically or in terms of dream-book theory, just what triggered her dream, but it is clinically conceivable that a real sound, perceived (heard) in dream, Itrmillatd it. I phigeneia's own contribution to her dream's manifest content is ma:'timal, while her dream's reality awareness is minimal- a fact undef"5cored by its double misinterpretation. Its most ~ujk.i Ilg fCiltuu; h that I vhigcm:iil dream.J uf lodllg aJleep (rClitillg) ; thel'c is no typical Greek dream-figure to tell her that she is asleep .• 7 This makes her dream seem a jorml jruste of thc somewhat more common "dream within a dream". None of my analysands ever reported dreaming simply that he was asleep.48 There are, moreovcr, faint hints that dreaming that one sleeps was known to H omerOS,49 but the evidence is too allusive to warrant its being discussed here. What is certain, is that nothing in E. IT. indicates that lphigeneia has a "dream within a dream". In a sense, Iphigeneia is simply doubly asleep: in reality al well as in dream. This implies both a double distortion and a double repudiation of the dreamthought and dream-wish: one notoriOUSly feels less responsible for one's dreams than for one's waking acts and thoughts (80). Dreaming that one sleeps or dreams represents, from the viewpoint of the Ego, a double denial of responsibility; from the viewpoint of the Id--of the world of the instincts-it means that the dream wish must crash through two barriers. The text actually hints at a double distortion (sacrificial priestess, oev~ra1
nigha in a row, neurotic .ymptonu appear. W. Dement (, 6) ..... elt summarizes the<~ Cpo abo (94) . •• One notes that th~ Chariotecrdoa not mention the wh; t~nC$S of hit horse<, though that would be compatible ""'en with a routine '"black and while" dream. T he fawn , too, rould oecm dappled even in a black_and_white dreo.m . • , On ouch dream personage< cpo Dodd. (64, chap. ,.) . • , A borderline patient dreamed that he was in bed; whether hc had "LJ~ dreamed that he was skqnng could flOt be ascertained . .. The figure appearing in dream saY' : "you are asl.,.,," . Hom. II. 2.23, 23.6g. Od. ,..So,.. cp o Dodds (64, p. U2, note '3) for other examples. experim~nlJ.
Three E!l.ripidean Dreams: Variah·ofU on a Th41nt mourner), perhaps determined by an ambivalence: the dream makes the formerly gentle princess bloodthirsty (348 f. ).XI The conjugateness of the two affective polarities: "compassionate vs. bloodthinty" and "sacrificing (killing) vs. mourning" may also reflect the two-fold layering of the dream and its ambivalence-and so might its double misinterpretation. What is remarkable in all this, is the progressive increase in the three eonsecutive drea mers' contributions to the manifest content of their respective dreams. The decrease in the dream's reality awareness which this entails is compensated for by its increased awareness of the unconscious (infra). Moreover, in all three instances, Euripides plausibly manipulates and varies the "depth" of the dream and this is something none of his predecessors even attempted to do. Symbo/i<:alion, an essential part of the dream work, distorts, and therefore attenuates, the intra-psychic slress sufficiently 10 prevent it from disrupting sleep. \'Vhen a dream actually awakens the sleeper, as in E. Rh. and perhaps in E. IT., this rep resents, in parI, a failure of the symbolization process. In the first approximation, the amount of symbolization in a dream is a moderately reliable measure of the disharmony between the Ego and the (ego-dystonic = inacceptable) latent material reflected by the dream.'t The symbols are, moreover, not contrived haphazardly. They are heavily overde te rmined: constructed out of day residues, personal experiences, cultural elements and the like, in accordance with the dreamer's personality. Even the articulation of symbol A (representing X ) with symbol B (representing Y) is part of the symbolization process. While it is imrxmible to construct compn:hen~ive dictionariC3 of symbols, it has become increasingly evident that certain ty~ of intra·psychic problems are likely to seek expression in dream. s2 The relative predictabilit y of the emergence of certain types of problems in dream- though in an unpredictable form - is an important determinant of the interpretability of dreams. Amongst the bt'Slclues to the identityof dream-thought X, represented by symbol A, is thaI which, in commonsense terms, is atypical either about A itselr or about its setting. The silence of the wolves, their un-wolf-like failure {o Ulle their fangs, their human use of their limbs, elc., reveallhal they are human. Moreover, their failure to bite eliminates from the dream the intolerably anxiety-arousing element of cannibalism (56, chap. 5). The fawn presumably behaves in a fawn-like manner, but its position in space on Hekabe's lap shows it to be a child. The contribution of the day residue to dream symbolism will be highlighted by the analysis of the wolf symbolism in the E. Rh. Cultural considerations also help one identify the X represented by symbol A. In all three dreams the victim is light in colour (infra). This, together with certain psycho-analytical considerations (infra), suggests that the victims are-or are viewed as-female. This inference is further supported by the ,. This may perhaps be understood all a delayed reaction 10 her having almOSI been sacrificed at Aul;': .he now '"hands on the lrauma·' (infra) . U On dqrecs of distortion in dn:am, cpo PI. Rmp. 571 C-572b. " Period. of dn:aming, ... del ermined by mean. of electroencephalograms, an: a1· moot invariably p~eded by a brieftumacence, cvcn in thccase ofvcry old men (11).
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finding that on most Greek vases women are lighter in colour than are men- an indication that they lead an indoor life (139, pp. 97 if. ), though the tendency to Ihink of women as lighter in colour is not exclusively Greek.'3 All I tried to determine in the preceding pages is the manner in which dream-personages are represented by means of diversified but invariably overdetennined symbols. Tlu selJ-repmmtation of llu dreamlr in his dream is inferable mainly from his setf-referable dreamed sensory exjJtrimcts. I insist on this specification, for two reasoru. First, every dream personage being a product of the dreamer's own psyche, it also represents him, or at lea..o;t part of him. Second, a dream may seem to imply a dreamed sense-experience, though, on closer scrutiny, that experience may nol be part of the dream: though one may dream of to uching or lifting an object, sensations of texture and weight may not be present in the dream. A statement may be part of the dream but not the (dreamed) experience of luaring it (chap. 2, note 21 and infra). Iphigeneia says that a "voice" emanated from the hair: in this case one may infer an acoustic dream experience precisely because the voice makes no statement (inrra). At times, the dreamer may not even dream that he is present and is actua!ly witnessing the dreamed occurrences, though this is oflen obscured by the Greek formula: " I saw a dream."SoI I know of no case in which a Greek drearrur simply said that he " knew sOmllww" tha t certain things were happening in dream. Significantly, the only human personages in these dreams are the dreamers themselves. This suggests that the dreamer's body-Ego (or nuclear Ego) is, in that respect at least, intact. Only the portions of the body-Ego projected outward, onto other "personages", are distorted sufficiently to assume a non-human form. It may well be that the integrity of the dreamer's body-Ego is preserved, wholly or in part, precisely by this projection, or extrajection, of dishannonioWl material. E. Rh. The Charioteer's self-representation is realistic; the dream even shows him sleeping o n the ground. He is defin itely "present", though he turns acoustic stimuli into visual images, and then "amplifies" the marauders into wolves.l' His regression in time is quite minimal: the dream's wolves may recall those of his native Thrace, which he just left. E. Hte. The dreamer's self-representation is also realistic, though less so than in E. Rh. She regresses to the time of her las t ( ?) maternity, and visualizes herself as seated. She specifies (credibly) that she had had visual experiences. On the other hand, though (objectively speaking) large: areas of her body seem to be in contact with "outer" objects (seat, fawn, forepart of wolf), no tactile or weight experiences are repo rted . Also, "Nea rly alt dll$!lical Malay texts !tress the light (olour of lxautiful wOmen. Though the (r-fongolic) Hungarian ...... ere ori gina lly yello..... ish, H ungarian peasants call ..... omen: feitlrnlp _ whit e folk, though they too work outdoon. Cpo E. Bn. 457 f. and Dodd! ad loc. , cpo chap . 7, note ~3 . S4 A dreamer saw, in a vivid dream, an obj ect 1M way he could II« it only ifhe were lying flat on hi. IlOrna(h in front ofit. Yet he lpecified that h" did not fttl that he had personally
witn05ed. 50me of the dream :sceno. He just "knew it" somehow (46, chap. 6, {ax 39, Dream H-ii). OJ On such amplifications, cpo Ansi. d. div. :!!>nIn. 4611blO If.
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Three Euripifkan Dreo.nu: Variations tm a Theme
though a real wolf would growl, acowlic experiences are not mentioned . E. IT. Self-distortion is most marked in Iphigeneia'$ dream : a ripe adult, she regresses to her girlhood. Only some parts of her dream acti,-:ilY are congruent with present realities. Though it .is in Taurike that she actually lies on her bed and sleeps, she thinks she doe! so in Argos. Later on, she stands and officiates as a priestess. Visual experiences arc ex plicitly mentioned ; auditory ones-though probable-are only imp!ied.~ The earthquake dream implies the experience of being shaken or rocked; psycho-analytical considerations make this a near certainty. Objectively, her (washing) hands should have tactile sensations, but this is not explicitly menlioned. External objects are, so to speak, kept at ann's length; in Hekabe's case, aU object! are in contact with her body. Yet, on the whole, lphigeneia's self-representation is adequately realistic, for a dream experience. Other dream personages art rtpust nled symbolicolly, either as animals behaving in unusual ways ,S1 o r as inanimate object! in unusual motion, or "behaving" in peculiar ways. Three animal species are represented: wolves, horses and a fawn, and we fortunatel y possess extensive information about Greek beliefs concerning them.~s In addition, both Freud and E. Jones had analysed the role of wolves and of horses in fantasies, in dreams and even in folk beliefs concerning dreams.!9 Tlu Wolf Symbolism. Greek beliefs concern ing wolves were numerous and varied. I mention here only a few salient facts. Except for Leto's connection wilh pregnant (sexual) she-wolves, the few known mythical wolves secm to be male and arc associated primarily wit h ApoUon (who, like his sister Artemis, is associated also with the wolf's prey: the deer) and secondarily with the cult of Zeus on Mount Lykaion. As a dreaded, eerie, nocturnal predator, the wolf suitably symbolizes the father of the primal scene (infra).60 The Greeks' awareness that male wolves mate with female dogs may have a bearing upon the (inferable) arched posture of the wolf in the dream of H ekabe, who later on turns into a female dog. tit In E. Rh. the wolves "ride" the white "horses"; the sexual meaning of this symbol was well known to the Greeks. The real problem is therefore not what, but precisely whom, the wolves in E. Rh. and in E. Htc. symbolize. This uncertainty is characteristically dreamlike. E. Rh. The primary source of the wolf symbolism is a day residue. Ritchie ( 125, p. 76) plausibly conjectures that Odysseus had stripped Dolon of his wolf-pelt and had put it on, a s a disguise; he holds that Odysseus appears, so disguised, as early as ¥Y. 565 fT. and that the word .. She say1 : the hair anumed the "oice of a man: . he docs nOt say: I Ma,d its ,·oice. Cpo supra, and chap. ~ . ., Animal dreams are far more COmmOn among children Ihan among adults . Primilivao also lend 10 dream of animals and w, apparently, did Ihe Greeh, even in drama. Ritchie cita ( /25 ) A. Ag. 1258 f. and E. lIu.; he could have added Kl yta;m""tra's dream (chap. 6 ).
" (1.1'0) s. vv. Hinch, Pferd, Wolf; also O. Keller (97 ) I.w., Art~mid., passim. .. Wolf: (79). Honao (;6, 79, 93) . .. Cpo U.S. slang: "wolf" .. sexually predatory male. "Neilher heMt , nOr father" (A. Diel. 781; L1oyd~ona ' conjecture). "As did an Ephesian woman for a while: Callim.f,. looh !khn. _ 2, p. 356 Pf.
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Three Euripidtan Duams: Variations on a Thtml (spoils) (592) alludcs to this pelt. In the dim light the Charioteer saw two prowlers (773) but speaks of only Ollt murderer (741 ), This sho,"", that the wolvcs derive primarly from the tWO (seen) prowlers and only secondarily from the one (unseen and inferred) murderer. Also, it is just barely possible that the two wolves represent additionally a splitting into two of the one murderer on the one hand and, on the other hand, a "contamination" of Ihe pelt-less Diomedes by the pelt-wearing Odysseus. This hypothesis is attractive, because thc exactly symmetrical oppositc happens in E. Htc.: Polymestor and Odysseus a re "condensed" into one wolf. Cultural influences in this symbolism are more complicated . Some commentators unjustly ridicule Dolon's disguise, both in the Iliad ( to.333 f. ) and in E. Rh. (208 f. ). Yet, many primitive hunters successfully disguise themselves as animals.61 Moreover, given the Greeks' dread of wolves, anyone who saw at night something that looked like a wolfwouid hardly stay long enough to take a se<:ond look.6l Besidcs, even an educated modern may feel uncomfortably anxious in the dark, which upsets his visual habits and makes him think he "sees" (hings.~ This means that Dolon's plan was sound, both psychologically and in terms of the neurophysiology of night vision: the dimly seen, wolf-skin-clad prowler Odysseus was transformed in dream intO a real wolf. This day residue is supplemcnted in this case by culturally determined associations of the " A usually implies B, etc." type. In the Dolal/ria (Hom. II. 10), Ihe Achaian chiefs wear fur robes at night.65 Om: (prt::{:onscious) dlaill ofa$Sociations is th us : (;old night-fur robefurry wolf (in dream). A second chain has as it.; starting point the nexus between spies and bows and, perhaps, between bowmen and pelts.66 A third one may be rooted in the equation: spy = outlaw ( ="wOlf").67 These latter chains of associations, reinforced by the first chain and by the day residue, would also lead to a wolf dream. The convergence of these associations with the day residue accounts for Ihe overdetermination of the dream symbols. Also, Odysseus' wcaring of Dolon's wolf-pelt exemplifies the Euripidean dual-unity of aggressor and victim (infra). A further source of the wolf symbolism is regression: in Thrace, the hol'Ses' main enemy was the wolf. Last but not least, Odysseus and Diomedcs are CltVAW~QTa
"Cp. European prehistoti c cave paintings; bushman ,oclr. paintings in South Africa (aloo Aktaion ?). Cpo now my rrUK/dj4 ~I Pl>isi. GU'lUU, Pui. '975, chap. 9 • • , The Cuman~ (Kipchau) deliberately bred huge /J.'I,;I. cattle-herding d~ (~till luT\'iving in H ungary under the name of"komondor"), ... a. [101 to mistake th em al nighl for wolv.",. The French call a cerla;n moment of nightfall: "enlre chien el Loup"_ wh= one can no longer Ieilihe Iwo apa rt. I'roftsSOr [)over tells me Ihal Ihe present-day u.eep. dogs of the Epei ..... look like wild beaus ("polar bears") tnd are very fierce . .. Th is has a neurophysiological basis. At night peripheral vision is sharper Ihan macular vision . If nne lee! SQmelhing from Ihe cnrner of one'. eye and Ihen lurns futl face lowards ii, 10 take a "b<:lter" took, Ihe objecl may "disappear". Command os operaling al nighl were therefore trained to use--and Ie> rely upon- their peripheral (latcral) vioion (".5) . •• Lion : Agamemnon ( 10.2]- 4) , Diomed.", ( [0. 177-8) ; panll>u: I\l enelaos ( Io.~9 ) . "Odyss<:w' bow: 10,~60 If. Bowman's pelt: Paris in Hom . II. 3.17 If. Cpo vases On which oowm= wear a pell o\'u their left arm; Ihis m.ay possibl y e"plain why the Iliad d""" nol mention the archer'. gauntlet. OJ Cp. Ihe ... ell-known Creek equation: "outlaw ... wolf".
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Three Euripitkan Dreams: Van'a/ions on a Thnne
wolves for Rhesos' horses (as H eklor and Dolon would wish to he for those of Achilleus). E. He" It is less easy to account for the wolf in Hekabe's dream. Some of its sources may be the automatic pairing of a fawn with its principal natural enemy, the wolf, and Polymestor's residing in Thrace, which, as noted, was wolf count ry. T his symbolization may also anticipate Polymestor's blinding, which makes him walk on all fours, like a wild beast {E. Hec. 1058 f.}. The wolf = O dysseus problem is even more difficu1t. O nce before Hekabe had seen Odysseus in a (diffe rent) disguise (HtC. 24 1 ff., cpo Q.S. 5.278 fT.). Some hold this to be a Euripidean invention, mainly because seh. E. Nt(. 243 calls this story implausible. Possibly the equation: Polymestor = wolf, led- by a "contami nation" of the type just discussed-to the equation: Odysseus = wolf. The condensation of two men into one wolf echoes, in reverse, the splitting, in E. Rh., of one killer into two wolves. Such symmetries are both structurally and psychoanalytically important. Both Polymestor and Odysseus are, moreover, predatory. The form er preys on Polydoros' gold; the latter acquires Achilleus' armour b y questionable means.68 A third consideration is of a diffcrent kind: Odysseus is twice represented in d rea m as a wolf; both times in Euripides. A third- non-Euripidean- reference compares prudent Odysseus to prudent wolf-torn horses.69 This is a further example of "representation by opposites", already known to Arremidoros. One also notes that, in the Charioteer's dream, Odysseus the wolf actually "altacks" horses. Not even Athamas, Lykaon or Danaos is so systematically brought into conjunction with wolves. The " naturalness" of this symbolism does not weaken the argume nts jU5t advanced. The preceding considerations only explain why Hekabe could represent Odysseus as a wolf. The real source of this symbolism is proba bly different: having made Odysseus into a wolf in E. Rh., Euripides simply repea ted this symbolization in E. Hrc. This hypothesis furthe r strengthens the view that the Rhesus was written by Euripides: a great poet does not repeat himself mechanically: Euripides substituted for the "splitting" in E. Rh. a "condensation" in E . Hu . The Horse Symbolism is well motivated in the E. Rh. dream. On olle level t he hor:ses are not symbolical at aU; they are simply " themselves". On another level they represent Rhesos, whose "badge" they are, by means of the pars pro 1010 device.70 I n so far as the horses represent Rhesos, the dreamed attack on them is a symbolization by understatement, whereas the symbolization of the attackers by wolves is a symbolization by overstatement or amplification. A further argument is Euripides' unusual proneness to call a young person metaphorically: lTWAOC = colt, filly .7t .. The (radition. concern ing Ihi. malWr are contradiclory. Th eir form dep"nds On whether an amhor favours Od)lS't!U' or Ai:.... Euripido' un-Homeric dislike ofOd)'lM'us is notorious, cpo nOle 148 . .. Plu. Smp. 2.8. [ p. 615 F. For wotf_lorn horses in general cpo38, OIp. p. 179, no(e 9. ,. Thi.! is made ttrlain by the subst itution of Rh esoo ' ha'~ng 10 ' p"nd one night on Trojan s.oil, for the tradilion Ihal hi.! horses had to Ix fed and walered there, cp. supra, nOle ,8. 71 On thi.! peculiarilY cp. Rilchie ( /?5, p. 232 ). Olhc .. use this word in ,he..,nt<: of "young penon" mOrl: seldom.
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Thm Euripidean Drtams.' Variations on a Theme
'79
The detennination of the sex of these horses is difficult but important. Though Orestes' chariot tt am is spoken of in the femini ne plural ("ma res") each of the individual animals constituting it is called a stallion.1l Yet one cannot claim that for the horse, as for the deer,n the Greek generic gender is feminine. This kind of epiceneness is not limited to horses ; in Greek ox (or cow) (f3oVc) and bull (raiipoc) are time and again used interchangeably.74 I do not profess to know whether thC$e curious fluctuations regarding the sex of animals should, or should not, be correlated with the polyvalent sexuality of the Greeks (45, 60). It is possible that some (Homeric ?) Greeks harnessed mares because the Greek chariot harness did not give the charioteer much control, and most mares arc gentler than stallions.7! Yet on most vases the horses harnessed to a chariot are clearly stallions. T o complicate matters further, in classical times the cavalry horse was apparently always the sta!lion and yet, paradoxically, "charger" (KEAne) also meant a sexually loose woman (LSJ s.v. III ) (riding = cohabitation) (chap. I , note 32). The symbolic confusion between the horse and the cavalier, between the rider and the ridden, is also q ui te widespread . In Haitian voodoo belief- as in those African beliefs from which voodoo is derived-the possessed (" ridden" ) human is at times ridden by a spirit-horse, and yet, at the same time, the possessed (ridden ) one is the spirit's horse.16 I n the nightmare the " mare" (= phallic mother) lies suffocatingly upon the " ridden " dreamer (93).77 T o these considerations may be added the Greeks' manifest dread of being bitten by their horses and also their myths of man-eating mares (59).1 8 The Charioteer's dream vision must, thus, be decoded on more than one level. Objectivel y, Rhesos' horses respond to the wolves' attack with violence and it is important to recall that a range-bred stallion, or evcn an occasional ma re, is quite able to handle- and even to kill- an attacking wolf (38, p. 18:2, note 5) .79 Yet, in dream, the Charioteer feels that his team must be rescued by him . This is a typical "primal scene" rescue fantasy j it does not reflect an Qbjecliw ap praisal of thc "dange r" threatenn C po W. 5. Barr~1t (6, pp. ~04~0~, ad v. 'lSI ). Sch. E. Ril. 'l39: Euripides turIU the H omeric Achilleus' 3tallioIU into mares .
1.5J I .V. v,a"",< . •• All in A.R., in T<:Spc<:1 10 Ihe brazen-hooved bovines.
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" J. K. Andenon (." pa..im) seems at limes 10 sa y as much. Even in quite recent limes, the Arab', war_horse was th e mar~ ( t2-/ ). Very ferocious mart'! exi"; lactating mares can b.. q uile dangerous. 1. The same article (27, cpo -/3) ci tes a Euro-Amcncan clinical c"""" involving obsessi"e' dou b, abou' whether the ridden w the rider ;' "masc;uline". One sour<:<: of the confmion may be that ,I", rider sl,addle, the nlOuut (q,. d",1'. 3, "ut~ ' 04), " J on.,.' 1x>ok is a work of great erudition , which ciles man)' popular belief. abom the nightmare. The l ilualion correspondl to "coi lm inver5U$" (e. g., a. in the case of5phin "es and other f=-talc monsten . hown in G r~k vases), d e. i,·abl e, in part, from the small child 'i ftar that the mother, whQl'le bed he .haT<:S, would "sexually" roll upon rum and l uffocale him (chap. 9) . "X. Eq. piU'lim, abo Anderson (.,) . C po the mares of Diomedes and of GlaukQl'l. It was shortl y aner her maling in the form of a mare (Pau •. 8,'5.4) Ihal Demeter partly canni balized Pdop:'!. Cpo (!i9) on mourning cannibalism and zoophiliac fanta.i.,.. 70 Around ' 930, in Arizona, a stallion, rcpeal<:dly put into a ring to fight a mountain lion (puma), rqularl y killed the big cat, which is larger and mare dangerous than a wolf. Rh<'SOl' "rna,..,." are in a Sla te of rage (786).
,80
Thru Euripitkan Dreams: Variaticms on a Tlur&
ing RhesOll' horses or th e "victimized" mothe r of the primal scene.SO That
these particular horses arc nol helpless is suggested also by their belonging to Rhesos: the figu re of R hesos, b lended with Ihal of BislOnian Diomedes, of the savage, man "eating mares (59), notoriously lurks behind the figure of the still prohlematical " Thradan R ider",I! The mother's violent erotic response in the "primal scene" is often misinterpreted by the child as panic.Sl
It is no teworthy that whereas the horses "attacked " by the wolves survive, Rhesos, whom they represent, and the C hario teer, who wishes to f escue them, are killed or at least mortally wounded. This fits the primal scene fantasy perfectly (infra). Psychological considerations cannot help us solve the objective (philological) problem of thc scx of Rhesos' hol'lles. They only highlight the characteristically dreamlike confusion between--
••
Thrtt Euripitkll1l Drtams: Variations on a Tkme
,8.
that, for the early (though perhaps not for late) Greeks deer were totally gentle creatures.as H ow did a fawn stray into Hekabe', dream? Sin<::e no day residue a<::counts for its presence, its appearance, in dream, is to be explained primarily not in terrru; of Hekabe's psychology, but in terms of that of Euripides. 1 already indicated that the wolf probably strayed into E. Htc. from the E. Rh. dream; the fawn seems to anticipate Iphigeneia's associations 10 her dream. 86 Moreover, I deem it self-evident that, in E. IT., the eattleslaying (2g6 ff.) Orestes' madness is lykanthropy; there is, thm, a symbolic "wolf" also in E. IT.- and Rh., flee. and IT. are the only surviving Euripidean dramas which contain dream narratives. This suggests a certain continuity in Euripides' fantasy--of his "idea" of what a dream par excellence is about. Were Hekabe "real", we could account for the appearance ofa fawn in her dream only if we assumed that she knew that her tragedy was made possible by the (Jphigencia = ) hind sacrifice at Aulis, so reminiscent of the foreseeable fate of her daughter Polyxene. \ 'Vhethcr H t kabe "knew" this, is anyone's guess. That Euripides knew it is proven by his IT and his lA. This, in turn, brings me to the vexed problem of the dream-fawn's identity and sex. In appraising this problem, one must bear ill mind that, though it is a primal scene dream, Hekabe's dream is dreamed from the rrwtkr's and not, like the other two, from the (hild's point of view. The, fawn-child is between her and the aggressor; this is a (neurotic) maternal version of the primal scene, and may account, in part, for the uneertainties n;ganJillg the fawlI'~ no,., which b ;",Ji=,lubly Ijllked with lht; prouicfU of whether the fawn stands for Polydoros, or for Polyxene, or for both. That the fawn represents H ekabe's child is certain, both from the philological and from the psychological point of view; the symbolization ofsmalJ children by small animals is extremclycommon ( H3, etc.). One notes, however, that, later on, the Choros calls Polyxene, in the Euripidean manner (note 7t), a "filly" (142 ). The Greek language gives no help: o.acpoc in the feminine is the generic word for deer of both sexes. British Hellenists transla te the word as "fawn". But Schmid (134), Bii.chli (5) and some other Germans translate: " Hindin"; M6ridier and also Duclos translate in French "biche". This would be conclusive if one could be sure that the dream is about Polyxene "nly. Unfortunately, Polydoros' ghost Itlls us that he appears 10 his mother (in dream, v. 30 and sch. ad loe.), and it is on behalf of Polydoros that H ekabe supplicates the gods. The fawn must therefore- be it wholl y, or in part- symbolize Polydoros.'1 even tried to ~m~nd "horned" Dr.) . ·· The hind sacrificed in Aulis is mentioned in E./T. ill v. ~8; only '4 vv. before the dream_narrative begins (411) . For the appearance of a dream dement now in a dream and now in an associalion to a dream, cpo infra. T hai the "preface" to a dream i. also an ....,a...ion 10 it, need h.....dly be ",sued . ., One could argue, pahapo, that, since PolydorOlS' ghost is transformed inlo a dco:r in dream, the dream-work may also have chang..! hi. """. One cou ld ""en cile a. a parallel -albeil a f""ble o".,......lh~ fact that the corpse ofKai"eus ",'as found to be that of a woman (Hyg.fah. '4.5; Sen'. V. Am., 6.488 ). (Sir J. G. Frazer'. not e to Apol1od. £pil. 1.22 refe ... to • passage in Sent., which alleges tbat PJalon or Aristotelcs spoke of a change of sex in " I n Anacr. fr . 63 P ( _
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Three Ermpidtan Drtam.s: Varia/jollS on a Thnne
The theory that the fawn may repre..ent only Polyxene ii, thus, hard to accept: the evidence of Polydoros' speech seems conclusive. Moreover, one dreams more often about vague anxieties and worries than about concrete fears, and Polyxene's impending fate is a source of fear, rather than of some vague anxiety. Only afteT telling her dream does Hekabe specify that something tIse also troubles her. Save for a brief allusion in v. 75. it is then only that she proceed to speak of Polyxene. This hardly permits one to put Polyxene squarely in the centre of H ekabe's dream. In fact, it is psychologically probable that her fears abou t Polyxene made her anxious also about the supposedly safe Polydoros and caused her to dream about him. Of course, we may not eli minate out of hand the possibility that a ~cond dream-about Polyxene dropped out of the text. But H eknbe is apparently almosl conscious of a condensation: the plurals in v. 89 and also in vv. 74- 75 arc therefore to be construed as allusions to this insight. The blending or condensation of the two children into one is psychologically greatly facilitated by the faci that both their names begin with Pory-and also by the inner connection between the two second halves of their names: (guest) gift (6wpov) and guest. friend (~evoc). The two are, moreover, the last of Hekabe's surviving children that are still hers: she specifically stresses that Helenos (who had made his peace with the Greeks) and Ka$Sandra (Agamemnon's concubine) are no longer accessible to her (87- 88). If these interpretations are acceptable, there is no need to suppose that the text of a second dream (about Polyxene ?) fell out after v. 91." The condensation theory has other adwlIHage$ as V>'eU, ;1 $uppor •• the view that Hekabe's dream also condenses Polydoros' enemy Polymestor and Polyxene's persecutor Odysseus, into a single wolf. These two sets of condensations not only greatly increase H ekabe's anxiety but are also dreamlike enough to give the dream imagery the necessary oniric ambi· guity. The final advantages of the condensation hypothesis is that (despite the feminine gender) it leaves the "true" sex or the fawn as indetennina te as the sex of Rl1esos' horses seems to be (chap. I, note 18, and supra, note 72). Before examining the column symbolism, a word may be said about the reference to Polydoros as an "anchor" in Hekahe's associations (80), for reliable data sl10w how tremendously this symbol (= metaphor) is overdetermined and hoV>' intricately its various determinants mesh. Hektor's son was generally called Astyanax (King of the City) because his father was Troy's sole guardian (Hom. Ii. 6,403 8'.). Hekabe's associalions call Polydoros the "anchor" (&ywp') of Hekabe's ( "" Priamos') house. We know, however, that HtklM CEKTWP "" the holder = stay, prop) can auo mean "anchor".89 The allusion is, thus, psychologically identical with reincarnation . Th~ authnrilY oflhal passag~ is .aid 10 be >omewhal dubiou •. Sec, bow~v~r, Pi. Rmp. 10.16 p. 6~o ir<:: Atalanl~, Epdos and Od yw:us. More relevant might be th~ unconscious I~nd~ncy to evolve the .ymbolic chain: death = castralion _ f~minizalion, but I hoital~ 10 appeal to it her~.) .. See on IIOme "'pe<:u of Ihi. passage also ( , ~3, 4, pp. 22~ f. ). " Sapph.f,. 157 Bgk _ 160 LP (uncertain ) ; PI. C'QI. 1933; cpo aho Hsch. (with ropect to Zeus) ; L}c. 100 (with respect 10 the ship on .... hich H elene elopm); Luc. /...tit. '5. (I'olydo.oa menliollJ H ektor in vv. 18, al. )
Three Euripitkan Dreams: Variations on a T htmi Iphigeneia.'$ designation of Orestes, the man-child, as a "column " of Agamemnon's house. 90 It is perhaps the presence in her mind of Hektor's name which cawed Hekabe to choose the "anchor", rather than the equivalent "column" symbolism. Also, the old Queen might have thought here in terms of the time-hallowed "ship of state" imagery, since she apparently hopes that Polydoros will rebuild Troy. By contrast I phigeneia, the largely family-minded Princess, would more plausibly think of a column, supporting her father's house.9l VI.' hat is psychologically relevant, is the occurrence of the "stay" or " prop" motif in both Hekabe's and Iphigeneia's associations, albeit in two different forms: anchor vs. column. This element, too, unifies the imagery of the two dreams. Till Column Symbolism is particularly overdetermined . The representation of a human being by a mere object (in dream) occun only in E. IT.92 and it is only in that drama that the dretJfIIff behaves aggressively (sacrificial priestess) towards someone she should actually protect. The symbolization is therefore obscure enough to permit a typically Aristotelian state of&yvola (non-recognition) in dream. Were the disguise less impenetrable, Iphigeneia's aggressive behaviour would be intolerable to her even in her dream. This interpretation i~ psychologically the more convincing as misidentifications of this kind are common not only in Greek myths and dramas- as when Agaue mistakes Pentheus for an animal (j2)-but also in abnormal slates preceding crimes.9l The impenetrability of this disguise, on ant level, is proven by Iphigeneia's "aggressi\'ity" in dream; its transparency on another level is revealed by her shedding tean in dream : yet, her affective recognition fails to cancel her intellectual non-recognition (E. Ba. I J.j.y). In this instance, the mechanism of "isolation" apparently does not extend into the waking sta te, since Iphigeneia does realize in the end tha t the column is Orestes. Isolation reappean, however, in a modified form: she "denies" that she killed Orestes (in dream) and believes instead that he is already dead. 94 .. Agame:nnon as a ship'. cable and as a column: A. Ag. 897 f. " OM Can hardly correlate the two distinct symbolizations with maritime v'. non_ maritime interem, sinee, in the lIiJJd, one hean nothing of Trojan .hip", while Archil. (fr. 333 L.-B) calts the two decca...:! champions of the maritime &tate ofNa"os, Megatimoo and Aristopholl, "the tal! pilla.. ofNaxOl". Cpo also A. Ag.~, Pi. O. ~.~. Agamemnon as "only son". A. At. 8!)8 and Fraenkd, ad loco ., Polydoros i. called an "anchor" only in H ekabe'. associations . .. ~met~r alone, of all the deiti"", failM to recognize Ihat she was eating human fl""h: Pdopo' .ho~lde r . An Ojibwa India". in 'he 'h roco of.he cannibali ••i" ""'indillo " po-ycho.i., which made him wanl to cat hi. children, fint hallucinated them as fat beaven ... an Ojibwa delicacy ( 11,6, p. ~16 ) ; other examples in (137). Two psychotic Acoma Indiam hallucinated their "pcnecutors" as witch fo"es and tTitd to .hoot them; Ihey hallucinated a Slate Poli::eman a5 a deer before shooting him dead (;6, chap. I). Such hatJucinalions decrease guilt-feelings and make the crime possible. Evidence thaI the creative arti.t can "invent" .uch subtle traits i. provided by C. Chaplin'. film "Gold Rush": the star ving bully hallucnal"" Chaplin as a fowllHfo,~ Irying to cannibalize him • .. In E. Ba. Agaue's "isolating" manO:Uvre (Penthel.l! _ animal) is "analysed" and destroYM by Kadmoo, esp. vv. t'l17 fr. (52). The para tldi.m i. quite close abo in other ..... pe<:t.. Penth" ... u, in a way, also oacrificcd '0 '" god; 1::" ~rch ... On a 'ree ( _ column ) before beinr kitlM; at VV. 116g f. his hair is catlM "ivy" (cp. E. Anliope, fr. '.103 N'). Shortly afterwards (vv. 1184 fr.) it is seen as the hair_mop of a young bull.
Three Euripilkan Dreams: VQ,riQ,tions on Q, Thnru In the E. IT. dream Orestes must be sufficiently well disguised not to be recognized intellectually; this aim is achieved by his being represented by an inanimate thing: by a column. But, at the same time, his disguise mwt also be sufficiently defective to permit affective recognition (tean); thill is made possible by the object being vocal and behaving al though it were alive. This is no mean feat of ambiguity. It was noted that Ihe other Euripidean dream victims are neither altogether helpless nor harmless. The hones fight hack savagely. Hekabe had hopes that her fawn-child, grown to man's estate, would fight back and rebuild Troy. In E. IT. the victim's (counter?) aggressivity is even more marked. The column is part of the structure that almost crushed the dreamer. Moreover, the real Orestes plans a criminal sacrilege and, seized by Iykanlhropic madness, slaughten the Taurians' cattle. In his initial interview with Iphigeneia, his sullen hostility postpones the rc<:ognition. Iphigeneia herself is not gentle in her dream (sacrificing priestess), nor does she subsequently claim to be still compassionate (348). There are more than mere hinls of her identification with Orestes.9 ' I will stress below that, in behaving aggressively towards Orestes, Iphigeneia indirectly attacks also her fathcr Agamemnon, who had once attacked (attempted to sacrifice) her. In that frame of reference, the column topped by hair is not only Orestes, but also Agamemnon. and, specifically, Agamemnon's phallus. 96 Lasl, but not least, the building threatening to collapse and to crush Iphigeneia, quite al much as the heaving earth, clearly reprexnt the parents who, during their embrace (primal 5ccne), crush the child between themselves. One other noteworthy point is the curiow "dual unity" of aggressor and victim in all three dreams . .. a unity which psychiatric studies of brain-washing have laught us to understand better (89, 99). The applicability of insights derived from the analysis of brain-washing to Greek data requires no further proof here (65, pp. 77 ff., 110). The tormentor and the tormented form a dual, reciprocal unit, interacting completely and intensely-cach provoking the other, each provoked by the other-in a relationship of mutual induction, until a veritable ritual of oppression comes into being.97 This "modern" understanding of sadomasochism is foreshadowed with almost intolerable revulsion (1JIapoc) .. She calb her hai r "Iighl colourffi." (173) , like ,ha, of O""" a . This . imilarity belween Or.",." and his .islen i.traditional: A. Chol. ,66 if., E. EI. 5~o, 5~9, eiC. Iphigeneia hcr. ,elf wa. almost sacrificffi.. as 0,..",0 is aimoot ",crificffi., elc. Emotionally she is almost as unstablc as O ,.."ta. OrO I." kiHffi. because Apollon lold him 10 kill ; Iphigencia prcpares mcn for the k.illing in obedience 10 th c wisha of Apollon'•• iSlcr, Artemis, CIC. On Ihc aggressivity of mournen (78, gO,39, 49, pp. 43' - 459, etc.) , cpo chap. 3. ,. Son = father, brother = falher arc COmmOn dream symbolization •. For ,he impor. tanl oon - phallos equation , cpo infra , where Greek data bearing on the column _ phallos symbolism arc aloo given. n Cpo (36). For a brilliant literary characterization of the "dosed univene" in which the two move, cpo T . H . White: Tlte 0"£1 l1~d Full8' Ki"l (/ .,2): Ihe ch ildren torture the donktyll and the donktyll torture the children with their provocative stubbornness. They move oomnambulislically in a narro"· world: in a .mall capsule in which the giving and talcing ofpain is equaUyanx;cly......,...ing and pervcndYla ltsfying. (Cpo Hom. II. " .5581f.: children and donkeys.)
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Three Euripidtan Dreams: VariatiollS on a Tlume arousing-intensity in the three Euripidean dreams-all concerning onry sons. (As noted before, Helenos no longer counts. ) Pers/KcIWe- the angle of vision in dream-is discussed here only in relation to the organization of space in dream. Its psychological implications will be considered further on, in connection with the problem of regression and of the latent content. In Euripidean dreams the gaze of the dreamer is never level (horizontal). In E . Rh. the Charioteer not only seems to know, even in dream, that he is lying prone on the ground, but the details he sees suggest that, in dream, he looks diagonall y upward, as he would were he awake. The centre of his field of vision is occupied by the backs of his horses and by the lower halves of the wolves' bodies; neither the horses' legs nor the wolves' heads are mentioned. This suggests an angle of vision about 45" about the horizonta1. 98 H eka be's angle of vision is also about 45"-but below the horizontal: she looks downward, since she see~ only the fawn on her lap and the .....olf's claws. Iphigeneia's angle of vision is variable. At first she looks upward : at the falling cornice and at the hair topping the column. Later bn, she nttessarily lowers her gaze, looking down at the hair she sprinkles. The angle of vision, while she is looking upward, cannot be estimated with any assurance; while looking down at the hair and at her hands, her gaze is probably at least 45° below the horizontal. This consistent deviation of the gaze from the horizontal is striking. The upward-di rected gaze often characterizes dreams in which the dreamer regresses 10 his childhood and looks up to adults (chap. I, note 29) ; the downward-dire<:ted gaze is occasionally maternal: the adult looks down to the child. The change in Iphigeneia's angle of vision in dream may perhaps be correlated with the " Phantasy of the Reversal of Generations" (92) . The young girl of Argos, protected by adul ts, becomes Orestes' prottttor. In my clinical experience a slriki,lg{y non-horizontal gaze tends to occur mainly in anxiety dreams (46, pp. 67 ff.). Space can be experienced in dream only as a Leibnizian "order of bodies" and its symbolic meaning is still not full y understood. Dream-space appears to be an extension or projection of the dreamer's body; in very regressive dreams it may represent also the ma.ternal body (129, 130). I will discuss for the moment only the arrangement of objects in the three dreamed spaces. Their relation to the dreamer's body (perspective) and the symbolic implications of their arrangement will be analysed in due time. Euripidean dream space is consistently made up of four horizontal layen. Interest in die vertiea l may possibl y be a Euripidean09 chara c teristic.
There are not many obvious Aischylean (A. Ag. I IT.) and Sophoklean parallels to Anligone on the terrace, Orestes on the roof, Pentheus in a tree and- if F. R obert's hypothesis ( 127) is accepted- to Orestes' plan to enter Artemis' temple from above. IOIl Euripides' propensity to use the elevated Ihe%geirm may also be relevant . .. The Charioteer sleep! n~ar. though certainly not under, hi. horsa' hooves. A suitable distance would be 5-6 feet . I n Euripides' time, a fine Greek hone stood about [4- 15 hand. (4' 8""- 5') at the ....;\he... ( ~) . Thi.o gives approximately a 45' angle of vwon . .. And Aristophanic : Xuh. (the ..... pended Soha!.,. and the clouds), .A~. , P= and Ril~ .
,.. E. Ph«n . 88 If.; Or. 1561 fr.; Bo. 1063 fr. Cp. al5oHom. 1/. 3.161 fr.
,86
Thrtt Euripidean Dreams: VariationJ on a Thew.
The lowest supporting surface is, with onc exception, (he naked earth j only in the fint part of the E. IT. dream is it necessarily the floor of a room. This is striking since, in most early Greek dreams, the Dream visits the dreamer in his sleeping quarters, which have a floor. This principal surface supports in turn objects arranged in three layers. The bottom layer is an object whose schematic form is the same in all three dreams (Fig. I). It has connections with Hekabe's antecedent and subsequent waking experiences. The antecedent one might have been the old taie-or, if one prefers, the Euripidean invention- that, when Odysseus entered Troy as a spy, he had to crawl, asking for mercy, to H ekabe's feet (E. Hee. 245). The subsequent event is that the "wolf" Po[ymestor, blinded by H ekabc and her fell ow-captives, crawls on all fours like a beast (E. Hu. 1058 ff. ). Cd
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These objects consist of: (a) slender vertical supports, (b) a substantial horizontal element and (c) at one end of the latter, a short, upward projecting element. (a) The horses' Jegs. The (seated) Hekabe's calves (and, if she is imagined as sitting on a chair, also the legs of the chair) and the wolf's hind legs (bknding). The legs of Iphigeneia's bed tmd, later on, the columns of the palace (duplication) . (b) The horses' bodies. Hekabe's thighs (lap). The horizontal part of the bed and the roof of the palace (ditto). (c) The horses' neclc; and tossing heads. The seated Hekabe's torso and head. The head of the bed and the metope of the palace (ditto). One notes the duplication of all three elements in Iphigeneia's dream. Owing to differences in perspective, the position of this last object with respect to the dreamer is variable. In E. Rh. , it towers above him; in E. Hu. it is Hekabe's own {maternal)IOl body; in E. IT. it is at fil"$t underneath the dreamer (bed) j later on it surrounds her (palace). The colour of this object is, either definitely or probably, the lightest or die most brilliant of all objects seen in the dream: Rhesos' famous (301 ff. ) white horses j probably H ekabe's robe j almost certainly the bedding and perhaps the columns.lo~ The topmost object is always darker than the others and is usually hairy or shaggy: in E. Rh. and E. fhc. the wolves, in E. JT. perhaps the roof and possibly the hair. The latter is suggested by E. (Antiope) fr. 203Nl, since ivy is dark. The hair is called ~av66c. variously translated as blond , ,., In drea m,
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Thttt Euripidean Dreams: Variations on a Thlnlt reddish, light brown. \Vhatever its colour, it is probably less brilliant than the colour of house paint. This colour-name occurs four times in E. IT., alwa}'ll with ominous or funereal connotations: the frightening hair (52), blood (73), Iphigeneia's own hair which is to be shorn in mourning (173), oil for Orestes' funeral pyre (633). Tllis does not suggest that, in drea m, the hair has a cheerful brilliancej103 moreover, I already noted the tradition that Orestes' hair resembled that of his sisters.l()f The roof is, of course, not shaggy, but the hair, which replaces it on top of the column, is. This is a common form of displacement in dream and is, moreover, duplicated by the displacement of sound in time, in a similarly incongruous ( = dreamlike) manner. Allor part of the topmost object is hairy, pendulous and mobile: in E. RIr. the whipping wolftails j in E. Hee. the (presumably) hanging tail of the rampant wolf; in E.IT. the descending hair. This is invariably balanced by some lighter, long hair in one of the three lower layers: the snowy manes; H ekabe's (inferable) white hair; and, perhaps, doubly in E. IT. , for Iphigeneia's hair, though also ~cxv66c, may be imagined as lighter than that of her brotherio, and, if the inference that the already descended hair is that of the infant Orestes is correct, it, too, might be imagined as lighter than that of the adult Orestes, which tops the column representing him. This interpretation is advanced with due caution, precisely because too complete a parallelism would be suspect. The meaning of this contrast will be interpreted further below. Another characteristic of these topmost objects is that all of them are in the "wrong" place.!06 ,"VolvCll ~hould 110t ride honiCli, nor should one almost climb onto H ekabe's lap ; hair on top of a column is out of place. Hy contrast, each lower object is in the "right" (natural) place. This finding can be correlated with the symbolic representation of the (anxiety arousing) topmost objects and the naturalistic representation of the (victimized) lower oncs. The upper objects are, predictably, the aggresson; the lower ones are the victims. Tt may also be noted that none of the three dreatrul mentions supporting, or being supported, as an tJl;perUnet. This may conceivably indicate that these dreams do not represent regression to babyhood, for dreams involving such a regression occasionally include that experience (37). Summing up, in all three dreams space i~ divided into three layers, supported by a fourth. Their arrangclIlt:lIl is mud! tht: samt: in all cases. Even if one grants that the dream space is modelled upon the structure of the body, the mathematical probability of these: extensive structural congruences being due to chance is very small. i07 It. It ;1 the mcat ominous object in the dream and dark objecu in duam are of ill omen, cpo Ps._Hp. 11lS0IM. 91. ,... A. CII«. !66; E. EI. 5~o, 5~9 . '" Cpo women'l hair on a few vase paintings. ,.. No "OUI ofplace" dement can be properly appra;..w. unl.,... one bean in mind thaI ""e custnmary scienti6c definition of "dirt" is "something out of place". But I hasten to add that a far broader definition of"dirt" has n:cently been propost:d by a brilliant ynung Australian anthropologist, in an aU but inaccessible periodical (88). II' In face, my attention was fint attraeted to Ihese dreams by their OIriking sl ructural CUligruc:n",::. witl! respect 10 lpace.
Three Euripidtan Dreams: Variations on a Theme Tilt Parts oj lilt Body and Tlltir· Ule. Though the bodies of the dreamers and of the animals present no panicularities, it is desirable to differentiate between named parts, parts implied by the mention of their functions and parts whose use or non-use is, for one reason or another, anomalous enough to attract one's attention to their existenceYlI:I This is directly related to the problem of the routine use, the anomalous use and the nonuse of certain limbs. A pattern is discernible, even if one treats the column representing OreSles as a person. The dreamers' limbs are named ill only one case: Hekabe mentions her knees ( = la p). Iphigeneia mentions her own hair only in her associations ( 174). The organs implied by a mention of their function are slightl y more numerous. The least important of these are the eyes (seeing), since the Greek "saw" dreams. The Charioteer uses no other part of his body. As regards Hekabe, the sta tement that she holds a fawn on her lap and the mentioning of her knees (= lap) can only mean tha t she is seated; this in turn implies an allusion to both sides of the middle ponion of her 9oc1y. Iphigeneia's crying constitutes a second allusion to her eyes, her runni ng an altusion to her legs, the "watering" of the hair an all usion to her hands. In a sense, her eyes and hands are paired: her eyes metaphoricallylOll sprinkle the hair which her hands sprinkle in fact. Her ears are also alluded to, in that she hears a voice; so are those of the Charioteer, who apparently hears in his sleep the (real) snoning of his horses, which helps elicit his dream. It is noteworthy that, if one disregards references to sight (eyes), neither the head nor the hands- man's most reality-oriented and " rational" organs-arc mentioned in E. Rh. anti in E. flu ., though both are indirectly alluded to in the E. IT. drea m . The mobility of the dreamer's body is nil in E. Rh., at best hypothetical, and even the n limited, in E. He&., but considerable in E. IT. This progression is significant, in that it suggests a decrease in the immobilization of the sleeper-dreamer by anxiety. Few of the aggressors' limbs are mentioned. E. Rh. only mentions their tails; E. Hee. names the wolf's claws; in so far as the shaky column = Orestes ( = Agamemnon in the primal scene) is a potential aggressor, his hair is mentioned. Limbs whosefwutioll at least is named are: in E. Rh. the riding wolves' hind leg:s and crotches; in E. flee. the wolf's hind legs and his body arched over H ekabe's knees. No organ of lhe 3ggn!ssor is visual{y inferable from its fWlction in the E. I T. dream. The conspicuous absence of any referencc--d.irect or indirect- to the wolves' heads in both wolf dreams is especially striking, since the Greeks dreaded the wolf's eyes (132) . The om ission in E. Rh. has already been interpreted; that in E. Hee. is interpretable. Since this wolf is human, any mention of his head (maw) wo uld evoke the spectre of cannibalism. This would raise the level of anxiety to a n intolerable pitch (56, chap. 5) and would weaken the huma n implications of the (man-like) use or the rorepaws and claws ( = hands).L10 In both wolf dreams the functioning of named and inferable ' .. Slrwng onmsions in a dream are al..... ays du o 10 iLs meaning: (46, p. 3(6). Cpochap.
7, note 74· '" "Shed lean o\'«" - "arroser de larmes··- "m it T riinen henetze,,·" E.. H « . ..... olf ..... ith hand and dagger (cp. 56~,",,, _ 5tileuo) . (A 5lippagd ) II. Profcs
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Thru Euripidlan Drearru: Variations on a Thmtt limbs alike is not wolf-like but human: paws seem to climb and claw; hi nd le~ straddle horses or else permit the wolf to stand on them like a man; tails are used all whips. Finally, the aggressors are always silent; manifestly so in E. Rh. and E. Hec. and probably- with some reservations - in E. IT. (infra). Their mobility will be discussed further on. The victim's organs and limbs are more frequently named or at least implied. E . Rh. names the hides and the hair of the horses (though not their proverbial whiteness), their manes, their backs and their nostrils; their heads and necks are implied by the tossing of the manes, their legs by their bucking. They are, moreover, noisy (snorts). In E. Hee. only the SPOlled hide of the fawn is mentioned; tills (perhaps) implies a scotomization of the head of this non-vocal victim, since a fawn 's least conspicuously spotted part is its head. I n E. JT. only the vocal (potentially sacrificial) victim's hair is mentioned and--exce pt symbolically- no other of its limbs is so much as implied by its functioning.1I! The general behaviour of the victims is appropriately horse-like in E. Rh. and probably adequately fawn-like (helpless) in E. Htc. In E. JT. the column "behaves" as columns do in an earthquake; only the hair's behaviour is anomalous. One notes that the long-haired victims are vocal, while the short-haired fawn is not. I n the first approximation, the consistent inappropriateness of the aggTessors' behaviour and the perfect appropriateness of that of the victims suggest, but do not suffice to prove, that the former refie<:l'l the child's diswrted "vision" of the primal scene, in which father, the nocturna! ogre, does "terrible" t.hin~ to mother. Similarly, at this point, the a ppropriate behaviour of the victims may only tentatively be correlated with the relatively undistorted self-rep resentation of the dreamers, which suggests that they identify with the victims. This interpretation will be substantiated in later sections. Three other points must also be noted: ( I) The emphasizing of the forepaws and hands must not be overinterpreted : m an is hand, rather than fOOl, oriented, though perhaps less so in the first weeks of life than later on. This gives a faint clue to the "psychological date" of these dreams. (2) I phigeneia's running outdoors is appropriate emergency behaviour, even for a modest girl. (3) I n the temporal sequence: Rh. H u . and JT , the increasing mobility of the dreamer contrasts with the decreasing mobility of the victim: bucking horses, huddled fawn , inanimate column. Though the many parallelislTl.'l and contraslil just cited are interesti ng, the importanCe of some of them is decreased by the interdependence of thc various parts of the body; for example, a wolf cannot very well claw and bite simulUUie(}usly. These strictures notwithstanding, the similarities and conjugate contrasts in question are probably significant . M Olltmtnl being extremely important in all three dreams, a careful distinction must be made between various types of motility. I. Actiw MO/Jmle1lts: (I) Rhythmic movement is represented in E. Rh.m by the bucking, '" Cp., however, below: column _ phaUOOI _ body Il''' whole. ,,, On E', interest in luch movemenu, cp. Barrdt, ad E. Hipp. '464 (,.,(TUAoc).
Thtee Euripidtan Dreams: VariatjoM
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heaving and mane-tossing of the horses and oy the whipping motions of the wolf tails. Their heaving parallels the heaving of the earth (earthquake) in E. IT. The whipping is so typically dreamlike in its plawsible absurdity, thai it fi rs t suggested to me that this migh t be the poetic ela boration ofa real dream. Yet, paradoxicall y, it is Mil detail that has possible literary antecedents. As a riding whip, a tail is as inappropriate as the bow, used by Odysseus in the Iliad (1O.550).lIJ In E. flee., gross or ample rhythmic movement is lacking in the dream, but is implicit in the associations. Hekabe mentions her "blaek-winged" dream (71, 704). This transposition is psychologicaUy sound; in psycho-analysis, one observes in the course of successive dreams that certain elements pass freely from the manifest content to the associations and back again. I n E. IT., rhythmic activo: movement is faintly represented by I phigeneia's running, but this is rh ythmic movement on a symbolic lcvel onl y.114 Descriptively, it parallels the rhythmic movements in E. Rh. and E. flee. (2) Repetitive, scrabbling movements occur, in a properly dreamlike (absurd ) manner, in all three dreams, and always involve the forelimbs . Since the Greekls had no stirrups, in mounting horses they relied more on their hands than we do. In E. Rh. the wolves probably " clawed" their way up to the horses' backs, in a very human manner. I n E. flee. the wolf claws at- but does not bite-the fawn. I n E. IT. I phigeneia wa te rs (sprinkles) the hair, or the column, or even- as Hadas ambiguously [and wrongly, for she does not equate the pillar wi th a person until vv. 56 fr. (K.J.D.)] translatcs- " him" . The little that can be made of this is briefl y discussed in conne<:tion with the primal scene . .Mwcular effort llOt involving movement is limited to the lower (hind) limbs and is quite peculiar in two of the th ree dreams. In E. Rh. , the wolves obviously straddle thc horses; in E. flee., the wolf stallds on his hind legs; in E. I T. , I phigeneia, quite appropriatel y, stands while washing the hair. T his limited locomotion pattern is compatible with the interpretatio n that these are primal scenc dreams. II. Passive AfolJtmtllts, especially of thc rhyt hmic type, probably antedate (ontogct\clically) even spontaneow foctal movements. Being extremely archaic, this movement pattern often occurs in dream, though usuall y in a hcavily disguised form.11s In infantile autism, pathological self-rocking is apparently first experienced as active movement, though t he expm'tnct rapidly changes into that of being rocked, pas-riwly. This is, psychologically, a regressive experience-for the mother'5 rocking comforts the childwhich is sometimes actually exploited for religious ends, as in the ecstasyinducing behaviour of Mainades,tl6 and also in grief (E. Tr. 1 16 f. ). '" Th is is practically the only "inappropriate" lISC of a " 'capo n in the llUul. '" I n dream, walking and running are exp:riencrd ail " rangly rhythmic and orten represent 5CXual a ctivity (cr. chap. 3, note J0-l). "' An anal ysand often dreamed of being alone in a moving automobile, which s.mlla to mean that he dm"" it. Not until he had a dream in which he experienced movement the way a child carried ;n his mother', arm:; would experience it- though being carried was not part of the manifest oonten t-di d he realize that in hi. au tomobile dreams he did ,../ drive, hut was simply "trar.sported" alone in a moving car, interpretaule as a womb (37)· " . Of, app<:ndix I ; cp . !}, " S, J<;<>n<>graphy; 09. "So\l8ht" fatigue (kadu18 to «otlUy)
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Three Euripitkan Dreams: Variations on a Thmu
More important still, for present purposes, is the illusion, usually experienced in states of mild regression, that the body is spontaneously rocking or oscillating. If this happens during a psycho-analytical session, it usually heralds the return of repressed memories (or fantasies) about the primal scene (71, p. '2IS).ll7 This matter is discussed further in the app ropriate section; here I postulate only that dreamed prusive motion of this type is also a manifestation of an onidc primal scene "experience". This movement is most conspicuous in the IT. earthquake which, in terms of Greek belief, can only be caused by Poseidon, the Earth Shaker CEwodyoooc).1l8 It is also quite fitting that the fall of the House of Pelopid Agamemnon should be due to an earthquake caused by Poseidon, who had helped the immigrant Pelops to found a dynasty: the ambivalent notion that the creator is also the destroyer is theologically, mythologically and psychologically a commonplace. To these two determinants a third may now be added. An ancient theory correlates Poseidon the Earth Shaker with Poseidon of the H orses Chnnoc), relating earthquakes to the vibrations set up by stampeding horses; moreover, Poseidon and the Earth goddess Demeter once coupled in the form of a stallion and a mare (infra). These observatiom lead directly to the horses of Rhesos, whose bucking necessarily tosses the wolves about, exactly as the quaking earth tosses about the Palace l19 and, of course, Iphigeneia herself as well. Though the Charioteer, sleeping near by, presumably felt the earth shake under the bucking horses' hooves, he apparently condensed the shaking earth and the maddened horses into one image. H ence, Euripides postponed a direct mention of the earthquake motif until the E. IT. dream. Such postponements are fairly common in serial dreams.l20 In E. H u., passive movement of this type is lacking.l21 Experiences of passive movement often give rise to subjective misinterpretations j for example, an inoo{ulliary shaking of one's body may be experienced as being of external origin.122 may ~ a form of IOxicomania (faligu~ = aUloinloxicalion: 56, chap. I I) . I ~Iievc Ihal Ihe more moderale "'tf_rocking of praying H aMid ic Jew$ induces apparently nOt eat3.$y, bUl nnly a IIO-eallrd "~anic feding" (Freud) (Ol ) ; il is themorc not int~rpretablc as a loxicomania equivalent. Self_rocking in schizophrenic and prcschizophrenic children ;. an alarming symplOm, liuggesting a very poor prognosis. '" The .ame;" Iru~ Qf oscillation IIOmetimes experiencrd in Ihe dark ("5) Qr arter seda· tinn (1'0). 111 Earlhquakes .ymbc>lize physiological changes or upheavals. ps-Hp. i~$""'n. go. m Significantly, there is an c arlhquak ~, which deslroys a palace, also in E. Ba. ( ~If. ) -i.c., in a drama in which nearly everyone is a more or las .ublimatrd voyeur: Teiresias nburves coupling snakes and lQr Athene in Ih e nude, and, thollgh bl ind, i. a ....,.. and "obscr.·es" (how?) th~ flighl of birds (...." how~"~r, S. Alit. 988 fr., [0[2 fr. ) . Cp. notc 158. VoyeUrism is rootrd in Ihe primal $Ccne. 1>0 FQr the primal -scene implicalion. of Iphig~neia's (logically juslifiabl~) flight reaction. cp. infra. II I Hcka~'. rocking of the fawn and her poe$ible warding-off kg tnOvcmenU would ~ purdy logical construcU and Our task here ;" to analyse Ihe luI. H eka~ rocks hendf in E. T •. 116f. III A French maquildrd had to flee acroso the fidd. at nighl, blll his severe heart ailmen[ repeatrdly foKed him 10 lie down and rest. During onc .uch pause, hc '·heard" hoofbeats and "felt" the vibrations .hey..,. up. Only ..... hen th~ hoofbeats did not com~ any cJ...,r did he realize that he had simply heard the beating of his ovcrtaltrd heart and had fdt it
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Thret EuripiritlJn Dreams: Variations on a Tlumt
SQunds are uncommon, and luard (articulate) speech is altogether exCl:rtional in n:al dreams whkh, fur n :asum
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primarily experiences (infra). Since articulate speech is very common in
H omeric dreams, while pure sound is seldom mentioned. the total absence of speeches in Euripidean dreams and the superb handling of sound are evidence of his realistic treatment of the dream. As repeatedly noted (chap. 2, etc.), psycho-analytical experience indicates that it is at times almost impossible to determine whether a speech seemingly "heard" in dream actually involves a dreamed auditory txptrnn~ or is simply some-. thing "underltood" as having been "told" in dream. (Plu. de gen. Sot:r. S88D, f.; Chakidius 255, p. 288Wrobel.) In most cases, it is definitely the latter. The reverse is true of j'lGrliculaU sound; whenever it is part of the manifest dream content, it is always something "heard" in dream. This is only to be expected; the dream is affective ralher than conCeptual. In fact, at times external sowub impinging upon the sleeper's sensorium are-a s in E. Rh.- immediately lrans{alt d into visual images. III At other times, a dreamed soumf is simply a transposition into the auditory sphere of more primitive coenesthetic sensations. 1u The one overt reference to sound is in the E. IT. dream: the column's hair has a human voice, though what is "said" is not reported.12! Three alternatives may be considered; a fourth- that I phigeneia forgot what the voice said- must be discarded from the start, since she says nothing to suggest this. Given the Greeks' fondness for dream speeches (chap. 2), had the voice spoken, Iphigeneia would have said so. ( r) The "voice" was gJossolaJic, like the Pythia's.n~ (2) The voice "mumbled"; this would represent an attempt to superimpose a blurring noise on an ego-dystonic utterance. l21 Mumbling only communicates affect, but withholds the conceptual content. (Cp. also 32, pp. 244 fT. ) (3) The voice moaned or groaned inarticulately. This is the most plausible assumption. Since Iphigeneia "wept" in dream, and, perhaps, also on awakening, she must have felt that the voice was mournful. Since she misinterprets the visual and conceptual part of her dream, her appreciation of the affective quality of the voice, too, is probably at lcasl partly erroneous. It seems likely that this mi~interpretation should be ,hak~ hi, frame ('hnllo< = ·Ewod ya,o<). Co nversely, a half_asleep analyund m i.!_ interp>"<':ted a few $light seismic . hoch as illusory oscillations and rea~ ted to them with primal ""~n~ hy?nagogic r,,,·eries . ... I am told thi' also happel1$ when one takes certain drugs • ... A female analyund r<:<;alled at Ii... t only the tremendous U"C'lCendoo and decro:scendoo ofa huge choir heard in dream. Iv, OOOn a. iu analysis showed that th""" chang .. in the volume of aound !.imply echoed Itrong, localized erotic pul""tions, tm: patient recalled that the dreamed auditory experien ce graduaUy
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" . P ythia non_lflossolalic : (64. p. 74) : contra 62. '" On mumbling and relatro pttuliarili cs of spttch, cpo 56, chap. 4; 4Q; and 32, p . "44 ff. Cpo nole '78, also .he General Intr«luction (not., lIlI) . Barking obHttrat"" human '?e"'ch: Apollod. 3.2.2.
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linked with the child's tendency to mistake the mother's pleasurable erotic moans for the moans of a person in pain- a hypothesis strengthened by the fact that these arc the sounds small children most frequently hear at night and therefore most commonly associate with darkness. They are therefore also the sounds which are most commonly "heard" in dream . (For a furthe r discussion of this important detail, cpo infra .) The seeming mournfulness of this sound is, in a way, replicated by Iphigeneia's weeping in dream . This does not necessarily mean that she " heard" herself weep in dream- that thai pan of her dream was aIsf) an acoustic one. We may not even assume, a priori, that she actually shed tean; while she slept, though some p!..""Ople do cry in sleep. As regards the former, I have never, either in clinical practice or in my readings, come across a dream in which the dreamer hears himself. I n fact, even in a waki ng stale one actually hears one's own voice "objectively" only in slightly dissociated states, in which one hears oneself talking. Moreover, the text permits perhaps the inference that Iphigcneia cried again on awakening; this seldom happens when one has already cried in sleep. Equally interesting is the absence of sound etperitncts in the first part of the dream, though a real earthquake, causing the masonry to crash, would make an enormous din. This lends added significance to the subsequent (logically inappropriate) vocalncss of the hair. Psycho-analytically, it probably represents a de/uring of the earthquake's sound; its displacement in time. This postponement would affect the meaning of the deferred sound in a highly dreamlike (plausibly absurd) manner. T here may even be another displacement in time: I phigeneia does not seem to cry out while fleeing from the palace, but subsequently cries over the hair, and it so happens that delayed grief is a common manifestation of the displacement of affect in time (cf. chap. 3). In short, just as the noisy earthquake is silent while the silent hair is vocal, so I phigeneia does not cry out when she should, but cries jnappropriately later On.123 The E. Rh. mentions one sound only; the snorting of horses- i.e., a sound the Greeks found impressive.Ll9 I note in passing that this snorting sound, too, resembles bedroom sounds. More interesting still is the already briefly noted tram/ormation of sounds impinging all the sleeping Charioteer's sensorium into visual imagery. His dream is manifestly triggeredll-O by the sound of the struggling and snorting horses, whose crashing hooves shook the earth. From thh sound and vibration an approp riate, and mainly visual, imagery is constructed; in the dream itself the only sound is the snorting. The (suppresttd) thunder of hooves re_ appears only in the E. I T. d ream's earthquake (Poseidon of the Horses = The Earth Shaker). I n shari, though, like the crashing pa lace, the hooves of R hesos' horses, too, make much noise, this is not perceived as sound in the dream; only their loud snorting appears to he "heard" in sleep. The no Delay...! mourning of a primili"e (hild (Assam) ( 17); (p. chap. 3, nOle '42. m Thrtt times m~ntioned by AischylOl: &pl. 391 r., 461 r.; Jr. ,81 Sm. (3 26N' ) (L.C.L. ii , p. 487). The Gred<s Icnded 10 muzzle ho.....,., for fear of being biuen ( X. Eq. :;.3) <>nd the muzzle I1mpliliood the oound. Cpo 'he """unl neighing of n .... Illon, Hd,. 3.85-86. (o,ap. I, note 40.) u. Iphigcncia'. dream tlltiJ with an appan:ntly intrap5yehically originated fOund.
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Three Eu.ripidean Dreams: VtJriatiollJ on
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Charioteer clearly views his dream as a primarily visual experience, though he does so partly because (despite dream-speeches) in Greek one alwa ys "sees" a dream. This notwithstanding, the transmuting of sou nd into an appropriate imagery is a superb touch. In both these dreams, the sounds lack a conceptual content and convey onl y arrec!. In both, moreover, the aggressors are silent and the vic tims vocal, though real crashing masonry and live attacking wolves do make loud noises. By contrast, human thieves are silent. A significant COntrast may now be noted. The paradoxical VOla/ness of the hair reveals that it
represents a man, while it is the paradoxical JiluJce of the wolves that proves them to be human. This means that in these cases important revelations are made by diametrically opposite acoustic means. In fact, the Chario teer "constructed" the dream-wolves oul of the noise made by the struggling horses, for only wolves would alarm Rhesos' Thracian horses. H ekabe's dream contains no sound: nothing pennits us to infer that the fawn whimpers or that Hekabe cries out. There is, none the less, a special kind of sound in Ihe associations, implicit in the mentioning of the "blackwinged dream" ( 71, 704). This image, lacking even a H omeric "winged dream" precedent, suggests another type of sound . The beating of wings sets the air in motion, as does an earthquake and falling masonry. In E. Rh., too, there is a sound produced by masses of violently d isplaced air : the horses only snort, or blow; they do not whinny. A further peculiarity of these dreams is the recurrent nexus between sound and some kind of moisture: hair---crying-sprinkling; snortingblowing-(inevitably) foamiug and sweating (aud (possibly) a 3light bleeding). In H ekabe's dream itself there is no sound, nor can moisture other than blood-be plausibly inferred. This matter would hardly deserve mention were it not for a Euripidean peculiarity: a check of every relevant passage in his complete surviving dramas shows that whenever sleep o r dream are mentioned,lll there is, every single time, also mention of some kind of fluid- be it water or something else--either just before or just after that word- never more than about 30 lines away. This nexus between sleep (dream) and moisture is at least puzzling. What is to be retained, is Euripides' psychologically realistic and superbly plausible handling of sound in dream, though in this respect literary dreams, both before and after him, a re singularly unrealistic and deficient. Equally important are the extensive manifest and iatent, parallel or symmetrical, congruences between the handling of sound in these dreams. lll Time: Regressian and Wish. The handling of lime in dream must reroncik 1>, As tisted in J. T . Allen and G. halie, A Cw",IitJ_ 10 E~ripidlS, '954 (.1). PO!oSible nexus suggested by J.W.D.: bedw~tting and/or nocturnal pnllution. I '''''pend judgment on thu hypothesis. ," I wnuld tike to ad"ance her~ a new explanation of the visual nature of most drearru. In .lttp, .ight is the flnry :w:nsory IpheN: which '«nnw be fully Itimulatm wilhout awaken_ ing the dreamer. By cnntrast, the .Ieeper continues 10 have Buditory, tactile, kinesthetic and ooenesthelk experiences of moderate intensity (75) . It is thero:f~ possible thaI, in order not to be awakened by them, Ihe d ream~r t T«nJmulrJ them in dr<:am into imaginary visual apcrknees, since that .Knsory .ph~re ;. not "occupied" by ' ,/ll (external ) stimul i in dream. This;1 pr<:<:isdy what the Charint~er doo. Also, .ince the only .timuli which the
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two sets of paradoxes. The Ego is time-conscious; the Td and at least some segments of the Unconsdous are timeless. The dream is inherently regressive; the wish it expresses is technically progressive. The resolving of these two pairs of conflicting orientations in drcanl occasionally leads to a circularity of oniric time. The manifest content is experienced in the present tense, though it may imply the future in the form ofa dread or wish. The Charioteer appa rently plans already in dream to save his horses; H ekabe's narrative at least hints at a frustrated wish to save the fawn; Iphigeneia flees from the Palace so as to save herself. This is little enough, bUI it is precisely the cursoriness of these allusions that is dreamlike. The past is hardl y ever " remembered" in the manifest content. Though always implicit in it, it is experienced-so to speak- in the present tense. In dream, Iphigeneia docs not remembe r her girlhood; she is a young girl. Hekabe does not "reminisce" about her babies; she ac!Ually dandles one on her knees. Only the Charioteer's narrative alludes directly to the pas t (" the horses that I tended")- but that, as Professor Dover points out to me, is nat ural, for by the time the dream is told, the horses hout been stolen. It is, thus, the narrative (III ), rather than the dream itself, that contains an (explicative) reference to the past. Psycho-analytically, the past tense is here part of tbe secondary elaboration which results from the Ie{{ing of the dream to Heklor. The dominance of the present is strikingl y highlighted by the fact that, e.g., Iphigeneia is in an unusual place in dream, but does not know (or say) how she got there; the "because ... therefore" sequence is little stressed in real dreams.ln The manifest representation of regression gives a clue to its depth. ( I) It is almost negligible- a matter of weeks or months- in the Charioteer'sdream, asshown by his (now inappropriate) fearof (Thracian ?) wolves. This detail probably implies a tbought-habit lag, rather than a genuine regression. (2) In H ekabe's dream, the regression is represented by the maternal stance. Its depth cannot be calculated witb any precision, since the fawn may be either Polydoros or Polyxene-or both. The latter is of ma rriage~ able age. ru to Polydoros' age, the data (\TV. 4 fr. ) are ambiguous. They seem to imply that he was sent abroad when the tide began to turn against the Trojans, but they might just as well mean: when Troy began to be besieged ( = in danger, KtvOVvoe). Hekabe's advanced age supports the latter alternative. Polydoros therefore cannot possibly be an infant.IH roetUl dOH ",,/ ~p"rienc<: are vi.ual on.,., . I""p and f",,'a1 ~xi .. c:n~c no'orio" . 1y have: ",u~h in COmmOn. It ;" especially inleresti ng that man'. """t rea/ity.orirtltrd OCrlSe (25) : light, should QUO be Ihe sphere of h is "",..;"",Ily unrealistic dream-cxp<:rien.;.... '" It is, moroo"er, $0 unusual in I\I0ha"e Indian mytha, that its OC.;urrenCe in one place is specifically poillled oul by Kroeber ( 101, p . 65, nOle 137). ". We,.., he alive, we might, considering Euripides' habit of giving speaking rolrs to children (7, pp • If.; 15, p. '90; 8~, p. t03), extrapolate from A. M. Dale'. atlracti"e luggcstion (in her edition ofE. Ale. ) that, since Eumdo- is gi.·en a . peaking role, he musl be about 6 yean old. [Dale could ha"e added that, On vases, many children are rep,..,..,n. ted as boo.ing about 8 yean old; bUI this may only boo. a bad art;"t;.; repr"""ntat;on of head! body proportions (K .J.D.).] The difficulty here i. lhat Ih e speaker is Polydoros' phan tom I do not think Euripid ... made careful calculations, though much is grasped intuiti"dy by a great poet. On children in ;wdent literature see now Kauel (96).
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TirTee Euripitkan Dreams: Variations on a T1teme (3) Iphigeneia's degree of regression can be determined with precision. She was already of marriageable age at Aulis (E. IT25, IA 9B fT. , etc.); to this, one must add the duration of the ten-year Trojan war, of Agamemnon's return voyage, the growing up and matricide of Orestes and perhaps an additional year, needed to bring him to the land of the Taurians. Hence, in E. IT., Iphigeneia cannot be a very young adult; her captivity was clearly a long one. We also have a second clue. InitiaUy, the hair topping the column is high above her, since, by now, Orestes is necessarily taller than she is. Then it descends low enough for her to " water" it ; formerly Orestes, her baby brother (v. 231), was much smaller than she. Regression is also suggested by our not being told how the hair descends; such things just "happen" in dream, partly because each element is overdetermined.1)! The apparent inarticulateness of the hair's voice may, on the manifest level, imply that I phigeneia regresses to the time of Orestes' early (v. 231 f. ) childhood.1J6 But the latent meaning of this inarticulate voice implies also a regression to Iphigeneia's own childhood and not only to that of Orestes: a brilliant exploitation of overdetermination. On the manifest level regression is, thus, reflected by the dreamer's selfrepresentation. On the latent level it is reflected by the dreamer's affective reactions to external objecu and events in the dream, though the latter are, of course, also created by the dreamer. The latent regression is, as will be shown, much greater than the manifest one. The Charioteer probably and Iphigeneia certainly regress, in person, directly to their own child_ hood; Hekabe regresses to hers only by the circuitous route of her (latent) identification with the endangered fawn on hcr lap. This, too, rcpresents an effective exploitation of overdetermination. Matters become even more involved whe n one also considers the matrices into which the dreams are embedded. The dream in context, as a phenomenological unit, has bol.U1.daries wider than those of the m anifest and the latent content. Taken out of context, the manifest dream has primarily stylistic functions. Seen in context, one of the dream's most striking aspects is the conscious and/or unconscious "acting out" to which it leads (Arist. insomn. 463a27 fT. ) and of which the demand that it be interpreted is only one manifestation. Only the articulation of time into past, prescnt and future, and the manner in which its circularity is brought about, need be discussed here, particularly with respect to the dream's oracular functions.!J? The circularity of time in the largely present-oriented E. Rh. dream is m For a different meaning of this bair, cpo infra. Tbe bair may dacend because the colu mn ,t>llapur; thougb, in 50 far all it is crowned by Orates' bair, tbe column perbaps shri""s. Other explanalion. Kem implausible. It cannot be the victim'. cut-off bair . ince al that point, it is spri nkled. It i. bactlly towered like a Hag. The lupposition Ibat il grows long, like r~al bair or ivy, i. 1= implausible. V. 74 makes decapilation possible, but the wording of vv. ~ [ f. may preclude thaI hypothesis. , .. Euripides knew how 10 make slightly older chi ld ren .~alr. articula tely and yet cbildishly. Cpo Grttnwood (84, pp. 10] ff.) on Ihe pathos of the orphaned cbildren'. warlike chanley (E. S~ppI. J 139 ff.) , II«:n as a manifestation of human folly. ", The arlieulalion oflimc in Ihe unconscious is 110 ill.undentood thaI exploratory work is .till possible (41, 5 4, 55).
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minimal. U8 W hat seems to be a p remonition in dream is, at most, clairvoyance, or even a simple elaboration of synchronous, external stimuli (Arist. insonm. 462al8 fT. ). One can, at most, speak of a fusion of the present wit h a pseudo-future. I n E. Hec. the fusion of the psychological tenses is more complicated, chielly because of the ambiguous definition of the present. Unlike what happens in A. Eum., where the dreaming Erinyes and the intrusive spe<:tre of Klytaimestra are simultaneously present on-stage, the sleeping Hekabe, when she "saw" Polydoros' spectre, present on the stage, was, assuredly sleeping inside the captives' tent and therefure invbilole. Abu (30 fT. ) , Polydoros' spectre probably floated above the stage, on the crane. Moreover, though Hekabe's dream supposedly results from Polydoros' Klytaimestra-like appearance (present), he docs not inform H ekabe of his present state (" I am dead"). Instead, he speaks of past (" I was murdered") and future ("my mother will bury me") events (45 f. ). His appearance motivates H ekabe's change of conduct. The psychological tenses are, thus, confused both in the dream itself and in reality. It is left to Hekabe to protect (if she can) the fawn no longer sheltered, even in distant Thrace, by H ektor's prowess and Troy's might. In dream she fo resees that the fawn is (= was = will be) torn from her lap: this is the Polyxene and /or Polydoros problem. Awake, she must seek to fores tall, if she can, Polyxene's ri tual mu rder and to take revenge for Polydoros. The complex meshing of the ps)'chological tenses is a brilliant means of bringing into being an overdetermination which is further enhanced by the uncertainty as to whether the dream is retrocognitive or prophetic. The circularity of time also has an afTeetive basis. \'Vorried by Polyxene's fo reseeable fate, Hekabe begins to worry a/Jo about what might have happened to the-supposedly safePolydoros.1l9 The dream also contributes to the shaping of the future , by partly disinhibiting H cka be's aggressivity.l40 Finally, her a nticipations prove to be correct. The articulation of time in E. /T. is particularly complicated, especially on the manifest level. This strengthens the view that hers is the most literary of the three dreams. Though its dramatic function has been discussed many times,141 some of its most important dramatic aspects have been overlooked. The complexity of the problem necessitates discussing its real and itll oracular implications separately. The most direct consequence of the dream and of the subsequent mourn,n The circularity of tilM may be an orphic idea (cp. perhaps Ar. Av.). On circular time ep. (8) . ". TI,;. i. Iyp;ul ~r"" l>ella v;vu,·. 111 '939, a ,·.".,a,·c], leam,.."" w id 1.y many O.:rl1}a,,Jewish refugee that their families, living in eonslant danger in Ge rmany, obsessively worried about Jilt"" who were safe in Ame rica . , .. Which leads to her being .toned. Thi., in turn, calLI's her trarnformation into a bileh. [On noning '
Three Euripidean Dreams: Variations on a Thnne ing is that it makes Orestes into a man who, having erroneously been believed dead, must be reintegrated into society (supra ).14l This enables Iphigeneia to "lie the truth" to Thoas convincingly. She pretmds that the victim should be purified; she knows that a man erroneously believed to be dead must be purified.!4l Active in dream, she is also active in the drama, first prolonging her dreamed sacrificial role into the waking state and then reversing it. Moreover, her sadness in the dream anticipates her subs quent sadness. Her sacrificial role in dream foreshadows her confession that she had become bloodthirsty (343 f. ), though psychologically her dream presupposes an antecedent- and perhaps not yet conscious-disinhibition of her aggressivity.!44 Her belief that Orestes is dead increases the probability that he might not be recognized and would therefore be sacrificed, thereby gratifying lphigeneia's bloodthirstiness, so similar to that of Artemis, to whom she herself had been "sacrificed" at Aulis. The dream also influences Iphigeneia's behaviour precisely by being treated as an oracle.H' It is this way of viewing a dream which leads to its being made self-fulfilling, by means of the acting out it elicits.l46 Much of Iphigeneia's behaviour is detennined by her double misinterpretation of her ostentatiously prophetic dream.H7 This is striking, in view of Euripides' obvious preference for dream oracles, as against those ofDelphi. 141 Later on, Iphigcneia complains that the dream misled her (569 f. ), though it showed her as a sacrificial priestess and not as a mourner. Oracles deceive because men insist on being deceived (72, 20, 17).149 In dream, she makes preparations for a ritual murder. On awakening, "J Euripido did not labour this problem. There an: many such men in times of war and the topic is a painful one. [Phrynichos wa. heavily fined for .taging his C"PluTf ~ MilefIU (Hdt. 6.~1 ) .] (It has often bttn noted that S. OT. soft pedals the Theban plague. Whether he had the Athenian plague in mind, or limply lOme other plague, is anyone'. guo., for the date ofS. OT. is unknown.) ,OJ On thi. type of lying, cpo infra. ,,. Changes, both for the better and for the wane, often manifest themsdves first in dream, next in beha~';our, and last in projecti\'e teslJl. (For drca .... and beha\'iour, ep. 48, passim; for psychological tests, cpo Holt's notes, ibid., p. 493.) Iphigeneia'. tears in dream do not di.. pro\'e her aggressi\'ity, cpo E. Ba. "47, and (33). . , .. Oraclo influencing e,"ents: ' 4. E. Bachli (5) only skirts the insight that the same applio also to drea ..... Cpo also 7:1, 47. ,.. Aris,. J. diu . • om~. 463a4 fr.; cp o 6~, p. '20. Clinical evidence: llf . A dream Can be made tooome true, by acting out already Juri", the dream: an adolescent analysand tried, in dream, to a,'oid a collision by jumping off hi. motor_bicyde; in reality, he threw him. self out of the top bunk ofhis double-decker bed (31). '" By contrast, the oth er twO Euripidean drea .... do come true and are correctly inter_ prcted. , .. E. IT. '235 If. Amphiaraos is a noble figure in E. HAn. (13~ If., 15~, 20~ ff. and passim, Page) , and is spoken of with ropect in PMi". I I I I f., SIl/JPl. ,:,8. This, of course, is traditional, but Euripides did not always respect traditional heroes, such as Odysseus. (Chap. 3, note '47 and supra, note 68. ) .., Unlike Euripides, the old·fashioned Hoiooos (Th. 26 If.) calmly accepts the occa· sional untruthfulness oflhe M uses (or gods). The exiuence ofvicious gods d{)l'!S not Ihock_ though it may anger- real printiti\'o (u, pp. 667 f. ) Psychologically, thi. is rooted in the child'. (pardy justified) notion that all adulu are psychopaths, si nce they 10 behave towards children (29). In a still family-centered society, Autolykos can be a hero and Aigisthm "blameless". 1\. W. H. Adkins (I, Cip. p. 81, nOte II) undmtood the sociological, but not Ihe ~y<:hological, meaning of,h;' "blamel"""",ss". lBut one d{)l'!S not really know what this epithet meant for Horneros (K.J.D. ).J
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she believes that Orestes is dead . Psycho.-analytically, this can only mean that she treats the human sacrifice, prepaN!d in dream, as afait IUcompli. This is reminiscent of a peculiarity of tragic di~tion, which at times speaks of an intended m urder as though it had actually been executed.l~ The circularity of time is brought about in E. IT. by means which, in some respects, resemble those which make times circular in H ekabe's dream: while dreaming, Iphigeneia's behaviour "prophetically" anticipates what she will (almost ) do in reality; ye t, on awakening, she treats her dream as retrucogniti ve. Misleading as a due to the past, her dream also fails as prophecy. This is brilliant, persuasive and poetic psychology :1'1 she sacrifices in dream, but not afterwards. She misinterprets the dream while awake : she cries over Orestes, who is actually alive. The articulation of time in the three dreams is as follows: E. Rh.: Past: (ha bit lag?), feeding and driving the horses; Thrace (dangerous wolves). Present: the real ( = dreamed) attack. Future: the wish to protect the horses and the quarrel with H ektor. E. Hec .: Past: regression and the retrocognitive interpretation of the dream. Present: the dream is caused by Polydoros' dramatically earlier but oniricallysynchronous (cp. A. Eum.) appearance; the dream crisis and the reai crisis are, moreover, similar. Future: bad news about Po!ydoros will reach H ekabe, bad things will happen to Polyxene. E. I T.: Past : regression and the retrocognitive (mis-)interpretatiQn of the dream. Present: the sacrificial priestess role in dream and the ostentatious denial (by means of regression) that she is amongst the T aurians; transposition, with changed meaning (sacrifice = mourning), of the dream activity into waking activity. Future : she will (almost) sacrifice Orestes; ostentatious denial of that possibility by the conviction that Orestes is already dead. In all three cases a circularity of time is brought about by varied and subtly nuanced means. Summary : R eal dreams, especially when taken in context, show at least some articulation of time, even on the manifest level. In some preEuripidean Greek literary dreams, time tends to be either badly articulated, or else over-articulated in a manner which is not authentically dreamlike. T hough these Euripidean dreams also articulate time somewhat too well to be accepted as undistorted accounts of real dreams, this slight over-articulation is brought about by nuanced, varied and, above all. characteristically dreamlike means. The supernatural meaning imputed to them largely determines their dramatie fu netion. Thei" i, the role dreams were expected to play in Greek tragedy and Euripides managed, without diminishing their plausibility, to make his dreams achieve what was expected from them in tenns of tragic convention. Latent Content: The Primal Scent. Three dream-narratives. which are structurally variations on a single theme, necosarily have the same latent content or meaning, to whose probable nature certain external characUIS. Aj. 11 ~6ff.; cpo E. IT. 60. 359f. ( ?), E. 11m 1497 f., etc. Cp. d Ulp. I,note 17. ,,, l'tycho>-,.n,.lyli".,1 o<;ruliny . ho .... ,ha t "rc'rocogn"ivc, clairvoyant, telepathic .. nd prophetic drt:anu" fusc the pMI and the u,,=n"',o'" wish. AU clinical p'ycho-analytical papers On this subject up to 1951 (including those of Freud) are collected in 55.
Three Euripidum Dreanu ,' Variations on a Theme teristics of these dreams furnish a clue. Since they are anxiety dreams, their content must be painful; the amount of symbolization indicates that it is no t in hannon y with the Ego's strivings (ego-dystonic). The regression shows that the fOO l'! of these dreams are infantile. On a wholly different level, the recurrence of the same theme in three tragedies implies not only the conflices persistence in Euripides' unconscious, but also its partial sublimation, since he exp ressed it in the form of great poetry. This sublimation was perhaps partl y facilit ated by the fact that the theatre, like the most common type of primal scene, is a primarily visual experience, which permits a sublimatory gratification of the infantile wish to "see something" . Great drama deals with this "something" in such a manner that the anxiety it arouses leads to a katharsis and to subsequent sublimation.m The basic latent theme is the " primal scene": the child's anxietyd istorted experience or fan tasy of sexual rela tions between the parents. It underlies also certain themes of both Greek and non-Greek cosmogonic myths and is represented in an almost undisguised form in H esiodos' TheQgony ( 159 ff.) (5 1). Turned (defensively) into grotesque comedy, several aspecl'! of the primal scene experience are mentioned in words that leave nothing to the imagination in Aischylos' Diktyoulkoi (Ntl Fiskrs) (810 ff., H . L.-J., etc.). Last but not least, nearl y everyone of the primal scene's twenty consti tuent clements occurs, often in an undisguised form, in a variety of Greek myths and texts. The material will be presented in a numbered, itemized form; cross-references are indicated by the corresponding numbers in parentheses. Some other Greek sources, which also mention these elements, are given in footnotes: they constitute onl y a fraction of the relevant Greek material I was able !O assemble. I n all three dreams realistic current preoccupations furnis h the Aristotelic raw material (day residue) for the symbol ic recOnstruction of the pri mal scene in dream. In my opinion, this pouring of new wine into old bottles, so characteristic of dreaming (and of neu rosis), appears !O insure the continuity of the psychic life a nd the unbroken evolution of the temporal Ego (41 ), particularly in the course of alte rnations between sleep and the waking state. In a sense, the need fo r such a continuity in the experiencing of the "self" in lime ma y explain in part the circularity of time in so many dreams.ISl In analysi ng these three dreams, one must bear in mind Ihat in E. Rh. the poet describes the primal scene from the sma!! boy's point of view, in E. IT. from that of the little girl, and in E. flee. from the viewpoint of the mother ( = father's wife). This latter psychological feat is the more impressive as even psycho-analysts seem little interested in LIte primal scene asfanlasied (or acted out neurotica!Iy) by Olll or bolhparmts. Yet in at least two G reek traditions, the child is literall y invited by one of the parents to participate in Ihe primal scene. I n H es. Th. 159 ff. , Gaia asks her children to intervene during the act itself (51 ), while in A. Diet. 8 10 ff. '" Ir mayor may not be a CQinddo:n«, tha t tho: three primal scene dreams occur in dramas whi ch ....-ould nol ha'·e scandalized Ari.tophand ' "Aischylos," (Ar. Rdn. TO+4 fr. ): no alnC' oUS women appear in th<:m. ' " I suspect that the fusing of the praent with the past- the patterning ofpraent con flicts on infantile moddo-may be an important determinant of the procdll of falling asleep. I hope to deal with this problem in a psycho-analytical puhlication .
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(H . L.-J .), the infant Perseus' prospective "father", Silenos, literally invites him to witness the primal scene: "(you) can make a third in bed with your mother and with me, your fa ther, And daddy shall give the little one his fun " (Lloyd-Jones' translation).I}f While nothing qui te so extreme occurs in Hekabe's dream, such data prove that there is also a parental (i.e., maternal) way of imagining the primal scene. I t is this manner of viewing it which finds expression in H ekahe's relatively nannal dream. Before listing and scrutinizing the twenty constituent elements of the real primal scene, as reRected in these dreams, I note that these ways of expc:rielldng lha l scene are dinically qui tc collllllonplace. That tl ,c experience itself was fairly common in the fifth cemury B.C. Athens is best shown by A. DiI;l.; had the primal scene experience been exceptional, the
"joke" would have fallen Rat. M oreover, as noted, Aischylos' satyr plays appear to have been admired by the ancients (116, p. x). That would hardly have been the case had they dealt with material to which his audience could not respond . Judging by the few surviving samples, the psychological "detonator" in satyr dramas was the presentation of some anxiety-arousing infantile fantasy as grotesque "fun". In short, as already noted, the satyr play deals with the anxiety-arousing material of tragedy in a radically different mood.1S3 (Cp. chap. I , note 34. ) As regards the primal scene elements in the three Euripidean dreams under consideration, it may be useful to m ake first three points: (I) In talking about the primal scene, one automatically talks also of the Oedipus complex- and vice versa, of course. (2) Though anyone-and perhaps mo re than one-of the twenty primal scene elemen ts listed below can occur also in other types of experiences, fantasies and dreams, their co-occurrence, in the form of a pattern or cotifiguratirm (syndrome) can characterize only a primal scene dream. Already ps.-Long. (dt sublim. 10.1) understood that syndromes, and not isolated symptoms, matter.156 ,.. Since this aspect of the primal scene is, unaccountably, It ill neglect.-d by psychoanalysts, a few clinical examples may help clarify matten. An intermittently impotent man "oomplained" that bi.. children "intruded" into the bedroom at "inopportune" moments. Unoonsdously, he .usired these "intrusions". Indeed, despite repeated psychoanalytical interpretations and, finally, despite direct ad vice, it took him Ihree months to get around to having a key made for the bedroom door and then he regularly "forgot" 10 UK il . A neurotic woman enjoyed marital relatimu only if . he UlI W,], II ""luul<.liuK un" uf Ihe Ir"wuII \U Ihe dlild and II "i~lIriu,", KrlllifiCIIlion uf Ill" parent', incompletely outgrown curi""ity. (I.e., " I am .howing my nwn parents how they Ihould have treated mel" ) T his' is a common neurOlic manauvre. '" The prima! scene: E. Ba. lIS. A. Diel. 8to fr. The cannib.ali~ation of someone Tt/"_ lilNly .mall (_ teknophagy): A. At. 12,8 ff. vs . E. C~I. Blinding: S. OT \"s. E. Cyd. Whether the (folk lale) motif of the aggreWve, clever baby and his outwitted (.tronger) foe occurred nol only in oatyr plays (S. kim.), but also in tragedy, i. uncertain. T hat molif may cOnailXlb!1lurk also behind the tragic theme of exposed but sav.-d chi ldren , who return later on and harm their p"necuton (S. OT, etc.). '50 On Ihe importance of appraising Sappho'. seizure (/t.fr. 31 LP) in terms of the configuration (Iynd rome) aI a whole, and on her independenoe of H omeric models in Ihe dcseription of her experience, cpo 50.
Thru E uripifka71 Dreams : Van·aliolU 071 a Theme (3) I t is safe to ascribe to Euripides an interest in the pri mal scene. The {"off-stage")151 climax of his greatest tragedy is the rending of PentheU$, who seeks to spy upon the (hypothetical) sexual misconduct (E. Ba. 223 ff.) of the Mainades-including specifically his mother and aunt~ (E. Ba. 229 f.).158 Since he made Ihis the climax of his Bakchai, it is not surprising that he should have devised primal scene dreams for some of his earlier dramatic personages. This being said, the following primal scene (experience, fantasy, dream) elements occur in the three Euripidean dramas containing dreams: ( I) I nfantile spyi7lg and, at times, parental coun tcr·spying. 9 E. Rh.: " the spy and counter-spy motif. E. IT.: Iphigeneia watches the collapse of the house; Orestes and Pylades spy out the temple which they intend to burgle {ep. (6)}. E. /fec . : Polydoros' visible spectre probably appears to (is seen in dream by) Hekabe. l60 (2) HOrrfJT alldfasci7lalir!ll.l61 Rh. , It., l ite. (3) Scotomizali07l. Anxiety blurs some of the details. At times a haze covers part of the visual field (82). At other ti mes the visual field is so restricted as to approximate so-called "tubular" vision. H owever, in the Euripidea n dreams, the Non-perception of certain details is, strictly speaking, not due to a seo\omization, but to the dreamer's (small child's, mother's) angle of vision (cp. the sect ion on " Perspeetive").162 E. Rh.: the dreamer's vision is almost "tubular": he mentions nei the r the wolves' heads, nor the horses' legs. E. flee. : Ihe wolf's head is apparently 7101 seen; in a maternal (wifely) perspective, the wolf's "tail" (penis) could 7101 be seen.'ftl E. JT.: possibly the unexplained descent of the hair. As already noted, the perspective is peculiar though appropriate in all three dreams. (4) N07l-recognitio71 (total or partial) of the parent (s) : this implies a repudiation of the intolerablt evidence of one's senses.l6ol Usually, it is the mother who is " not recognized", though there are exceptions to this '" On Ihe conneclion. bet ..... ""n "off."age" and "the irrational" ( _ unconscious), cp. Ari.l. P".,. 1.1_6oa26 f. and 54. ," Two olher poinl-l may aoo be madc. ( I) T he two other named male penonago of that tragedy ha,·e, at Wme point, al.a indulg<-d in " ,exlial . pyi ng" : K ad m ... enquirnl into the amOul'$ of Zeu, wilh hi, , i,ler Europe (Apol1od. 3.'.' ) : Teiresias ""' ..... A'he n" in the nude (Gallim. u,1iQ(f. 75 fr. ), re\"calro ZelD' amou,"" wilh Alkmene (Apo1!od. 2.4.8).
'''I.e., "" Ihe child ... fdy asleq>?"- bu' alw: " h Ihe child ma,turbating?" ' .. Cpo H om . Od. 9.329 ff. (Ares and Aph rodite) ; Thphr. ChM. ' 3.8, 20.7 (mothe r'. childbed ) ; X . Smp. 9.2 (e rOlic dance) ; A. Dict. 810 f. all Ihe ambiguousness of the many· eyed, ~x·'py Argos' role, Cpo chap. 2. ,., Caricaltt~ defcn.i\"dy in reven<: in A. Dill. 8'0 fT., a. ··run" . ,0> Athene blind. Teiroia •. Semele ill (pcrhaps) blinded by Zeus • .,., n as lightning. For OidipolD' e"planalion of hi, self·blinding, cpo S. OT. 1369 ff. Fo r Slnichoros, cpo below. Possibly Epizeloo : he saw a foe whose immense beard r_,~d hi•• h ield (H dl. 6."7) ; (goat skin aigi< ?). Other 'uggeslive Cases arc 10 be found in f.scher (70), though the unpsy,h ologkal Escher did not understand the m (j & ), ,. , Both Greek and Latin equate "tail " and "pcni,' (53) . I.. Cpo m y commen l.'l (chap. s) on A. Ag. 4 ' 2~4'3: ,J,1T(CTOVC, auo (43).
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Three Euripideall Dreams: Variations on a Thmu! rule.16~ But, in Euripidean dreams it is the aggressor (father) who is most heavily disguised. This may well be a Greek peculiarity;l66 the most striking exception is the talc of Stesichoros' bliudness.167 The relativc:ly transparent representation of the "victim" (mother) and the opaque dis· guise of the "aggres.osor" (fathe r) in Euripidean dreams, though less easy to explain, are perhaps not beyond eonjeeture.11il! At any rate, in all three dreams the least recognizable personage is the aggressor. E. Rh.: the non· recognition of the wolves makes accusations against Hektor possible. E. Hee. : the real (double ) identity of the wolf is revealed only by a nalysis; by contrast, though the sex of the fawn is uncertain, the fact that this animal represents one or two of Hekabe's children is obvious- at least on the affective level-already in the dream. E . IT.: the identity of the falling roof is never recognized; the column's idemily is not only ambiguous, but the dream concerning it is twice misinterpreted. l69 (5) Father = ogre.l70 E. Rh.: the wolves ride ( = coitize) the horses (KUf1C = sexually active woman, cpo LSJ 5."'. iii, 1 and 2; perhaps at times- but not here-coitus illversus (chap. I, note 32 )]. E. Hee.: the wolf must be arched (in a sexual posture) over Hekabe's knees, since he claws the faw n on (or: off) he r lap; later on, Hekabe herself turns imo a bitch- and the Greeks knew that bitches mate with wolves. E. IT.: The roof threatens to crush (= coitus = ,ompressio ) I phigeneia [cpo (16)}; the collapsing co lumn may also be dangerous [cp. (18)]. I note that the horses are not really hanned-ollly stolen. T he fawn is harmed. I phigeneia remains unscathed ... though, at Aulis, she was "sacrificed". (6) The Pa!tmal phalios, ~ce n as a dangerous organ,m fascinates but ,OJ An adolocrnt Plains Indian did 1'101 "recognize" his widowed mother's lover and only "inferred" that this p<:non was "anal her" (sic) man from the fact Ihat he uied to hide (48, p. ~go f. ). 'NThe invisible or disg uised Im'er m01if: Zeus and Semele; Zeus and Alkmene; Eros and Psyche: also other lai C! of divine or heroic paternity. A young woman dreamed that a purple.dad j."ter C3p<:red and grimaced al her . On awakening she r<:«>gnized, with a Uart, thejoter as her father and conclud~..:I that Ihe shadowy woman. also present in her dream, wu her mOlher. I.e.: father disguiS«l, mother-shadowy. ,., The inilial recognition Ihat "the most ~aUlifld of womeo" ( _ mol her) mis~. ha"a (Sloich.f.... lQ-14P) causa blindnCS$, which is c~red a. SOOn aJ the poel reject. the evidence of hi. "eya" and writes two relraoions (Palinod es ) : Slcsich. frr. '5-,6 P. (Chap. 3. note !j8.) (59"). ' .. Euripides ' foes would nOI have con.i"entl)· jeered al his mother (" Ihe vegetable seller" ) had Iheir allack.! nol hun him. Thi. mggesU! Ihal he was greatly II.llachetllO hermore 00 than 10 his falher. who was .eldom directly al1acked: Ih e story thai he ..... ..., a peddler w&. probably an extrapolation from the gibe that the mother IIOld vegetablcs; data in Schmid (/34, i.3, p. 3 13, Gp. nOle 4). [But the joke'. basis may be ill incongruousness: the son of a vegetable seller is writing aboul kings (KJ.D. ) .] Possibly Ihe "brutality" a( Ihe aggreuioo against the "helpless" mOlher made recogn ilion lolcrablc. These are admillnlly conj ectu res. though Ihey are not lacking in plausibilily, especially in view a( Euripid es ' sympathy far ..... omen, and also for Ihe appreMnI. , .. The dream collapse oftlris palace anlicipates thai of Penthew' palace in E. Ba. 386 IT. Il. A. Diet. 761: "neither ~ast nOr falher" (H.LI ..J). Myillll "r male dei ties cahabitaling wilh morta1 ..... omen in animal ,hap<: ('nake, boll, ,wan, serp<:n t, dog. elc. ) are common. ITI Cpo (perhaps) the Axiokenos mylh. Also (perha]») tbe 'p<:ar wonhip of Kaini.· K aineus (lICh. A.R . '.57) and a( the well-named. Parlhenopaioo (A. S.pt. 5a9 ff.) . Fo:r K ainis, cpo 34' On phaliOi awe, cpo 83, cpo chap. 6, note 106.
Three Euripidean Dreams,' Variations on a Theme also frightens the child.l72 E. Rh.: wolf "tails" whip the hones. E. Hie.: the tail (and, of course, also the penis) would, plausibly, be invisible in a maternal primal-scene dream. E. IT.: thc (apparently collapsing or shrinking) column could be dangerous to the dreamer.17l (7) Father does dreadful thi/tgs to mother; he is killing her. m E. Rh.: the wolves seem to harm the horses. E. IT.: the falling roof might first crush Iphigeneia and then smash the flooring ( = earth). E. Hec. : by attacking the fawn on her lap, the wolf implicitly harms Hekabe as well. (8 ) Mother Maves about, seemingly trying to fight off the attack. This, together with the father's rhythmic movements, is the principal determinant of the nexus between rocking sensations and the recall of the primal scene. I!' E. Rh.: The horses buck and heave. E. IT.: the earth quakes. E. Htc . : No dataP6 (9) Afo/her cries out, partly "in pain" and partly "asking to be rescued".171 At times, this misinterpreted erotic sound is fused- or confused- with the father's erotic moans. E. Rh.: the horses' snorting is interpreted as a call for help. E. IIee.: there is no sound, and no ~all for help is needed, since the fawn is attacked before H ekabe's eyes. Moreover, parental erotic vocalizations usually play no role in maternal primal scene fantasies. I ?! E. IT.: the mournful( ?) inarticulate (male?) voice of the hair which tops the (phallic) column. The dream of the oedipally fixated Iphigeneia appropriately emphasizes the male's erotic moans. Needless to say, items (8) and (9) are gross distortions of reality. They reflect the child's anxious, defensive misinterpretation of what the
'" "Truly {h is link one 10"(:"$ lhc penis :" A. Did. 786. (Professor Dovcr think'! thai may be a COmmon gibe, dir«led al over-enlhWliasli<; boy.lovcrs and Ihat Siknos i. herc applying iljellingly 10 (he baby, who lakes hold ofSi1enos' Onll!i2C phallos.) '''or phallos-born Aphroditc a. " shc who 10\"0 Ihc penis" (or, a. Prof...sor Burkerl suggests: "dcr d cr Phallos cigen i. I." ), cpo 5" For (hc pcni.- (and nOI bUl1ock'!)-ccmrnlnOl of the "propo::r" Greek boy-lover, cpo 45 . t» T hai: "column 10ppc:d wilh hair" (cp. onc (Oppc:d wilh ivy. E. AlllihfNf r. ~03 N') = '",rtt" is wcll_nigh inesca pable. Tree = phall Wl , cpo ps.-Hp. ;1/J<m1n. 90. T hat thc column is Ihe pa{crnal phallus i•• uggo led by {hc diJpropor(ion between ill! . i2e and {hal of Iphigcncia. Clinical dalil show lhal Ihis d iJprOporlion is a source of anxiely for the aroipally fixaled lillI e girl , cpo chap. ~ . nol~ 4 r. ,,0Ouranca' co habilat ion wi th Gaia is rc pealedl y called "evil" ;n H cs. Th. 159 If. Zeu.' lightning ki ll.. Scmel e. Minca' poisonoWl oemen kilt.. hi~ bedm&IO (Apollod. 3.15. 1; Ani. Lib. 4'.5) . '" Rape: is exceptionally common in Greek mylh. ( 45). Ouranos "rapes" the reluclant Gaia (H o . n. 164 fr. ) Poseidon the stallion mal es, as Hippios, wilh the unwilling ma re Demctcr ( Pa UlI. 8.~5.5. f. ). (Compare Kronos' maling wilh Philyra.) H c also rapes Kaini., bUI r""'ards hcr with a penis (3 4). Apollon rape! K reula ( E. 1D~) and trio 10 rape K ru.sandra C A. Ag. 1206 If.). Cp. chap. 3. "0 BUI c po E. T,. ,, 6 If.: H ckabe .peaks at length of rocking her body in gTief. Coincid e ncc? The self-rocking o f cc rtain psychoti cs i. known 10 be oexual (aUloo::rotic) . Rocking, likc an inlcnoe o'8,um . produces verligo: Phaidra o n Ihc . wing sec chap. 3, n. '<>4' m Expli citly: Gaia in H es. Th. ' 59 If. (51 ). ,,, Exceptions exist, a. in the case of Ih c prev iomly mentio ned woman: "\\'hen I moan, my childrcn mmllhink Ihal my husband is killing me! " In this case, the idcnlification of thc mOlher wilh thc child, who might be bolh pU2zled and upsel by bedroom sounds, wu ""rf« tly obvio.u. Throughoul her lifc, Ihi~ wo man had anxiOWlly lried 10 idcnlify partly obliterated, murmuroUli ( _ bedroom) sound~ (40), cpo not e 127. "peni~-lovcr"
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Thrtl Ev.ripitUtJn DretJn!S: VtJritJtions on a Them4 mother's tossing and moaning- that is, her active and pleasurable participation in the actl79_"means". (10) TIu child ,lings t()-()f fiees int_ sleep. E. Rh.; The Chariotttr wakes up tOO lale. E. IT. : Iphigeneia is doubly asleep (ruBEIV). E. Hee.: ai>" parently no data.l ll) ( II ) Denial oj the fetJliry oj the sense-expernnct: " I am only dreaming it" or: " I am only Stting things in the dark". Thill defence is closcly related to the defensive scotoma (3) and non-recognition (4) manceuvres. 181 E. Rh.: at firs t, the Chariotttr mistakes reality for a dream. E. He,.: the "real" apparition of Polydo ros' spectre is no t experienced as a vision, but as a dream. E. IT. : Iphigeneia first dreams that she is asleep and then (still asleep) that she wakes up; the transition from the former to the latter is quite vague and does not entail a real awakening. There is only a transition from being "doubly asleep" to being simply asleep. ( 12 ) ImmobiliztJtion of the child by fright and anxiety.i12 E. Rh.: the Charioteer is immobilized by sleep. E. Hee.: Neither Hekabe nor the fawn seem to move. E. IT.: No relevant data, except, possibly. the doubk sleep. ( 13) Flight-mution. l5l E. Rh.: onl y after waking up. E. Hee.: No data, nor could one expect them in a maternal dream. E. IT.: flight from the shaking palace. ( 14) Identification, usually with the "attacked" mother, especially before the mother-child so-called "dual-unity" is entirely outgrown. In boys, such an identification oflen leads to passive homosexual tcndencies. E. Rh.: perhaps the fact that an attack on the horses i'l also an indirect attack on the Charioteer, who is subsequently gravely wounded, while the horses escape unscathed. E. Hec.: the same considerations with respect to the fawn, but seen from the mother's viewpoint. E. IT. : the evidence being both complex and allusive, any interpretation can only be tentative. In so far as Iphigeneia is about to sacrifice "Orestes", she identifies herself with her own aggressor: with her father Agamemnon, who had tried to sacrifice her at Aulis. I " But, in so far as she is a woman who might sacrifice a man- and, moreover, one who stands for Agamemnon and is his natural avenger-she identifies herself with Kl ytaimestra. laS Subtending both ,n Cpo Ibe accwation (Ar. &~. 1044) lhal Euripides' women Were too sensual. ". Unleso one 10 interprets the twofold layering of H.kabe'. experience (apparilion = dream) , which paralleb Iphigeneia's twofold sleeping. '" This echoes, in a way, E. Phrix.,j,. 838 N': "is life not really dealh and death life?" Visual illusion. arc common in E. Btl., passim. Cp. A. Ag. 4,g f.: m-.!c.-rouc (disbelieving), chap·3· m Cohabitation wilh a goddesa ( _ mother 6gure) Ullually weakens, unman. or even paralY'C" the mortal man. C po Tilhonoo, Anchiscs, pcrhaps Endymion; cp o Hermes' warning to Odysseus, who is aboul to become K irke'. lover (Hom. Od. to.a93 If.). h ion is punished both by immobilization and by being whirled around (primal scene "oscillating" scn&ations). Pal
Three Euripidtan Dreams.' Vorio/ions on
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these ten/o/iut interpretations is the symbolic equation: coitus = killing ("sado-masochistic infantile theory of coitus"), cpo (7) . (15) The "millstones". Motivated partly by identification with the parents and partly by the desire to separate them, the child insem itself in jontasy between the two and then feels caught and crushed between two millstones. This fantasy may be accompanied by roc king sensations (8) and by erotized anxiety.u6 This fantasy may, perhaps, account in part for the Greek mythological motif of bcing hammered on a bed or on an anvil. l l1 E. Rh. : no "millstones". E. Htc. : the fawn is caught between Hekabe's lap and the (arched) wolf's claws. E. IT. : Iphigeneia risks being crushed between the heaving Earth lB8 and the collapsing roof, but escapes, and retreats to a spectator position, to one side of the "parents". (Cp o the Charioteer.) In Euripides' works, the evolution of this important image is circular: E. Rh. : the spectator is to one side; E. Hec. : the crushed (clawed) fawn is not the dreamer herself; E. IT.: the dreamer escapes being cmshed by retreating to a peripheral position, but remail1s close enough to " touch" the " hair".1 19 Since I expect to be challenged on this point by non-clinicians, I can do no better than cite Professor Dover's comments: " Las t night at the Film Society I saw a Polish short film which was presented as a comedy and was so taken by most of the audience,11lO but it actually portrayed twenty minutes in the life of a psychotic, hospitalized but inadequately diagnosed and tonnented by hallucinations. At one moment his parents are in the room, . dressed as they were when he was a baby [my italics]; he takes rcfuge under lhe bed [ProfCMor Dover's italica]; they dance round the room and end up dancing on the bed, while its underside bounces up and down II. On erotized anxiety. cp. wf and Wj. On the fantasy of being run over (crushed), cpo 9 '. This fantalY can degenerate into a suicidal pervenion: a hospitalized borderline plyehotic sometimes crawled under parked automobiles: he had developed a techniqu e of being run OVCT by started can without sl1Itain ing real injuries. UT Prokroustes: 13, 2, pp. 626 If. Idaian Daklyls: (anvil- -AIq.o."",) (13, 2, 3 t2 f.). If Dionysos t he man-smasher (oivfIp
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on his head as he flattcns himself on the Rood" Obviously, All Freud insisted, the unconscious is timeless. ( 16) Variant of llu "milislolU" fanwy: Imlead of being caugh t between the parents, the child is attacked in ulero. 191 E. Rlt. no data. E. Hec.: knees = lap II: womb ; this is common enough a euphemism. E. IT.: house = womb, the womb being oflen held to be the foetus' house, especially in dream. 192 ( 17 ) Res,," fantasies are elicited by the primal scene and especially by the mother's misinterpreted moans (calls for help). (Hes. Th. 164 ff.) 193 If such rescue fantasies take root, the wish to save women "from a life of shame" may become a neurotic symptom.l94 The rescuing of the mother by her son ("mother's hero") is a frequent theme in Greek myth. 19' E. Rh. TIle Charioteer wishes to rescue the snarling hones already in dream. E. Hec.: this being a maternal dream, it is Hekabe (cp. Rhea and Zeus) who presumably wishes to rescue the fawn-child. No call for help is needed, sinCe the fawn is on H eltabe's lap and before her eyes. E. IT.: the mournful ( ?) voice. In the end, Iphigeneia does rescue Orestes ( = Agamemnon "" his house) and is simultaneously rescued by him. (18) Rescue = eounler-all~k . The parents are separated ; the father is killed or mutilated.lllfi E. Rh. The intended counter-attack on the wolves is displaced to Helttor. E. Hie.: H er dream "causes" H ekabe to counter,,' K ronOi is definitely "imide" Gaia (Hes. Th. '74, 178), whose pregnancy is apparent ly artificiaUy prolonged. Cpo the postponement of H crakles' birth until arler thai of Eury1theus (81), also Kleo's five-year-Iong pregnancy and I thmonike's three-year pregnancy, I G. lVI, I . nO. 121 (67, I, pp. 2~1 ff. ) . Cpo a widespread folktale motif: Ihe (aggresl ive) "cle-"er baby" dodges, while inside the "mortar", the giani's "pestle" (.1/2). Cpo also Ihe widespread taboo on eoha bitation wilh pregnant ,,"omen. Wh<:n: this taboo is lack_ ing, atypical modes of cohabitation may be thought to harm the roetus (49, pp. 248 ff. ). ' 01 Cpo my discussion of the mea"ing of "'pace" in dream, , upra, citing (a9, 130) . For: womb = h(l~ of the roetu!, and: cradle = house of the baby, cpo (Rj). In order 10 be lOCially reborn, a man wrongly bdieved to have died had 10 lower himself ;lIto tlu hoiu, from above (nole 34). m Experimental data show that tbe expreosion of certain u/rmu emotional states is eu.ily misinterpreted as an expressi(ln oflhe pola.ly (lppooile Iiale (cp. j and much oubse_ quenl work ). ,.. Cpo Freud (77), on the wish to "save" prostitutes by marrying then'!. This is a common plot elem=t in New Comedy, whose rorcrunner was nOloriously Euripides ( 118). Coincidence ? '0. Gaia aw Kron,," to rescue her (H es. Th . • 64 ff.) . Other TOeUes, E. AnIWpt. E Hyps., etc. Perseus must TOeue Danai.' from Pol)1:lekt es; A. Diet. is, I IUSpect, a parody of Ihis Iheme, Polyddl.1'" being perhaps anticipatorily caricatured H Silenoo. This mOlivati(ln i. in,·er.ed in .he Phoinix myth: .he IOn mw. avenge the .."."a1 fru:nration of his m.,thc.c, Hom. ll. 9+1 ff.j perhaps: E. Photnix; this is a counter-oedipal fantasy (30). Lydian "mother'. hero" examples in Herter (87). , .. KronOi (imide Gaia) attacks Duran,," wilh a, twice specified, curved, jagged ( _ toothed) weapon. This is a variant of the oogill" and"", motif: Ihe weapon mUll represent KronOl' teeth, especially lince he later on devours his (lWO children (5t). Cpo dog. "defiling" (rating) an old man'. genitalo: Hom. II. ~~.75; uhoed in Tyrt. frr. f>-7 D. ( II, Edm.) vv. ~5 ff. ( .... ~5, /1M' Edmunds (66) .hould not be emended). Grey squirrels Callrate red squirrels (111:9); , trong male 0""lC" culTale weaker ma.les (138). Child ,,,,,,ping his own penis few balance: ( 113, pI. 29. 1). Given Dodd.' (65, p. 43) intt:rpret.alion at Ailios Aristeid.,.' finger sacrifice dream, Or.,.t.,.' biting off of hil own finger (Pa Ul. 8.34.11 ) must abo be so int~led. Actual andfor fanwied ealtration by biting WH e<>piowly d~nted e!.ewbere
es,).
Thm Euripiuan Dreams: Variaticms on a Them, attack Polymestor. E. IT. After escaping crushing, Iphigeneia prepares the column (_ Agamemnon's phallus) for sacrifice. In so far as (additionally) column = Agamemnon's son, Iphigeneia-like other Grttk womenhurts a man by killing his child. l97 In E. IT., attack, counter-attack and rescue form a heavily overdetermined whole: Agamemnon "sacrifices" Iphigeneia at A~is to Artemis, who rescues her and substitutes a hind.1 91 In E. IT. Orestes attacks the herd; he plans to "attack" (rob, kidnap) Artemis (= Iphigeneia). Iphigeneia (a hypostasis or double of Artemis) counter-attacks: Orestes is to be sacrificed. Yet, ultimately, Orestes kidnaps (,.. rescues) both Artemis and Iphigeneia. Thus, the attack and counter-attack lead to a reciprocal rescue. Agamemnon attacked Kl ytaimestra via Iphigeneia; for Iphigeneia's sake Klytaimestra counterattacked and killed Agamemnon: in dream the column, representing Agamemnon's maleness, collapses.l'~9 ( t 9) RelUtiw sexual aTQU5al: this leads to occasional autoerotic activities. 200 E. Rh. E. Hu. : Apparently no data. E. IT.: Probably hinted at, albeit in a heavily disguised form: Iphigeneia washes " hair" .201 {But I recall that the Athenian woman's pubis was shaved (Ar. Thum. 590 etc.)) (:20) &run memory. The primal scene experience is alm05t alwa)'ll deeply repressed and then leadlS to the formation ofa substitute-spurious and distorted- pseudo-memory ("scrttn-memory"), wh05e equivalent is so-called "second sight".202 E. Rh.: The Charioteer's unjust accusation of Hektor. E. Hec.: The Prologue's apparition (a man-shaped spectre) is ,n S. T er...s; E. Me". T his i. the third time Orcota is injropardy; the fint two tima he manifestly incurred mortal danger because he was Agamemnon'. infant IOn: E. T.Uph. (from Teleph..) : A. CIt«., S. EJ., E_ EJ. (from Aigifth ..). ". Hence: daughter ... hind (E. IT, I A): child _ fawn ( E. 11«.). '" This is the commonplace "detumacence = castration _ death" symbolic equation, cpo the Somali proverb: "the vagina is the place where the penis goa to die". ( u8) For : "tume&c:ent phallus _ symbol of Life", cpo Nilsson, (117, [. pp. [ [ 8 f.) This equation is buic and widespread : oome Micronesians try to prolong a dying man's life by a Uempting to produce a tumescence of hil organ. (r oo) . - Hermes envies Ares in Aphrodite's arms, Hom. 8.339. (Since humour seems ...,.istant to cultural change, I mention that, only ten lines earlier (3~9), one reads: "the sI.ow (HephaUt..) overtook the jim (Are). " This is pre<:isdy the point of a modern aneroote about an autoerotic reaction to the primal scene.) X. Smp. 9.': aner seeing an erotic dan ce, the arow.ed married men rush home to their wiva and the bachdon vow to get m.arriM at once. Explicit references to the child's arousal by the primal scene: A. Did. 810 If. Undentandahly, autoerotism is not mentioned in myth (except in the DiooylOf-Pr..yml"lOll story, chap. :I , note 75, reported only hy late aUlhon, though the ritualluggests that it is ancient). Ttl.,..., exist, however, several myths of lpontancotlS or prematun: divine emissions, cited elsewhere (51). T he Egyptian god Atum even masturbated, (cp. 131, I.V. Schow, col. !l6,). Such evidence mould neither be llrained nor ignored . .., Cpo Tyro pouring Wa[er erotically in her lap (Luc. DMa,. [3. t) and Danae impregnated by a rain of gold falling in her lap. S. All. 944 If. Whenever Euripides men [ions 11eq> or dreaming, within I.,.. than 30 lines then: is also afwtl.1s an allusion to water Or to some other fluid, supra, note [3[ . III Athene deprives the peeper Teiresi ... ofhis sight but grants him second sight: Callim. l.Iwcrn. Morul\"er, though blind, he can, when helped by a seeing asmtant, interpret the flight ofhirdl (5. AnI. 9911 If. , [0,2 ff.)-tbough he does not always seem to bave a seeing auistant. The (ob,·ioUlly imagined) flight of birds is an excellent screen memory for the primal occne, oince the dream Iymbolization of tumac"m:e by flight was known long before Fr<:ud (75, chap. I) and has now been experimentally confinned (11,94).
0".
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Tlrm Euripitkan Dreams: VariatiDn! on a Tlume seen apparently only in dream, and then only in the guise of a fawn .;!!» E. IT.: The dream is misinterpreted once in dream and (differently) again on awakening. The relationship between the retroactive defensive contriving of a screen memory and the immedia1e defence of scotomization (3) and/or of non· recognition (4) is highlighted by H ekabc's and Iphigeneia's attempts to "ward off" their respective dreams. The fonner utlers a prayer and the latter hopefully tells her dream to the daylight-an old Greek apotropaic manceuvre,104 which evens the path for the formation of screen memories, whose coming into being is, of course, already facilitated by the tm:dety-disttJrud perception of the primal scene. m The presentation of the component elements of the real or fantasied primal scene in an itemized form, susceptible of statistical analysis, is only a preliminary step towards an understanding of the broader human implications of this total experience, which pla~ an important role in the formation of mankind's species-characteristic (102, 57, chap. 7) Oedipus complex. Not only children, but also some emotionally immature mothers feel that marital relations disrupt their almost symbiotic commuruon.206 Traumatic for the child, it is also derivatively traumatic for the parents, though the extent to which the child is traumatized depends on whether the witnessed embrace was loving and proud or shamefaced and cold (26) . It may well be of great significance for the understanding of Greek character structure, that, in the Kronos myth, they contrived a triumphant (though savage) solution for one of the most traumatic conflicts of childhood. May this not explain, at least in part, their intellectual and emotional freedom and spontaneow creativeness? This query leads dirIXdy 10 the problem of the sublimation of this experience, via screen memories and their oruric equivalents ; they provide the raw fantasy material from which the mtlllifestatims of this sublimation (e.g., of tragedy) are constructed. The three Euripidean dreams were probably patterned upo n one or more of Euripides' own dreams ( = screen memory equivalents). Of course, we lack information about his own initial experience, his waking screen memories and his actual dreams, which underlie the sublimation of his experience into three poetically compelling and psychologically plausible dreams. We can, however, get an indirect glimpse of this process, by scrutinizing the many variants of the myth of Iasion's and >lJ T tu. i. a" extremely .triling detaa . The eonsc;" ... ly ".1 perceive of .. tachistOKOpically pnscn!ed picture impinge none the less on the ..,nwrium and become part of the " day Telidue" oflhe foU""'ing night'. dream , though sometimes in a Iymbolic form only ( 11/,). (These epoch-making findinga have been repealedly and complelely confirmed by lubsequent experimen!al wOI'k. ) On Ihe perception, in dream, of $ubliminal diu. so"",. passim. The belief, sense impressioru, cpo p'.-Hp. il/suml/., pa$Sim and Arist . that one is panop'ychologically more "sensitive" in dream Ihan in the waking state, is ancien! and reqllires no documentation. -l'Iychologirally, Iphigencia piu realily and daylighl against fantlUy a nd dream. So dOCI Kadmos, " 'hile trying 10 bring Agaue back to her semCI, E. Ba. 1~64 If. 15.. ). Cpo chap. I, note 3;~, note 104. >t, On the protean manifestations of ser.,.,n memories, even in the Slale of transference, cpo (41). , .. Cp. the widespread taboo On cohabitati()ll with lactating women; also dinical data. A young mother felt "aawed in half": "the upper parI of my body belonga 10 my baby, the lower to my hwband" U7, clu.p. 7).
.u
Thm Euripidlan Dreams: Van·ations on a Theme Demeter', sacred marriage; variants which range in quality all the way from magnificent epic sublimations 10 the cloying novelette, depending on the way a particular author handles certain elements of that myth. The exact date of the authors cited is immaterial, since no unilinear evolution of the myth is postulated.207 The evolution of this myth d eserves close scrutiny, since it reflects paradigmatically both the success and the failure of the sublimalory process. Tilt Btui, Myth: Demeter cohabits in person, lovingly and voluntarily, with the mortal lasion, in a thrice ploughed fallow land (Hom. Od. 5.125 fr.; H es. Th. 969 fr. ). (I) The E/)OJ/Mttnce of DerlUlff: She is involved in her own person in Hom. Od., H es. Th.; probably also in Strabon 208 and almost ceTlainly in Apollod. g.12.1. Only her cult statue (6:yw,lla) is mentioned by Skymnos (685, GGM. 1.22g) and by H ellanikos (fr. 129, FHG. 1.63 = sch. A.R. 1.916). In Konon (narr. 21 ) we are left only with her phantom (o¢"clla.) She is present in person- though only after the act- in Ovidius (Mel. 9.422 fr. ), of which more below. ' (2) Low vs. RaPt: Only in Hom. Od., H es. Th. and in Ovidius (infra) does she voluntarily unite with lasion in love. In the other sources just mentioned, and also in D.H. (ant. Tom. 1.61 ), she herself, or her statue, or her phantom is sacrilegiously assaulted.209 (3) Completed vs. Non-Completed Union: Several of the sources cited sayor seem to suggost- that the attempted rape was unsuccessful. 210 An imitative, euhemeristic and rationalizing author (D.S. 5.49.3) even denia that a union wa~ auempterl; he int.. rpr .. l
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a Theml
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the failure of sublimation and iu replacement by denials and defenca. Predictably, the poetically most powerful versions are the least disguised and expurga ted ones: those of Homeros and of Hesiodos, simply because the most creative sublimations are those stable enough to come to terms with the unvarnished psychological truth (35,90). This is the atmosphere of epic poetry and often also that of tragedy. A less complete sublimation corresponds, roughly speaking, to the moralizing novel, represented here by all our other sources (except D.S. and Ov.). With the former we enter the world of bloodless, speculative intellC{;tualizations, while Ovidius represents the nadir of this myth's degradation: his cloying genre-picture reflects the failure of sublimation on all front!. The degree of sublimation attained by Euripides in these three dreams is not much inferior to that anained by HomerOll and by Hesiodos, in their accounts of the lasion myth, though, on the manifest level, his dramatic dreams stem non-sexual. m But Euripides did preserve in them the basic structure of the primal scene experience, and therefore did not attenuate its immense officlive charge. He also made up for this slight defect of his sublimatory potential by learning to tolerate uncertainty to an extent seldom matched by other poets. As Friedrich Schiller said: " The poet is one who remembers his childhood." He is also one strong and human enough to dare remember it "eoli,"iy. Appem/i~: TII~
Rhe.!W Prublem
An incidental finding of this chapter is the striking similarity between the E. Rh., E. Htc. and E. IT. dreams: descriptively, structurally and psycho-analytically. Mathematically, the possibility thot these many similarities eQUid be due ro choll&e appears 10 be negligible, evm though some oj the common titmnlU are uehnieolty not imupendent variables. These dreams are, moreover, so highly individualized that no psychological system (other than the pseudo-psychology of the m)'litic C. G . Jung) GOuld account for them in terms of basic human characteristics, nor do the similarities between them appear to be due to a specifically Greek cultural patterning of dreams, for I was unable to find an ancient Greek dream which resembles these three more than superficially. The possibility that the Charioteer's dream is a deliberate imitation of the other two Euripidean dreams must also be excluded. Aristoteles him_ self stressed the unteachableness and individualized character of the me ta phor, and therefore (implicitly) also that of the dream-especially of the "literary dream" (General Introduction). The scientific psychologist can only concur-and I might add that I myself have tried and failed to contrive a dream which resembles these three infundonuntol wa)'li. It is also nearly impossible to entertain the notion that the E. Rh. dream was simply lifted either from the hypothetically loot Euripidean RJwos or from some other lost Euripidean dream narrative: the Charioteer's dream filS its existing context far too well to warrant such a hypoth~. '''I'«haps beca.w.<: of his infcr.. Wc
"tta.~hmcm
to hi! mother (IUp... ).
Three Euripitkan Dreams: Variations on a TIierm
3"
Since these basic similarities dQ exist, a refusal to explain them would be scientific nih.ilism. It therefore seems simplest to conclude that they lend solid support to Ritchie's sober and scholarly arguments in favour of the authenticity of the Rksos we possess and also to his view that it is Euripides' earliest surviving work ('25).m
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An.c~nt
Gm! Horsemanship. Berkeley, California,
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193°·
(8) Besamron, Alain : Chronos et Cronos (in) Hisloirt eI EJrpiritnce du Moi, chap. 4. Paris, 1971. (9 ) Bezdechi, Stefan: Das psychopathische Substrat der "Bacchantinnen" Euripides', Archiv far di, Geschichte dn- M ,dizin 25 :2 79-306, 193:2· (10) Borel, Th.: Exam.t:n Critique dt la Tragidie dt Rhisus. Geneve, 1843. (II) Bourguignon, Andre: Recherches Recentes sur Ie R~ve, Les Temps Modmus no. :238:1603- 16:28, 1966. (1:2) Bowers, U. G.: Tk Hidden Land. New York, 1953. (13) Cook, A. B.: .{tuS,:2. Cambridge, 19:25. (14) Crahay, Roland: fA Lit/ira/ur, Oraculair, ck~ Hlrodo~. Paris, 1956. (15) Dechanne, Paul: EuripidM and tk Spirit r.if his Dr/U1UlS 2 • London, '909· (16) Dement, W . c.: The Psychophysiology of Dreaming (in) Gronebaum, G. E. von and Caillois, Roger (eds.): Tk Dream in Human Socie/its. Berkeley, California, 1966. (17) de Romilly, Jacqueline: La Crain" tI l'Angoissl daTU Ie TMBtrt d'Eschyle. Paris, 1958. (18) de Saussure, Ferdinand: COUTS de Linguistique Centralt. Paris, 1916. ( 19) Devereux, George: Stdang Field Notes (MS.), 1933- 1935. (:20) id.: Principle! of Ha (rhn)de :a(ng) Divination, Man 38: 1:25-1:27, 193 8 . (lU) id . : Religious Attitudes of the Sedang (in) Ogburn, W. F. and Nimkoff, M. T.: Sociology. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1940. (:2:2) id.: Mohave Pregnancy, Acta Am.t:ricana 6:89-116, 1948. (23) id.: The Mohave Neonate and Its Cradle, Primitive Man 21:1-18. 1948 . m But, in the meantime, the sceptics still persevere (66, 73, 9.5) .
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(24) id.: Mohave Paternity, Sami/cid, Journal oj the Indian Psycho-Analytical Society 3:162-194, 1949. (25) id .: A Note on Nyctophobia and Peripheral Vision, Bulktin of Me Menninger Clinic 13:83--93, 1949. (26) id.: The Primal Scene and Juvenile Heterosexuality in Mohave Society (in) G. B. Wilbur and W. Muensterberger (eds.) Psychoanalysis and Culture (RtJhtim Festschrift). New York, 1951. (27) id. (and Mars, Louis): Haitian Voodoo and the Ritualization of the Nightmare:, Psychoanalytic Review 38 :334- 342, 1951. (28) id.: Psychological Factors in the Production of ParaesthesiiU Following the Self-Administration of Codeine, Psychiatric OJutrterly Supplement 27:43-54, 1953· (29) id.: Charismatic Leadership and Crisis (in) Muensterberger, Warner (eel.): Psychoarwlysis and the Social Scitnces vol. 4. New York, International Univenities Press, ' 955. (30) id.: A Counteroedipal Episode in Homer's Iliad, Bulletin oj the Philtuklphia Association for Psychoanalysis 4 :go--g7, 1955. (31) id. : Acting Out in Dreams, American Jour1llli of Psychotherapy 9:657-660, 1955· (32) id.: Thtraptutic Edutation. New York, t956. (33) id.: Penelope's Character, Psychoanalytic Quarterly 26 :378-386, '957. (34) id.: The Awarding of a Penis iU Compensation for Rape, International Journal oj Psyclw-Anolysir 38:398-401, 1957. (35) id.: Art and Mythology: A General Theory (in) Kaplan, Bert (ed.): Studying Pml)1Wlily CroJJo_Cullurally. Evamloll, II1ilioi~, IgGl . (36) id.: La Psychanalyse et I'Histoire: V ne Application a I'Histoire: de Sparte, Annates: &tmomus, Sociilis, Civilisations 20: 18-44, 1965. (37) id.: The Perception of Motion in Infancy, Bulletin oj lhe M enninger ClinU 29:143- 147, 1965. (38) id.: The Kolaxaian Horse of Aikman's Parthrntion. Classical Quarterly 15 :176-184, 1965. (39) id.: The Abduction of Hippodameia as " Aition" of a Greek Animal Husbandry Rite, Studi t Materiali di oStona delle Religioni 36:3--25, 1965· (40) id.: Mumbling, Journal oj the American Psychoanalytic Association 14:478-484, 1966. (41 ) id.: Tramference, Screen Memory and the Temporal Ego, Journal oj Nervous and Mental Disease 143 :318-323, 1966. (4-2) id.: The Enetian Horse of AIkman's Partheneion, Hmnu 94- : I <:19- 134.
'960·
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(70) Escher, Albert: Das Antlitz tkr Blirulkil in tkr AntiM2 • Leiden, I g61. (7 1) Fenichel Otto: Tiu PJY'hoanalytic Thmy of Neurosis. New York, 19-4-5· (72) id.: The Misapprehended Oracle (in) The Coliuud Papm of O. Ftnich1l2. New York, 1954. (73) Fraenkel, Eduard: Ritchie, The Authenticity of the Rh~ws of Euripides, Gnomon 37:228-241, IgG5. (74) Freud, Anna: The Ego and tht Mechanisms of Difetut . New York, 1946 . (75) Freud, Sigmund: The Interpretation of Dreams, Standard Edition 4-5' London, 1958. (76) id.: Analysis of a Phobia in a Five-Year-Old Child, Standard Edition 10. London, 1955. (77) id.: A Special Type of Choice of Object Made by Men, Standard Edition II. London 1957. (78) id.: Mourning and Melancholia, Standard Edition 14. London 1957. (79) id. : From the History of an Infantile J'l\e urosis, Standard Edition 17. London 1955. (So) id.: Some Additional Notes on Dream Interpretation as a Whole, (B) Moral Responsibility for the Content of Dreams, Standard Edition 19. London, IgGl. (8 1) id.: Civilization and its Discontents, Standard Edition 21. London, 1961. (82) Greenacrc, Phyllis: Vision, Headache and the Halo, Psychoanalytic Quarterry 16:177-194, 1947. (83) id.: Penis Awe and its Relation to Penis Envy (in) Loewenstein, R. M. (cd .) : Drives, Afficts, Behavior. New York, 1953. (84) Greenwood. L. H . G.: Aspects of Euripitkan Tragedy. Cambridge, 19.13· (85) Grube, G. M. A.: Tiu Dramo. of Euripidt$2. London. 1961. (86) H anfar, Franz: Das Pf"d in pnfhistorisclter und frailer historiscller ;:eit. MUnchen, 1956. (87) Herter, Hans: Lydische Adelskampfe (in) Wenig. Otto (ed.): Wege zur Bl«hwissl/ISchaft (Bonner Bcitrage zur Bibliotheks- und Bilcherkunde 14). Bonn, 1966. (88) Hiatt, L. R.: Mung, Balcony (AwslI'alia) no. 3: 1 5~1, IgElS' (Bg) Hinkle, L. E. jr. and Wolf, H. G.: Communist Interrogation and Indoctrination of 'Enemies of the State', Archives !if Nrorolog; and PSflhiobY 76:115- 174, 1956. (go) jokl, R. H .: Psychic Determinism and Preservation of Sublimations in Classical Psychoanalytic Procedure, Bulletin of /he Mrnning" Clinic 14:207~19, 1950. (91 ) j ones, Emest: The Symbolism of Being Run Over, international ]oUf1llJl of Psy&ho-Analy.sis 1 :203, 1920. (92) id.: The Phantasy of the Reversal of Generations (in) Papers on P~ho-Analysisl. London, 1923. (93) id.: On 1M Nightmart. London, 1931. (94) louver, Michel: The States ofSJeep, &ientifo Ameman ":.116, no. \.! :6\.!7 1, 1967·
316
Three EuripUkan Dreams: Variations on a
The~
(95) Kannicht, Richard: W. Ritchie, The Authenticity or the Rhesus or Euripides, Gymnasium 73:295-297, 1966. (g6) Kassel, R .: (bromado quihus locis apud wttrlS smptom GrlUCOS jnfan~s atqut parvuli pueri. inrmcanlur describantur commemoranlur (Dissertation). Wtlrzburg, 1954. (97) Keller, Otto: Dit antike Tierwtlt 2 vols. Leipzig, 1909-1913. (gS) Kennard, Edward: Hopi Reactions to Death, American Anthropologist 49:491-4g6, 1937· (99) Kouretas, Demetrios: Brainwashing and its Ancient Greek Prototype, Medical Annals (Athens), 6:935-955, 1966. (100) Kr5.mer, A.: Truk (in) Thileniu!, Georg (ed.): Ergebnisse dtr SfJdset-Expedilion 190~/9ro (2-8-5). Hamburg, 1932. ( 101) K.roeber, A. L .: Seven Mohave Myths, Anthropological Records I I (no. I), pp. viii+ 1-70, 1948. ( 102) La Barre, Weston: T hl Human Animal. Chicago, 1954. (103) id.: Social Cynosure and Social Structure, Journal of Personality 14:164- 183, 1946 . ( 104) Laforgue, Rene: On the Erotization or Anxiety, InternationalJournaL of Psycho-Analysis II :312- 321, 1930. (105) id.: De l'Angoisse a l'Orgasme, &vue Franfaise dt Psychanalyst 4 :245-258 , 1930- 193 1 • (106) Landes, Ruth: The Ojibwa Woman. New Vork, 1938. (107) l.esky, Albin: Psychologie bei Euripides (in) Euripide, Entre-tiens Hardt 6. Vol. Geneve, 1960. ( 108) Uvi.Strau», Claude: Afllhropologie Structurale. Pam, 1958. (log) Lewis, N. D. C.: The Psychobiology or the Castration R eaction, Psyclwanalytic Review 14:420-446, 15:53-84, 304-323, 1927- 192B. (110) Lifton, R. J.: Thought Reform and Ihl Psychology of Totalism. New York,Ig61. (I 1I ) Lincoln, J. S.: The Dream in Primitive Cultuml. New York, 1970. ( 112) Malinowski, Bronislaw : The Stxual Life of SQlJagts). London, 1932. ( II3) Mead, Margaret and Macgregor, Frances C.: Growth and Culture. New York, 1951. (114) Menninger, K. A. : Man Against Himself. New York, 193B. (11 5) Metraux. Alrred: Lt Vaudou HaitUn. Paris, 19SB. ( 11 6) Murray, Gilbert: Aeschylus. Oxford, 1940. (117) Nilsson, M. P.: Geschich~ rkr Gritchischm Religion P. MUnchen, 1955. (l i B) Norwood, Gilbert: Greek Comedyl. New York, 1963. (1 19) Patin, H.: Eludes sur us Tragiques Grus 3: Euripide 2 vols.7, Paris,
-894·
( 120) Pauly, A. and Wissowa, G. : Real-EncydoptIdierkrclnssischm Alu,tums· wUsensclwjtnJ. Stuttgart, IB93- . ( 121 ) P6tzl, Otto : Experimentell erregte Traumbilder in ihren Beziehungen zum indirekten Sehen, Z eitschriftflir die gesamte Neurologie und PsychialrU 37 :278-349, 1917. (122) Powell, Benjamin: Erichlhonius and the Three Daughters or Cecrops, Cormll Studin in Clasmal Philology 17. New York, IgOO. (123) Rank, Otto: The Trauma of Birth. London, 1929. ( 124) Raswan, Carl: Drinkers of the Wind. New York, 1950 .
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3I 7
Three EuripitkOll Dreams: Variatums on a ThemI
( 125) Ritchie, William: Tk AuthenticilY oj tk Rhesus oj Euripides. Cambridge, 1964. (1 26) Robert, Fcrnand: H omin. Paris, 1950. ( 127) id.: Le Haul du Decor dans " Iphiginie en Tauride", utomu.r I 14 :g6-1 14, 1970. ( 128) R6heim, Geza: Psycho-Analysis of Primitive Cultural T ypes, International Journal oj Psycho-Analysis 13: 1- 244, 1932. (129) id.: Psychoanalysis and Anthropology. New York, 1950. (130) id.: ThtCausojtkDrtam. Ne-.v York, 1952. (131 ) Roscher, W. H.: Ausftihrlicks uxikon der gritchischm und riimischm Myth%git. Leipzig, 1884- 1937. (132 ) id.: Das von der "Kynanthropie" handelnde Fragment des Marcellus von Side, Abhandlungtn tk philologisch-historisckn Clam der Kifnig/ich S4chsiscMn Cesellschaft dtT Wissenschtifttn 17, no. 3, IBg6. ( 133) Schmid, Johanna : Freiwilligef Opfer/od bei Euripides (Religionsgeschichdiche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 4). Berlin, 1921. (134) Schmid, Wilhelm: Cn chichte dtr griechiscMn Literatur 1.2. Munchen, 1959· ( 135) Sellman, Charles: Womtll in AIltjquiry. New York (Collier Boob). 1962. (136) Spencer. Baldwin and Gillen, J. G.: Tk Arunta 2 vols. London, 192 7. ( 137) Teicher, M. I. : The Windigo Psychosis (in) American Ethnological Socury, Proceedings of the 1960 Spring Meeting, Seattle. Washington,
',00. Time Magazine: Noah's Park p. 34. col. 2, 28 August 1972. Vernant, j .-P.: My/k tt Pensl e ckz les Cues chap. 5. Paris, I¢S. Verrall, A. W.: Euripides 1M Rationalist. Cambridge, 1913. Wallace, A .' F. C.: Dreams and Wishes of the Soul, American Anthropologist 60 :234-248, 1958. (142) White, T. H. : Tk Once and Future King. New York, 1958. (1 43) Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Ulrich von: Kleine SchriJ/en 4. Berlin, 1962 . (1 44) Winnington-Ingram, R . P.: Euripides a"d Dionysus. Cambridge, 1948.
(138) ( 139) ( 140) (1 41 )
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Chapter 9
The Dream Metaphor of the Danaides (Aischylos: The Suppliant Womtn )
The Dream Mttaphor oj the Danaitks
3"
Introduction The text of A. Suppl. 885'""9,)1 is defective. Without radical emendations, vv. 8g6-8g7 are practically unintelligible. I Moreover, it does not describe a dream experience: it simply compares a real happening to a dream. I was therefore tempted not to discuss this problematic passage at all. But I soon realized that my wish to ignore it was motivated less by my conservative attitude towards the textual tradition than by the desire not to jeopardize the credibility of the rest of this book by offering here an analysis which may strike some non-psycho-analytical readers as "wild". At that point I recalled Freud's advice to make no concessions, for that will not persuade those who refuse to look beyond the obvious. I therefore decided to tackle this passage psycho-analytically, letting the chips fall where they may, though without deviating from a conservative approach to the textual tradition. Hence, even though the emendations of vv. 8g6-8g7, printed by Smyth, are not implausible, my analysis takes into account only the two intelligible words of the MS:2 (I) l){16va ( = viper) is both legible and reinforced by the &PIC (= snake) ofv. 895. The mention, in one breath, of two names of snakes in manifestly Aischylean. l (2) &ococax (or 5Cn
The Dream Metaphor of the DaMides (b) A snake wraps ilSdf around the mad Dionysos' legs like shackles (Nic · fr. 30 = Jr. 27 J acoby). In short, like Klytaimestra (note 3), the Herald is compared to two beasts which have many traits in common. This being said, the reader is free to accept or reject the conjecture! printed by Smyth, or replace them with other conjectures regarding the snake-Herald's behaviour---or, as I do, assume nothing whatever regarding his serpentine activities. This, as far as I am concerned. closes the discussion about the role of the serpent in this dream metaphor. The time has now come to print the text (as emended by Smyth) together with my translation. Plausible emendations of the text and inferences regarding its all but inescapable meaning are placed between square brackets: [] ; attractive but uncertain conjectures are placed between angular brackets : ( ) .7 ' Both hen: and throughout this chapter I have gffiltly bendited by ProfCS$Or Dover's comments On the fin t draft of this chapter. His comment.! are identified by his initials {K.J.D.} or name.
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The Dream Mttaplwr oj 1M DatUJidu Ttxt, Transltltion and Commtnl XOpoc· 0101, -.p, [f!!*noc Ilpoc ~l &>.06') &,0" &paxvoc we fXlIS'l')V 6vap 6vap lJiAav ['O.o.o.o.oT·]
<."
ra. (~] opofl
885 886 887 888
.." Bgo
Bg, Bg,
KHPY!'
O(frcn .,o!3oV1l1Xl &rlI.lOVQC TOUC M6:6£. 0() yap Il' ftlpEIIXXV, ova' tyT,pacav Tpocpfj
Xopoc· MatlJ.9: 1TtAac S{1TOVC {)epIC
f):.ISva S' t:>c IJ,t {TIe '!T65a) 60x0{vc' ~fl).
(Vv. 88g--8g2 repeated)'
Bg3
ag., Bg5
8g6 8g7 Smyth's text.
Danaides: Alas, father, the idol's help [is my perdition]. Like a spider he gradually dra~ me {seawarch). A dream-a black dream! Alas, Mother Earth, Mother Earth, avert the terrifying shout, 0 Father( ?), Earth's son, Zew! (Sch. M. is plausible; L.S.].'! ~ = jklctMiJ is not.) Hnald: Mark that I do not dread the gods of this place. They did not foster me [nor will they nourish myoid age]. Danaides: Eagerly approaches the two.legged snake. Like a viper {he grabs my foot and bites it}. Mother Earth, Mother Earth, avert the terrifying shout, 0 Father, Earth's son, Zeus! • Cod. M givdI for vv. 896-8~n: tx.Gvo; e''::'c III < - > (re:spome to -- UUU - ) TI mm v < .ILIL U _ > (retponse to UUU .... U _) bn~ < lIlLU_> (retpometoUUU - U - ) tx.Gva is scanned UUU , these being dochmiacs, i.e. J.! U!J W-(K.J.D.). Speaking with pealmism, one has: Like a snake (me?) (bu. ~ need not be~' or Ill). What ever ... (it) (but v need not be viv). Monster? grief? (but the syntax of that word ia unlrnown) (K.J.D.).
3-.
Tlu Drtam Metaphor
of the Danaitks
I must now consider this dialogue point by point, justifying it and clarifying its manifest meanings and implications. Only after this is done can a psycho-analytical interpretation of the dream-metaphor be attempted.
The idol's help [is my perdition]. Though usually translated as: "may cause", the text is almost certainly in the present indicative (6:Tq:)j classical Greek has no potential subjunctive (K.J.D. ). The Danaides presumably feel that they had erred in relying on the safety of the sacred precincts; they should have continued their flight. {Seaward). The MS conta ins the nonexistent word l.LaA5a. From the purely palaeographic point of view, th is " word" can be a corruption either of ll6:Aa S' (= very much, exceedingly; Bothe, followed by Mazon) or of 1.1' 'ciAaS ( = seaward; Schutz, followed by Smyth). Psychologically, only IJ' ·6)..aS' can be right, for the Herald actually mea ns to drag the Danaides towards the ships waiting to carry them off. SchOtz's emendation therefore adds a further concrete detail to the Danaides' nightmarish plight. And, as a general rule, the dreamlike atmosphere of certain great tales of supernatural danger is due to the accumulation of highly realistic de/oils, arranged in an uncanny manner.g On a different level, being dragged "seaward" echoes the Danaides' wish to drown themselves (7g6 ff. ), which the Herald intends to prevent (873 f.). It hardly requires length y proof that there is an intimate relationship between the wish to drown a nd the threat to commit suicide by hanging (465), not only in this drama and in Greek thought,HI but physiologically as well (suffocation.)l1 La3t, but not least, I will show in due time that "seaward", especially when conjoined with "leaping into the sea" and with "hanging", is compatible also with this dream metaphor's lotenl content. Drags 1M. Elsewhere (fr. 39 Nt ) Aischylos described the carrying (dragging) away of a fawn by two wolues. This reinforces my conviction that he intended the Danaides to visualize themselves as being dragged away by a spider (and/or serpent ?). Indeed, the fragment just cited, which concerns tw~ wolves, makes the (inferable) "duplication" ofthc dragging by a spider and /or a scrpenl (?) also a clue to Aischylos' way of visualizing such scenes : he apparently felt that two draggers were ne<:essary. Since there is only one H erald, Aischylos resorts to a duplication of images: infantasy a "spider" and a "snake" attack the Danaides "successive!,.'. But it is probable that on stage the Herald had grabbed only one memberafthe Charas. However, the duplication of the dtscribed attack(s) must have helped the spectators to imagine the H erald as perhaps multi ple or many-armed, and therefore capable of seizing all of the Danaides. 12 • A critic-perhaps T . S. Eliot- noted how effective Kipling', preci3e reference to "Portugal laurels" (and not JUS! to " laurels") ;. at the end of one of his tales of the .upernatural. Cpo a lso Freud'. cogent observation that "Das UnluimlicM" (4 2) is related at once (0 Nimlieh [ .. secret (ly)) and to Mimuch ( _ hom..-like, i.e., "homey") . The uncanny is, thus, si mply Ihe highly familiar, appearing in disgui3e or oul of context. " Parthen. Erot. 31; Apu1. M,t. 12 in;t. Cpo (68). II It is just possible thaI the reference to a leap into the depths also seeks to evoke allusively ritual leap" into the ..,a. I(alaponlismcs was admirably diocuue
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The Dream Metaplwr oj the Danaides
3'5
Spilkr-. TIle word wed ber-e call denute ~lJiden; ill Kelleral, though usually it denotes the conunon, web-weaving (house.)spider.1l Thus, the Aisehylean image suggesl'l the rutting or Ihe Danaides by the Spider. Herald, of which more anon.l~ But, be he viewed as a hunter or a netter, the H erald is here-as in some other instances (E. Tr., E. HerllCl. , etc. )-a ruthles.os kidnapper, with scant respect for sanctuaries. BIllCk dTeam. The word 6vap can, in theory, refer either to the dream as a whole, or to the Herald's figure seen in dream. The dream can be "black" either became "Egyptians are black in Greek eyes" (K.J.D.), or because black things seen in dream are ominous,ls or because "black" denotes here the painful and ominom quality of the "dream"(.like) experience. Smyth's trandalion: "nightmare" is semantically incorrect: in later times the nightmare was called l,iw."lTIc (perhaps: leaper-upon). 16 But I propose to show further on that this "dream" has all the qualities or a nightmare striew sensu. I do no/fiaT the gods ojthis plllCl. Tluy did no/foster me (i.e., in my childhood [nor nourish myoid age]. This is the usual translation (Smyth, Mazon). But the text sums to say: "nor did they grow old through {my) nourish· ing of them". "This is a simple polariry; a Greek feels he is 'brought up' and 'fed' by his father until he becomes old enough to take over the oIICOC (household), after which he has the responsibility or 'feeding' his father" (K .J.D.). I concede that this polarity is Greek (Ar. Av. 1355 r.) and that aged mortal kingll who abdicate do rely, in myth, upon the protection of their sons or grandsons,l1 I even concede that, despite their access to nectar and serpenl entwlna mor<: than one penon. But J mutt nOle thai, in thio drama, Aioehylos JiJ ""I make Ihe Herald wolf-like, though hio princi pab, the of Aigyp1OS, are called wolves (35 t f. ), and even the Danaidcs Ihemselv"" are compared to wol,''''' (760). In another myth, DanaOl is represented by a wolf "anquiohing a bull (Paus. 2.16.1 , 19.3 ff., 38.4). (Exile _ wolf is eommonplace.} "The girl Arachne, an excellenl .,·..ea,·er, was turned into a spider afier being defeated by the challcng«l Alhenc in a wuving contat (V. C_g. 4'46, etc.). s"veral pcn<>m known to me, who greatly dislike spiders, ugularty visualize spiders (in general ) as silting on the edge of Iheir wcn., ready to pounce on their victirru--and Ihi. even though Ihey In'OWlhat some spiden simply hunt. In short, unless othlTWi.., specified, the word "spider" mak"" mool people Ihink of uxb-wtd£;,"l . pide .... Nik.and ....., who does nol menlion the . pider'. web in hi. ~mI, Dev,,! onc" c,.lla a .pid~r ~pOX'"1<; th"8cRcric I",.,." he weo it, ~\C'" (a poisonous spider). BUI it is significanl in this con tat that he dlMS use (Nic. Thtr. 733 ) the tum 6p<xxvtJ'VT<:r (ful! of filamenu? ), thtl! showing Ihat the word &P'l<x'"1 evoked for him ""'"9 the spider" web. ,. But the IC<:"flI: can abo be vimalized differently: "the image made me think not of a web, bUI of a hunting spider which chases its prey and drags it off wben il has killed it. When I read the Greek lat before rearling [the fint draft ofthio ch apter] I thought of: (a) the faci that crabs walk backwards or .ideways, as often observed by Ihe ancients, (b) the dose affinity between crabs and Ipiders, (c) the faet that a man ",,,:ging a woman io bound to walk backwards or sideways: ,!I<):S'lv seemed to me to emphasize Ih,. image" (K.J.D. ). But I feellhal Ihe Herald dragging away Ihe Danaida by their Mi. or by Iheir gll1"rllmlS need not walk backwards or .ideways. Pulling al these "Ieuha", he can walk "rairh! ahead. Still, it" interesting to contrast the divergent mental imagalhe ..me texl can oonjuu up for Iwo different rcaden. "Cp. p .. Hp. i"'
..,m
3,6
TJu Dream Mltapnor of tlu Danaitks
ambrosia,lB the Greek gods relied for their nourishment also on the smoke
of sacrifices. 19 But I have shown (30) elsewhere that the Greek gods were:
imagined as "smoke-inhalers", probably lacking an anus, as legendary "odour-feeders" m often do.M But one decisive detail militates against the view that the Herald speaks of his feeding the gods: it is the mention of (lid agt . Though some Greek supernatural! were believed to be old--e.g., the Graiai (= hags)-their great age made them neither helpless nor dependent.Z1 I am therefore TlDI prepared to assume that, because of their dependence on sacrifices, the Greek deities were-be it only unconsciously-imagined as senile and thue/ore as standing in need of human "nurturing". Thus, the text can only mean : the gods of Argos neither nW'Sed the Egyptian Herald in childhood, nor will they sustain him in his old age. If it is held that the text, as it stands, (annol mean that, then it must be emended. What matters most here is, however, the Herald's impiety. I begin by noting a minor detail: he only mentions the child's and the old person's dependence on divine nurturing. Perhaps, like Aias (So Aj. 767 ff. ), he arrogantly felt that a man in the flower of his strength has no need of divine assistance (9'2 I). But it is more probable that the Herald's impiety is simply ethnocentric (g2'2) : he feels he owes much to the divine Nile, but nothing to the alien gods of Argos. This is, however, contrary to the outlook of the Greeks, who held that Xerxes was punished for his destruction of Greek temples (Hdt. 8 ,54). 22 A Greek revered even alien deities, though he owed them
no personal debt.2l I note, injiN, that the Herald's arrogant disregard of the Argive gods radically differs from the Danaidcs' desperate threat to defile the sanctuary " That ambrosia 'lVlU a hallucinogen is a near certainty for La Barre (50, p . .¢8 and passim). I believe it t~ have been imagined as a eu phoric (3D). " Hom. h. (;6. 310 ff.; Ar. Ao. sSo, 1230 ft, 1262 ff. , 15 16 ff., etc. ,. The gods do not dd'aecate (Plu. /V,. imp. ap.,Anlig. 7 p. 1&::lC) . As odour·feeden they were perhal'" umilar 10 Ihe Mysian Konrvc~ .. C (POIid. FHG 3.29,1.91 _ Sir. 7.3.3, p. 2g6). On olher odour-feeders, cpo Plu. V. ArtlU'. 19; Plin. H/f 7.25; Au!. Gell. !H. I O (Ihe lalter Iwo probably derived from Ari1lelU; 3, p. '28 fT.), Luc. VH L.a3 . Cpo ,"""",C_ 'f¢nmlc O1m. AJup. lOllS, Alciphr. 3.49 and the Greek anecdote in which kitchen odoun serve as a condiment. EthnolOjljcal and clinical paralleb mIen include abo lhe denial of the aillence of the anus (cpo 50; 5~, p. 392; 6,,; ~8; 1~) . n The only senile and helpless "immortal" known to me is Tithonos-a mere mortal rendered immortal, but not gnmted abo eternal youth (Hom. h. V..,. 233 fT.). I hold Ibat his decline was due primarily to his having mated with a goddess. In the Jame hymn, AnchLses dreads a limilar fate and Is later on actually lamed (V. A..,. 2.6'17 fT.) or blinded (Serv. V. A..,. 1.617, ~ . 687)-punlshmenu recalling bolh Oidipous' burt ankles and l ubrequent blindn.,. (33). Odysseus had to be told how to avoid IUch a fate (Hom. Od. 10.~81 ff.). l'Iycho-analyticaUy expressed: nOI old age but inceot with a mother.imago (goddess) causes the "paralysis" ( .. impotence _ lou of manhood) of morlal men. "ThiI alone mould perhaps have indicated thai A. SIJ#l. ~Idated Xmtes' invasion of Greece. Had it antedated ii, this IlCene would have unpleasantly reminded the Albenians of thciT OWl! sacrilegious burning of Sardis (IIdl. 5.105, 6.30, , .8.jl, , . I I. etc.). U Thilt attitude probably prepared the ground for tbe la ter philo5ophical view lhal Ihe goda: were enlitled to reverence, even though Ihey did nol inlervene;n human affain. Th is "ieo-> pruetVe
Th4 Dream MetIJplwr
of t/u DantJides
by hanging themselves in it, if the asylum failed to protect them (787 ff. ).2-4 That threat implies a recognition of the existence and power- if not of the spc"lam(}w benevolence--of the Argive gods.l' Two-legged viper. As in the spider metaphor, the Herald is once again visualized (or described) in a distorted manner. The points of similarity between $piden and serpents justify his being called by both these names. The "twa-legged viper"26 corresponds to the "two-legged lion~" Klytaimestra (A. Ag. 1258), who, in the rest of the Omltia, is mostly called a snake. The alleged obstetrical affinities between the lioness and the she-viper (cp. chap. 5) justify her being called by both these nama. Of coum, we cannot be sure that Aischylos expected us to imagine that the H erald was actually "misperceived", rather than simply called appropriate derogatory names. I incline towards the second alternative: the Herald is a spider = snake onl y morally and in his actions.17 Moreover, qua "serpent", the Herald is a chthonian being- as is, at times, also the patron of his profession, H ermes (A. Choe. I). It is even conceivable that it is precisely the chth(}nian character of the viperine H erald that causes the Danaides 10 appeal for protection to Mother Earth21 and to designate Zeus by the unusual title: "Earth's son". This epithet probably forbids us to assert that the desperate Danaides simply appeal here b(}th to a Chthonian and to an Olympian deity.29 But I concede at once that this argument is appreciably weakened by the fact that the invocation occurs first in connection with the (non-chthonian) spider, and is simply repeated after the verses in which the Herald is called a serpent. Whether the first invocation "meant" to anticipatt the serpent imagery or else unwittingly "suggtsttd" it to Aischylos, I am unable to decide on the basis of psycho-analytical considerations. But, be it the "Cp. the .imilar threats of the Athenians, ..... hen the Delphic oracle gave them a d iscouraging Idponse (Hdl. 7.14'). On blackmail duguism as supplication, cpo chap. 6. "A Greek hero occuionaUy fought or threatened a god, but, in so doing, recognized his power and existence. He who fighll Ihe god_ the e.o~~<>\"_ may be a comemptor of the godl, but he is neither an agnostic nor an atheist, nor does he feel that the god, do nol concern him. .. Structurally related to the two-headed Inake, A. Az. 1~33. T ..... o-headed ocorpion: Nic. 17In.8'2. "By contrast, the good serpentine Kelaops and the bad serpentine Typhon an: both morally and behaviou,.,.Uy "human". II Who, in E. IT 1~6~ If., is repreented by the slain Delphic .he_serpent and who, when d.ispouessed, lends oracular drumu 10 men, in competilion wit h the usurping Apollon'. oracle. And let il nOI be objeo:led Ihal Euripides' account dilfero from thai of Aischyloo (A. L .... 1 fr.) I I h.ve conclusively mown ,h., the .. me pcno ... ~ hold 'wo mlltually contradietcry sets of beliefs (8) and also that that which a culture (or a theology) aflirnu on one IC\·C:/ of diKoune, il lends 10 deny on another le",1 (~9, chap. 16) . The Aischylean and the Euripidean tales are therefore not incompatible, but complementary. D TItiI way of addressing Zeus /lid)' indirectly hint also at his fighl with the ~erpmli"e Typhon. That tale is doubtleso of Egyptian origin: a replica of Osiris' fight with Typhon [Plu. d. Is. d Os. passim, now confirmed by a newly discovered papyrus text: Pap. Jumilhae, cpo (,5)]. The f.el thai the tale ofZeU!' fighl wilh Typhon u mentioned only in 1m. GreeklOurces (Apollod. 1.6.3; Nonn. Dum. 1.137,2.712) doesllDl mean Ibat Aischylos, who wu notoriOtllly familiar with Egyplian mallero, did nOI know il and did nol have il in Ih., back of hit mind whOl., d"",ribing IiI" cla.h t.." .......... ,h., o..n~;d,," (wbom h" con_ .idero 10 be mainly Greek) and the serpentine H erald of th" AilfYPtiadai (whom he viewo :II barbarians).
3,8
Thllhtam Mttaphof of tlu Danmtin
Wlttmg anticipation or the unwitting root or inspiration of the snake
passage, the first invocation greatly tautens the texture and coherence of vv. 885""""901.
Stinging beast (or, perhaps, stinging bite) provides the one non-conjectural clue to the behaviour imputed to the serpentine Herald in the second (snake) part of the dream metaphor. The two previow references to serpents (6quc, l}:.1611<X) do not authorize WI to take it for granted that the dream-snake behaves as snakes usually behave. For, were the text of E. Hec. 90-91 defe<:tive, one might conjecture that the wolf bit the fawn. But in the surviving, non-defective text onc finds the wolf " clawing" - in a feline manner-(lt, better still, using hi$ forepaws the way a man uses his hands. Similarly, were the text of E. Rh. 714 defective, one would never guess that the wolves use their tails as riding crops (chap. 8). I have noted objective similarities between real spiders and real serpents: web = coil, sting = bite. But this only makes it likely that the dream-snake behaves like the dream-spider-it does not guarantee the correctness of the conjecture. The words "snake" and "viper" make a bite no more than probable. But 86:Koe makes a poisonous bite as probable as any conjecture can be, because 6aKvw means: to sting (poisonously). This de tail can therefore be exploited in the interpretative section.
Discussion Before I can analyse the latent content of this passage, some general comments are in order. These verses describe a real event in the form of a dream metaphor. This necessarily indicates tha t spider (and snake) dreams were common (or proverbial) enough in Greek culture for the metaphor to elicit an affective response from the audience. Similarly, the "running inhibition" dream metaphor in Hom. II. 22.199 ff. elicits a strong response to this day : Wilamowitz (73, p. 100) called it "unbearabie". But, in Hom. I I. 22. 199 fT., it is Ihepu t who speaks; in A. Suppl. 885 fT., the Danaides rlumstlvts describe their present experience through a dream metaphor. loO One must also distinguish between what the dramatist sought to achieve by these means and what a recourse to a dream-metaphor would mean to a real woman, who described her experiences in such a manner. Clearly, Aischylos sought only to heighten the affective impact of the scene, by mobilizing the spectators' spider phobiasll and perhaps memories of spider dreams as well. Matters are different when o ne imagines the Danaides as real-.or at least as psychologically plaus ible-personages. ,. Other alterna tives exist. Tn A. CIwf. 527 fT., the Choms narrates Klytaimcstra'. giving birth \0 and nuning a ..,rpent in dream. BUI, at v. 9,,8, it is hard to say whether Klytaimellra recall. her ae tual dream or (much leu probably) . imply clainu thai she mtkrpMrical1y bore and suckled a serpen t. II "About one_third of the penon.! I know well have lOme phobia ol l piden" (K.J.D.) .
• alenal
~
echos :Ia autor
The Dream M elaplwr
of lhe Danaitks
3'9
The description of an oil-going experience as a "dream" reveals, first of all, how shifting and tenuous the boundaries between reality and dream are for prim itives (53, etc_), the ancient Greeks (36, chap. 4) and neurotics (19).32 But there is more to it. The comparing of a horrible experience to a drea m- though it may heighten its ghastliness for the audience- ind icates that a defence mechanism is at work: the reality of the ac tual experience is practically negated, by reeourse to a "de-realization"ll: " I must be dreaming- this cannot be true !" But the descripliut intensification of an " uncanny" horror is sometimes made possible precisely by taking one's affective distance from it- i.e., by means of the defence mechanism of isolalion.l-' This being said, the analysisof a dream-metaphor raises a basic me thodological issue. In analysing M enelaos' dream (chap. 3),B eIC., one analyse'! his personality as revealed by his dream. Similarly, though a ll three Euripi~ dean dreams (chap. 8 ) have as their ialenllheme the primal scene,J6 each of the th ree Euripidean dreamers revea ls his (or her) personality-a nd distinctive predicamtnt- through the mo.nift jl content of the dream (26). By contrast, this dream-metaphor must be analysed primarily as a "type dream": "What does a spider (or snake) dream mean to anyoneespecially in Greek cult ure?" There a re th ree sets of clues to its overt "meaning" : ( I ) The primary clue is the manner in which Aischylos elaborated this simple t hemel 1 and provided clues to its latent meaning in the rest of the d rama. (i) The secondary clues are Greek beliefs about spiders and sna kes. (3) Tertiary clues a re ethnological and clinical parallels. I must now return for a moment to the matter of"shifting boundaries," which I did not discuss fully before, in order not to interru pt my main argument. This scene contains o ne of the most brilliant manipulations of "boundaries" I have ever come across either in poetry or in the dreams I have hea rd as a practising psycho-analy5t. The spider captures and immobilizes its victims by means of its web, i.e., by means ofjiJammlS il produces out of i ts body. He can even suspend himself by- hang from- his own filament, which is so definitely a part of the spider tha t in G reek QpaxVTJC denotes the spider. and 6;¢xVTJ i ts web. n .. For another "boundary shift", Stt below. OJ For a diff= t type of d~ial (by means of a hallucination : A. Ag. 414 if.), cpo chap. 3. .. One of my patients could afford to wallow in ghastly and obscene, nearly halludnatory,/tlIIwia, limply by reacting to them impassibly (isolation ): " All Ihis is very remOle from me" (.w, "3), though his actual drMfIU were neither truly horrible nor obscene. l ' Or that of Penelope, H om. 0". ' 9.555- which fiu her personality ... Homerool dex:ribed it, though not the idealized penonality literary eritia ascribe to her (,6) . .. Parental coitus and the child', reactions 10 it. 11 Compare what Be<:thoven did-and Olhen failed to do---.... ith a truly tri vial lheme in his " Diabelli Variatiollll" (op. IlIO). J' But d:pax"'1 can also mean the spider. Latin: artlllta = .pider "" cobweb. Cpo Gt:nnan Spin/U (related to: "opin") . The rope (an object) with which Arachne hangN henelf heo::omeI a secn:tion of her spider-body (Ov. Md. 6.144 f.),
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echos :Ia al.llor
330
TM Duam M t laplwr
of lhe DllIIIJitiu
Now, in A . Suppl. a "web" or rope is
110/
part of the spider-H#!'(l/d's
equipment. It is a part of his lIictim.r! The Herald proposes to drag the Danaides along by tMir (filament) Mir (884, 909) or by their (web) woven garments (903) - not by their arms or necks. That the " woven" robe which immobilized Agamemnon is called a spider'~ web (A. Ag. '49!1, 1516) as well as a "net" (A. Ag. 868, 1115; A. Choe. 999, etc.) strongly suggests that Aischylos visualized the garments by which the DanaidC'l are to be dragged along as spider-web equivalents. In fact, even the spider's ability to hang from (and by) its own filament is duplicated by the Danaides' threat to hang themselves (465).u Once again we are face to face with the tendency of many mystics 10 equate the aggressor with the victim; the hunter with his prey. These: considerations make it nlmoot certn;n that Aischylos expected us to visualize a "trapping" (web-weaving) spider and not a hunting one. I must comment further on netting = immobilization, for it will be an important element of my analysis of the dream-metaphor's latent content. The Orauia's countless references to Agamemnon's immobilization (by " netting"), which far outnumber mentions of the act of slaying, suggest that the horror of being netted (immobilized) may have been an Aischyuan charact~r trait. But it was assuredly also a Gue! trait, for it is a recurrent motif in Greek myth ..o In short, the spider metaphor not only gives a logically acceptable sense, but also one compatible-as will be shown further on-with the nature of the anxieties the dream-metaphor expresses.
Interpretation The attempted kidnapping sollgh! to force the Danaides into unwanted unions: it prepared. the ground for their being "legally" rapd by their Jt For hanging as the standard Cr«:k female sukide, cpo 3'l. Rope ustd to hang om:sdf with _ spider's filament: Ov. Mel. 6.1.14 f. easel of.uicide by banging (choking) one..,If witb one'. own hair are On re<:ord (74, p. ~og) . .. Perjured gods Wcome paralysed (H es. Th. 775 ff. ). Hera is glued to her throne by Hepha;'tos (Pall'. 1.~(I.3, ete. ) and is also titd up by Zeus (H om . II. 15.18) . Aphrodite and Ala are nClled by Hcphaistos (H om. 0<1. 8'~7~ If.) . Promethe", is ehained. Ares is chaintd by the Aloadai, one of whom is namtd Ephial tes (_ leaper_upoo, nightmare, och. 8 . H om . fl. 5 .385 fr., EM 103.3'1). I n H~d"", Th.,..,,,, i . .. nuh"" 10 hi .... ~t by mltny .naka (Apollod . Ep. 1.'14), or by chains (H or. c..rm. 3+79), or by his own /l "" h growing to the seat (Paw. J<).'19.9). (Cp. Arachne's rope _ bodily secretion. supra, oote 39). These alternatives prove that "fellen" and garments can either be exlernal to, o r part of, the prison~r himself (6:9) (chap. 7, note 83 ). An amphisbaina immobiliz"" the mad Dionysoo' lcp, ..,h. r\ic. Thn. 377. The Gr...,ls, who ~ hunting nets extensi"eiy, were <=tainly able to empathize with the plight of an insect caught in a net. For, as I ha~e mown elsewhere ( H» , one'. cltmee of a particular m~allS of aggreosion-and even of a particular cune-always reveals what the aggressor himself dreads moJl. One need not even be a poychologist to reach thi. obviow conclusion. The pivotal point in Nevil Shute', novel: Mosl &m/ (1915 ) (67) is thaI the German.'! inventtd Ihe FUJml'lllllt'O/" because tltey dreadtd fire more than other people. I am inclined to conn...,1 the Creek's feat of im_ mobilization with the Iwaddling of Cr...,k infants (A. Choe. 5~9) . An analya.and, who had becn $waddltd, broke with a charming girl_friend because he could oat endure her tendency to wrap h....df tightly around him in bed. M oreover, the ... me .. nalysand /J1UIWwd his u .t eA-I...,;.,.&- I.>y j"'t!:-lyiHtI Ille .Ulimal whenever it misl.>d.la,·cU .
••
The Dream Metaphor oj tlu Danaides
33'
kinsmen . The Danaides reacted to this with threats to hang themselves and with the wish to drown; in short, they reacted to the Herald's threats of immobilhation with the striking allernaliut! of suffocation fantasies (68). We have here IIVeT)' element of the nightmare stricto Stnsu: incest, sexual aggression, immobilization and suffocation (47, passim ). Otdipality. I must begin my discussion of the dream-metaphor's latent content with a discussion of the incest element, discernible in all genuine nightmares (47). Incest (oedipality) is not definable by rote, in purely bio-genealogical terms. There can be no incest, in an operational sense, where there is no kinship system: animals can inbreed, but cannot be incestuous (.'3 1, chap. 7). Coitus between an adoptive father and an adopted daughte r is operationally and experientially incestuous, without being also inbreeding. Coitus between a brother and a sister, unaware of their biological kinship, is not incestuous, though biologically it is in-breeding (see also chap. 2) (5). Incest, as an tx/JllrilnCt, depends on arbitrary social rules: an Athenian could marry his paternal, but not his uterine half-sister, though in childhood he presumably developed psychologically identical- tenderly fraternal , rather than sexual- feelings towards both. The incest element is latently present also when one marries a (biologically unrelated) father or mother " substitute". It can appear even in the course of a non-incestuous marriage, if the nature of the marital relationship gradually mano:uvres one or both of the spouses into a psycho-socially parental role. (Cp. chap. 2 , note 93.41) In short, the incest element intervenes when a pre-existing psychosocial " kinship type" relationship between a man and a woman : (I) causes them to avoid coitus "virtuously"; (2) incius them to engage in coitus: (a) to lend it a tabooed "spice", or (b) because it is, e.g., a royal privilege (Egypt, etc.), or else (c) because it is a socially standardized ritual crime, having "desirable" consequences,42 etc. In the case or the Egyptian-born royal Danaides, what highlights most their subjective obses.osion with incest is the routine character of Pharaonic brother-sister marriages, which one may assume to have been known to Aischylos. But I note that, throughout this drama, he represents the Danaides as Greth and their cousins, the Aigyptiadai, as Egyptian barbarians. It ill possible th a t, by
m ean ~
o r th is d iffe ren tial charac terization,
Aischylos sought to assert the superiori ty of Greek customs to those of the "Du Bois (:n , p. g6) reeorcin! a otril.:..ing statement made by an Alorce man : At night , half asleep, one sometimes calls one·, wife: " Mother'". Ft:l"enczi (39) noted long ago that a deere"'" of~ual interest in the ! potu<: may result from a growing tendency to Ihe IPOuse as a parent-surrogate (hmband = paternal provider ; wife = maternal nurture.) . ., Cpo the purdy " inslJ"Umentat" (goal-din:cled) inces t of Thyestcs with his daughtt:l" Pdopeia (chap. 2). On the po$.'>ibly poli tical-instrumental character of Oidipom' incest, cpo (18) . On Kuanyama Ambo sorcerers (H ) and chap. g , note 6,. On in ca t and kinthip in general, cpo 3 1, chap. 7.
"",,ioe
The Drl!am Mtlaplwr of the Danaides 33' Egyptians (cp. 760 f.). If so, he did not attain his objective, for, as noted , an Athenian could marry his palmwi half-sister. In short, what undersco res the oedipal dement in this whole drama is
precisely the Danaicles' socially disingenuous pretence that a marriage with their (paternal) cousins would be incestuous .•) The fact is that neither Aischylos nor any other Greek autho r who retold this myth seems to ha ve a ccepted as valid the Danaides' claim that a marriage to their paternal cousins would have been " incestuous" (socially objectionable). Hypcrmnestra's happy union with her cousin Lynkeus abo disproves the validity of the Danaides' ciamourings about incest. \Vhat their un/enable clajrns and argume nts do underscore is that the
Danaides were pmonaUy hostile to men and to sexuality- an attitude which the Greeks did not condone- and tried to di:rgui.re their loathing of sex as a horror of incest . But it is precisely their choiu of this particular ( 15, pp. 55 f., etc.) futile rationalization which reveals their real motivation: the Danaides (subjecti vely) experienced all sex as " incest". Such an outlook is commonly met with in daughters having a strong oedipal fixation on the father- and the Aischylean Danaides' fath er ftxation has been conclusively demonstrated by Kouretas (49) on the basis of altogether different data and reasonings.# The importance of the incest element in this drama- and in nightmares - must be borne in mind throughout the follow ing discussion. which is focused on the sexual-aggressive role of the phallic mother (rather than on the father) in Ihe lJPieQJ nightmare el'>perienct, which the dreammetaphor replicates. Spider SymboJi:rm was well understood by Abraham ( I ), whose interpretations were subsequently verified by others, for spider dreams appear to be fairly common .•! Artemidoros (4.56) compares spiders to contemptible people who, despite their weakness and insignificance, can cause great harm. One a lso notes that eertain Greek authors grossly exaggerated the ., I stnss that the Danaides and the Aigyptiadai are kindred mainl y through their commOn descent from two brothen, even though in most of their spo:«hes the Danaides refer mainly to their common ances tress 10 (but less often and al
'alenal
~
:larechos de al.ltor
Till Dream Metaplwr
of IIIl Danaiies
poisonousness of mosl spiders,46 though the bite of many species is at moot unpleasant. The most $trii
33' In my own clinical experience, spider webs, hairy spiders and swarms of spiders represent mainly the female pubic hail' surrounding the danger-
ous (toothed?) vagina (which the pubic hair both conceals and implies). Since this point- which is of considerable importance in this discussion - may bewilder (and perhaps shock) the non-clinician, several concrete examples, which will substantiate this finding, will now be cited. Examplt 1. A depressed, apathetic and asthenic male analysand (with a "devouring" - but also seductively "food-stuffing"- mother) dreamed of an electric wall socke t, IiteraHy covered with swarms of spiders. He immediately understood- without any interpretation from me- that the socket was his mother's vulva~l and the spiders her pubic hair (25). Examplt 2 . An inexperienced pubescent boy felt repelled by his barely nubile girl friend's scanty pubic hair. It seemed to him that spiden were crawling over her otherwise bare mom wnnir. At times, the spidery female pubic hair is fantasied as behaving like the tentacles of certain small marine animals, or like the anns of cephalopods, which sweep their victims into their maw. In other instances, the hairy vulva is fantasied as a VfJTttX, which, by suction, draws the victim into the vagina. &lt 3. A very severely disturbed borderline patient once practically hallucinated his mother's whole body as a huge, hairy pubis and feared that her vagina would suck him in, " the way a vacuum cleaner sucks in dust" (..-0, 23).'2 This teITifying conception of the spidery, "traplike" female pubic hair may perhap.! even explain why the pubis of Athenian women W8..ll depilated. sl In short, a woman whose spidery pubic hair entraps the man is a good symbol of the kind of rapacious and sexually seductive woman Americans call a "man-trap". Still another fantasy centred on the symbolic equation : female pubic hair = swanns of spiders = cobweb, is that the pubic hair conceals the female penis, or actually "is" the female penis. &le 4. A statistician in anal)'llis reported seeing his mother in the nude only once: at the age of six or seven, when he was not yet (consciously) aware of anatomical differences between the sexes. Expecting to see a penis, he did "see" a penis-but did ntJt see his mother's pubic hair (perhaps bc<:ause, at that age, he himself had none). His associations to this misperception were striking: "Perha?! my lifelong tendency to sec " In Ih~ U.S.A., such 'IOCk"u. do not hav~ round hal.,., bu t narrow .lits; cpo U.S.A. dang: "split" or "Ilit" = vulva. "Th~ vortC"lC has always fascinatm mankind . Th~ Moha,'~ bdiev~ chat JTnall d l1lcy whirlwinds carry ghosts ("7, p. 43~). The "ortex playm a major role in the chought of the Pre-Socrati cs. Cpo the Indo:><, I.vv. ~Iy ~, ~hIOC, of Diels-Kranz; abo Edgar Allan Pa..'. tale of the Maelstrom (61 ). Th e Grecks even mythologizrd sea vorto:.,. (Skylla, Charybdil), and Greek seamen could not but know that one must swim away from a foundering . hip, l.,.t OM be suckm into th~ depths by the vortC"lC its . inking creates. (Cp . the Danaid.,.' drowning fant .... ies.) "This interpretation ;s reinfon:ed by th~ anxi~ty dr~am a Somali man- belonging 10 a natiQI) whOk women arc depilated- had after tohabitillg with a (non-depilaled) Europtan prostitute. I n ItiJ dr.::am her pubie hair a ppeared.., an inguinal (male) beardi.e., as IOm~thing which (necessarily) surrounds a (tooth.filled) mouth (6~) .
• alenal
~
echos de al.llor
The Dream Metaphor
of the Darunus
335 what I expect, and not what h really there, acco unts for my deficiencies as a proof-corrcctor." Since I have related the Herald's threats to drag the Danaides by the hair to spider webs, I must demonstrate that there can be a cultural nexus between Mad hair and spiders, even.in tribes where the spider plays a "good" role. One of the main souls of the Sedang Moi iJ the "spider soul" (cp. the Greek winged soul: \iNX.fl), which is said to perch just above the forehead, in the parting of the hair.~ II requires little imagination to realize that the parting of the hairgreatlyresemb!es the "parting" of the fema le pubic hair.55 D uring an important ann ual rit ual, each Sedang catches a live spider and puts it on the parting of his (or her) hair, so as to reinvigorate the "spider roul", which percha on that Spot.56 Tht Phallic Female. Throughout the preceding paragraphs I have spoken of the spider as a symbol of the fJagina den/aia, and this even though I underscored also the Danaides' father-fixation-motivated neurotic obsession with incest. I must therefore answer the foreseeable and quite reasonable objection that I have treated the spider (and its net) as a female symbol-seemingly ignoring all the while the fact that the spiderHerald is a man. I begin by noting that the child views the penis as the main symbol and attribute of power. Hence, since the mother is larger than the child, the child fantasies that she simply "must" have a penis. I n Example 4, one ac tually wi tnesses the transformation of the (not perceived) maternal pubic hair into a (mis-perceived) female phallos. It is, moreover, a traditional characteristic of the vagina den/ata that it deprives the male of his phallos, so as to (twin possession of it. The child, the neurotic and even myth easily cireumvem the hollowness of the female organ by means of the fant asy that the woman has an anal hollow penis (40, chap. 42 ).57 •• This portion of the skull, wh~r~, in the neonate, Ih~ fontanella is located, plays a major IVle in &dang " physiological" bel iefs. One irIormam flatly asserted that one breathes with the fontanella. AnOlher said on ly Iha t Ihe fontanella wu "somehow" ~on nected with breathing. Now, in the Sedang language, ihidm mean. both breath and (violent) affeclhitYi ill $Cat is Ihe solar ple:rlU. To have "much ihiam" is therefore practicall y an equivalent of Ihe Greek IIIYoo...~C, whi~h corresponds cxa~dy 10 ""'11~a"imild (u used, e.g., by Macchiavelli ) (56) . .. The R omans parted the hair ,,-ith a little . pear ~alled Msta (Ov. Fasl. ~.560 ) . That word ~an abo denOle the penis (Au ~t . Priap. 4I.t ) . The ,",!uation: hair _ pubic hair is disccrnible in I tAri~lh. 11.10 If., and also in the tradition that the cow 10 gave birth to Epaphos aftcr Zm. touched berfor.MDd (A. StJ/1Pl. 576 If., PV 850 fr. , etc.), for the Greeks cmph..i~ed the curly_haired forehead of bovin,," both in poctry (E. BD. 16!) tr.) and in art (cp. chap. 2, note ++). Cpo Ihe belief thai the aphrodisiac "hippoman""" is a ft""hy clot in Ihefor./od: ofl()IDC col", (AriM. HA 572a21, 577a9; PalU. 5.27.3, et~. ) . [I n Thcocr. 2.48, it is a mare-maddening hallucinogenic plant (Datura stramonium). Contra: Dover, ad. loc.] .. How "naturally" spiders evoke a woman', Ir_"d hair is shown by a rather beautiful modern love potm (11, p. 5), which I happened to r~ad while writing this cha pter. The poet rifllSeS 10 compare this beloved's hair to corn .ilk 0_ 10 spiden-aod, in I() doing, ri«s of coune compare it to spider!. This comparison is particularly .ignificant in the C&$C of this poet, who mendon. his beloved', pubic hair far more often than her (head) hair• ., Abraham (I) even cit.,., in C(Inne<;tion with spider symbolWn, the infantile fantasy that, during coitus, the man'. small (but "",ternal) penis penetrat"" the large (but internal) f.",...l" I'h ..11"".
The Drtam Metaphor of tk Danaides
Another way of circumventing this difficulty is to assert (symmetrically) that the penis (or the scrotum) can withdraw into the abdomen, becoming inverted and turning into a kind of vagina.58 Now" as regards ancient Greece, it is easy 10 demonstrate in myth the !':Xislcncc of both the "woman provided with a phallos" (66) and the "woman "" phallos" {3 D, 2B} ideas. lI.10reover, in so far as the vagina is "dentata" - i.e., a weapon of aggression- it is "necessarily" a phallic organ, for the phallos appears to be the prototypal weapon (A. fro 44 Nl), which can pierce,S!! club (24, p. 229) or cut (34). But there is more to it. Citing striking clinical data, Abraham (I) shows that, at times, the longleggcd spider's legs are seen as female pubic hair and the spider's body as the "female penis". If, however, the spider lurks inside its web, the cobweb is both the female pubic hair and the vagina, while the spider itself' (in its net) is the "hidden" female penis. The statements-and, in one case, the drawing-of Abraham's patients are clear enough to convince anyone--except, perhaps, the obtusely mechanis~ tic, k now~it-all behaviourist. 60 It seems almost otiose to cite so many data showing the commingling of male and female sex organs in fantasy, when the Hellenist can easily think of countless Greek stories of hermaphroditic beings, of generic plurals in the feminine gender, of a pair of stallions spoken of as "mares" when hitched as a team 10 a chariot (chap. I ), elc. Nothing is more characteristic of fantasy- and this regardless of whether it masquerades as myth, mysticism, wisdom, neu rosis, or "Female Liberation Movement" idC()logy {complete wi th "unisex" fallhion3)- than to jugglc and to commingle opposites, and particularly sexual differences whose existence and symmetry appear to have anguished mankind since: the dawn of time (24, chap. 15). The Phallic Mother in the Nightmart. This commingling of the scxes is nowhere more manifest than in the nightmare, in which the sexual aggressor, mounting and suffocating the dreamer, is-regardless of Ihe dreamn's Stx-nearly always the pha!lic mother (47). She assumes with regard to the female dreamer the male role, in a manner well described in Luc. DAferttr. 5. As to the male dreame r, she immobilizes and rapes him in the coilu.s inVtrstLf position, as does, e.g., the Sphinx on a red-figure (drca 450 B.C. ) lekythos in the National Museum of Athens, etc. I spedfically note "Grea e"idence : casto ... (Ad. J{A 6.34) ; ep. ,,8. Urology: luxation of the penis. Deliberate performancc: the routine aetl! of certain South American Indians (4, 7/ ); the d~ of a German psychotic «(3); Jl"rhaps the practices of lOme J apanese sumo-wrestle ... (retraction of the testicles) . Myth.., tales, joka. lia. alibis, beliefs, etc., of this type are ..,ported from many areM: South China, t ndonesia, Zoroastrian ~n1ral Asia. Greenland Eskim ..., ~[oha.ve Indians, R enai ..an"" France, etc., and neurotic fallla, ia from the U.S.A. , Central Europe, etc. ( 13, :18, "9. chap. 16). The underlying "prima,ry process" "logic" appean to be that the po$!Iibility of inverting the Jl"nis {causing it to resemble a vagina} "proves" the ""nten"" of a female "internal" pen is . " Cpo iuuld = penis, supra, note ,:is . .. Sincc I have already compared the Sedang'. spider 50ul to the Greek winged 50ul ('+"')(01), it is worth noting thaI, according to Abraham, the butterAy'. wings are oometirt\Cll vi'uali~ed at (opening and d ... ing ) labia and iu body proper as the female phall ... (I). A! to th e equation: 50ul _ phallos, it is both ethnologically and clinically commonpla~.
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that, in that picture, the horrified young man visibly has an anxiety erection61-and recall the painful erections the "grape" spider's bite is said to cause (supra). A further dement, which also highlights the quasi.interchangeability of the sexes in the nightmare is the curious reciprocity of the rider and the ridden. This point, which is of comiderable importance, is taken up briefly further below. 62 . Thus, the Ihtofllical femaleness of the sexually aggressive and, indeed, murderow mother who oppresses the dreamer in the nightmare, does nol imply that she lacks a "penis". The dreamer himself imputes it to hcroften simultaneously with the possession of a vagina.6) Indeed, underlying the nightmare there is always a great deal of obsessive doubt (q) based on fausse non-flconnausal1Ce (u), especially as regards the distinctive anatomy and reciprocal coital roles of the sexes. It is noteworthy that in the myth in question, though not in A. Suppl., there is also a further element pointing to a confusion of the sexes: I refer to the curiously masculine character of the Danaides themselves, who build a temple, construct and row a ship and decapitate their unwanted cousin-hwbands (Apollod. 2.1.4 If.). It is even significant that traditions should diverge on just why Hypcrmnestra alone did not kill her husband, Lynkeus. Some say she spared his life because he had spared her virginity (Apollod. 2.1.5). But Aischylos says she spared him because his embraces had delighted her CA. PV 865 f.). That delight necessarily involved the acceptance of the feminine role, for it is precisely the woman's feminity which permits her to "acqwre"-in a suitably mature manner-a penis "all her own". By contrast, in the ApoUodoros version, only Hypermnestra was allowed to preserve (temporarily) her immature virginity, whose loss her murderous sisters experienced as a castration justifying the retaliatory castration (decapitation) of the deflowerers.6' DejlQTatioll = Snw Bite: Remains to be considered the inescapable conjecture that the serpent representing the Herald--or rather, the Aigyptiadai whose deputy he is-bites the girls with his poisonous fangs.65 ., Anxi",ly ~rections even pennil women 10 rape a man at gun poinl-IU did, lOme I",n yea ... ago, three women hitchhihn in America. H ungarian informants r"'porled, in 19~7 , casc:sofRlWilnfernalesoldiersforcing men (in I94S- ¢ ) locohabit with them at gun point • •• Cpo no\", 69. Abo: ('" >"1) and chap. 3, nOte '04-. fl The palienl referred 10 in &k 3, though h", dreaded being lucked by a vortex into his mother'. "agi na- which would hav~ caused his Ill/ir( body to become,," penis (-'10, -'l3)-none the less had the T«urrent obsessive thought: "my mother', penis is bigger than my vagina". The body _ phall "", symbolic equation, which ill frequently encounlered in clinical practice, was briefly mentioned in chap. 6. For detailed ",vidence of the occur rence: of this fantasy-<:qualion in ancienl GReC<:, cpo ,,8 and op=ially the Phil. Bybl. passages refenal to in il (FHG 3 · ~68.,8; 3.s69.
The Dream Melapfior
if the DanaUks
The equation: snake bite "" coitus and especially: snake bite = defloration has already been discussed in chap. 6.66 The equation : snake venom = semen, and its consequence: injection of venom = injection of semen during coitus, have been discussed in detail (chap. 5) in connection with the Nessos·Deianeira and Minos· Prokris myths. Since the H erald does, in fact, try to drag the Danaides towards nuptial couches and defloration, the occurrence of a poisonous bite in the dream·metaphor can, in the light of the word 66xoc, be confidently taken for granted. This brings me to a crucial point: th roughout the preceding pages one repeatedly encountered, via the vagi1UJ dentata motif, the theme of the equivalence of maternal biting (devouring) and rape. A passage in Pin· daros (0. 1.24 f.) permits one to assert that, for Aischylos' illustrious contemporary, these two activities were equivalent. Furthermore, in the passage in question, there is a curious blending of the "mother" with the "father"- the latter being substituted for the former, and, moreover, substituted in a context as homosexual as is the latent content oCthe nightmare, in which the phallic mother rapes the dreamer, regardless of the dreamer's ,~.
Indeed, Pindaros, deliberately bowdlerizing the tradition that the mother·goddess Demeter had devoured Pelops' shoulder, asserted that the handsome boy had simply been "respectably" abducted by the enamoured Poseidon. Now, in this context, Poseidon is clearly a "father.god," for he i~ nOI only Pe1ops' lover and prot.,ctor, but al50 D"TTI.,ter's husband. Th., (purely external) bowdlerization simply transfonm the mother's canni· balistic attack into a homosexual "rape" by the father. Copious clinical data show that many children have fantasi es of being devoured by the mother and /or of being homosexually attacked by the father61- and react to both of these fantasies with erotized anxiety. Thus, the Pindaric bowdlerization-quite as much as lies in general (15, pp. 55 f. = 31, chap. g)-leave intact the psychological core and the structure of the original version (21). Summing up, the fantasy of th., vagina dentala , the "abdominal" (inguinal) maw of the "grape" spider, the myth of the man.raping, "man· eating"68 and man·strangling (infra) Sphinx, etc. all show the infantileneurotic equivalence of oedipal coitus and devouring. The ent rappef, the biter, the (deputy) defiowerer- in short: the H erald-is therefore quite appropriately at once spider and serpent and is, because of his (fictitious) sexua~ ambiguity, just the right kind of epicene nightmare figure to haunt and terrify the virile, man-hating, incest-obsessed Danaides, who can visualize defloration only as castration and devouring and can experience an orgasm-triggered by anxiety (5/ )--only in the fonn of suffocation (hanging, drowning), involving biting (68) . .. Snakes in Alkestil' bridal chamber (Apollod. 1.9.15) and in the dream of a modem bride. For blttding !lork·bitten finger _ bleeding during childbirth, cpo chap. 6, note 60. In some cultures, bleeding during defloration is implicitly equated with bleeding during delivery (9). . , For trace! of the latter fant ... y;n the Oidipous myth, cpo I I• .. U.S. slang: a promilcuoWl, man-destroyiog wOman oCthe Manon and Carmen type .
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339 Indeed, for the Danaides, hanging or drowning are the altmtativts to rape. I propose to show now that the latent meaning of these alternatives is the same as that of the rape: which they wish to avoid.
Having, in the last paragraphs, repeatedly referred to the erQtized anxiety manifested by the Danaides, I must now turn to an aspect of the nightmare in which the same tendencies arc: evident. The nightmare assailant regularry immQbi/i~ts and suffO&aus the victims of his (her) oedipal aggression, by irs weight as well as by its tight embrace. This tendency is well exemplified by beliefs concerning the Sphinx, a creature whose origin is to be sought in the nightmare experience.69 Tradition defines the Sphinx as a "Strangler" ("suffocator"): rome scholars even hold that this is the correct translation of that creature's name.1O If so, the Sphinx is a strict equivalent of the Alp (Alpdnuk). It has already been indicated that the Sphinx invariably rapes men in the coitus inumus position-as do the Seirenes,71 etc. I note only in passing that both the Sphinx and the Lamia are-as one might expect- also cannibals: their raping, strangling and devouring tendencies are, for all practical purposes, inseparable. n But this is less important than the Sphinx's, the nightmare's, the spider's and the snake's immobilizing·suffocating tendencies.13 I have already noted that the suffocation theme is present in the Danaides' conception of both hanging and dr.owning as aillrnatilJes to-i.e., as meam of escape from -unwanted coitus. I now note a crucial fact: a mild inhibition of breathing is a normal femal e experience in ventro-ventral coitus.? In fact, for some women, whose pseudo-masculinity simply masks a strong, if latent, masochism, this " suffocation" is an important condition of their sexual gratification,75 Other indications of a "suffocating" erotic element in this dreammetaphor are (perhaps) also discernible . .. It has been suggested elloeWhen: (II) tha t th e voodoo (s8) possession rite, in which the ridu LII" possr:aed-who is
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Th Drlam Metaphor of the Danaidu The leaping into the depths has already been briefly mentioned. Falling and leaping downwards in dreams is often a symbolic representation of detumacence, or of a decrease of excitement after an erotic dream.76 The leaping into the sea may very probably also symbolize sexual excitement. Psychosexually mature women- which the Danaides are not- tend to compare a vaginal-but ntVt1' a clilOral-orgasm to being engulfed by a great, surging wave, or by a vortex. I hasten to concede that the "falling" (leaping downward) and the "jumping into the sea" themes would, by themselves, not suffice to reveal the presence of erotic components in the dream-metaphor. But they may be tentatively treated as such indications because they reinforce other, unquestionably sexual, symbols. 17 I have left to the last a thorough discussion of what is perhaps the most telling argwnent in favour of the view that this dream-metaphor is patterned upon the nightmare. I note, to begin with, a curious fact; in no other suriving Greek tragedy are all the personages, with the exception of the Choros, males. What matters most is, however, the already brieRy noted fact that there is not even a passing mention of the Danaida' mothers. Their place is totally usurped by their daughters' defunct bovine ancestress 10, whose frightened , gadfly-stung flight tifter her dreaded - and probably oedipal-premarital defloration and during her pregnancy (which aroused the mother-imago Hera's anger), is practically duplicated (35 1 f. ) by the terrified flight of the Danaides from defloration, from a dreaded (incestuous) marriage (represented by a snake bite) and, of course, from prqnancy. This drama therefore exemplifies the clinically familiar "splitting" of the real mother into two separate "images": the "good" (but sexually abused) mother is 10; the "bad" (devouring, tormenting, jealous) mother is, in the 10 myth, Hera. In this drama the "bad" (nightmarish) mother il1Ulge is incarnated by the symbolically epicene Herald of the dream-metaphor, in which he (acting on behalf of his principals, the Aigypliadai) is represented as a spider and as a snake and, on the latent level, as the phallic mother of a waking nightmare. I hold that this (delegated) horribleness of the (never-mentioned) phantasmatic mothers strongly supports Kouretas's (49) view that the Danaida are the victims of a-both thrilling and anxiety-arousing-father fixation. Summary. Since the text in question does not contain a real dream, but only a metaphorical allusion to afamiliar type of dream, in interpreting it one does no t "analyse" either Aischylos or the Danaides. One analyses a type-dream of great antiquity and world-wide distribution. In so doing, one erotized anxiety. I also cile (from memory) the case of a man who repeatedly hanged hims.,]f and ejaculaled when on Ihe poinl of luffocating. He did il once 100 oflerr-and died of strangling. ,. This is nol an absolute rule. A normal ad ult once told me that his erotic dreams never ended in falling and contained nO other unpleasant aperienccs. Conversely, his rare drnms of falling n~r contained ""'''iftJI erotic incidcntl. Whether they contained JY1"~if erotic elemenu could not be aKutained, lince this infonnation was not obtained in the course of a psycho-analysis, but during a conversalion. " Nightmare, luffocation-hanging-drowning and, above all, the fact that hanging and drowning are rcprcsemed as "lllTIItlIWtJ to coitus.!u a fonner parachutist, I wdl remember thai, "" one begins 10 fall, one tendo to calch one'. breath and to hold il unlil the pa.-achule opens and am:su the faU.
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also examines its poetic and dramatic appropriateness and persuasiveness, and determines what it signified in Greek culture. On the strictly factual level, the scrutiny of this metaphor proves once more tha t Aischylos, the perceptive observer of dreams, was capable of exploiting to the utmost the dramatic potentialities of oniric imagery. On the most generalized phenomenological level, his Danaides' dreammetaphor is persuasive qua dream, precisely because it does rwt pretend to be prophetic: like real dreams, it is rooted in the remote past and in the present. The dream-metaphor also stands up well under psycho-analytical scrutiny. The Danaides' comparing of the Herald's behaviour to that of a spider and of a snake in a black dream (nightmare) rinJrl true psychologically, for the situation has all the characteristics of a genuine nightmare. Its components: suffocation, immobilization and counter-oedipal aggression by a phallic mother, converge into-or, if one prefers, diverge from-an infantile fantasy of (inguinal) devouring. The fact that the Herald is male. while the spider = snake symbolizes the "bad" mother's devouring inguinal maw, is almost to be expected. The evil and powerful mother of the nightmare is the "phallic" (and man.slaying) woman78 of Greek myth (66, 28), and the phantasmatic character of the Danaides' mDthers is highlighted precisely by the absence of any reference to them in A. Suppl. and by the ostentatiously phallic character of their daughters. That these phantasmatic mothers's threatening sexual organ(s) should be visualized as a spider (= snake) is also to be expected, since, for the Greeks, though not for the Romans, the female genitalia were a symbol of Evil (59, 1. 11 8 fr. ). Thus, this spider-snake dream-metaphor satisfies every criterion of a genuine nightmare. Its psycho-analytical inlerpretation is not only congruent with Greek beliefs but also fits perfectly the Danaides' psychological make-up and dramatic predicament tlJ delineated by Aischylos. The metaphor is manifestly the poetic echo of a common ~ of anxiety dream and attests the existence of spider and snake nightmares in ancient Greece.
Bibliography ( I) Abraham, Karl : The Spider as a Dream Symbol (in) Selected Papers of Karl Abraham M.D., chap. 19., London, 1927. (2) Benton, \Valter : This is Jl,1y Beloved. New York, 1947. (s) Bolton, J. D . P.: Arisuas of Proconne.fU$. Oxford. 1962. (4) Ca!par, Franz: Some Sex Beliefs and PractiCe! of the Tupari Indians (We!tern Brazil), Revisla do Museu Paulisla n.s. 7:20S- 244, 1953· (5 ) De Martino, Emesto: La TtrTa del Rimorso. Milano, 1961 . (6) Devereux, George: Hopi Field Nolts (MS.), 1932. (7) id.: Sedang Fidd Noles (MS.), 1933-1935' (8) id.: Mohave Beliefs Concerning Twins, American Antluopologist n.s. 43:573-592 , 194 1. 11 Cpo a..5~ .....""c: A . .46. II; Phryn. PSp. 3'; <Mi~v : S.fr. 8S7N' ( - 943 Pl.
TII4 Dream Metaphor oj the Danaidu
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(9) id.: The Psychology of Feminine Genital Bleeding: An Analysis
of Mohave Indian Puberty and Menstrual Rites, inttrnatUmal Journal oj Psydw-Analysis 31 :1137-257, 1950. (10) id.: Mohave [ndian Verbal and Motor Profanity (in) Rahorn Geza (ed.) : PSYfho-analysis and the Social ScielUe.r 3. New York, 195" (I I ) id. (and Mars, Louis): Haitian Voodoo and the Ritualization of the Nightmare, Psychoanalyti!; Review 38 :334- 342, 1951. (12) id.: Why Oedipus Killed Laius: A Note on the Complementary Oedipus Complex, Intlma/ionat Journal of Psycho-Analysis 34:13214 1, 1953·
(13) id.: Primitive G enital Mutilations in a Neurotic's Dream, Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association 2:483-492, 1954. ( 14) id. : The Denial of the Anus in Neurosis and Culture, Bulletin oj the Philatklphia AssociationffJT' Psychoanarysis 'F14-27, 1954. ( 15) id.: A Study of Abortian in PrimitilJt Societus. Ntw York, 1955,z 1975. (16) id.: Penelope's Character, Psychoanalytic Qllarterry 26 :378-386, 1957. (17) id.: Obsessive Doubt, Bul/llin if the Philadelphia Association for Psychaanarysis 10:50-55, 1960. ( IS) id.: Sociopolitical Functions of the Oedipw Myth in Early Greece, Psydwanarytic Quartuly 32:2°5--:214, 1963. (19) id.: The Perception of Motion in Infancy, BlIlhtin qfthe Menninger Clinic 29:143- 147, 1965. (20) id.: Loss of Identity, Impairment of Relationships, Reading Disability, P.rychaanalytic OJuuterly 35:18-39, 1966. (2 1) id.: The Exploitation of Ambiguity in Pindaros O. 3.27, RMinisehes Museumfilr Philoiogie log:28g-2g8, 1966. (22) id.: Fausse Non-ReconnaiMance, BlIlletin of the Menninger Clinic 31 :69-7S, 1967(11:3) id.: La Renonciation (24)
(25) (11:6)
(27) (2S)
(29)
a l'Identite: Defense oontre l'AneanWsement, ReVIU Fran;aise de PSJ'hanalyse 31 :101-142, 1967 . id.: From Anriery to M ethod in the Behavioral S~tS. Paris and The Hague, 1967. id.: The Realistic Basis of Fantasy, Journal qf the Hillside Hospital 17: 13--:20,1968 . id.; Reality and Dream: The Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian. (Second, augmented edition), New York, 1969. id.: MohalJt Et/mopsychiatry and Suicitk. (Second, augmented edition), Washington, D.C., Ig6g. id.: La Naissance d'Aphrodite (in) Pouillon, Jean and Maranda, Pierre (cds.) : Ethangu it Communicalio/U (MilanglS Uvi-Strauss), 2.1229-1252. Paris and The Hague, 1970. id.: Essais d'EtlmajJsychialrn GInba1e. Paris, '970. (Second e~ition,
1973)· (30) id.: Drogues, Dieux, Ideologies, M edica no. 103:13-20, 1972. (31) id.: ElhnopSJ'hanalyse Compllmenlariste. Paris, 1972. (32) id. (and Devereux, J. W.): Manifestations de I'Inconscient dans Sophokles: Trachiniai 923 sqq. (in) Psychanalyse el Socialagit comme
M ethodes d'EtlltU des PhinOmlnes Hisloriques
Cuiturt/s. Bruxelles,
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1973·
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343
Fesuclrrijl), JvumuJ rlj
Htllenic Studies, 93:36-49, 1973. (34) id.: Auto-Caracterisations de Quatre Sedang (in): Poirier, j . and Raveau, F., (eds.): Je el ['Autre, (Melanges R. Bastide) (in press). (35) Diels, H. and Kranz, W.: Die Fragmmte der VQr.fokTatikn UI , 3 vots. Berlin, 196<>--1961 . (36) Dodds, E. R.: The Greeks and the Irrational. Berkeley, California, 195 1. (37) Du Bois, Cora. The People of Alor, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1944. (38) Fenichel, Otto: The Symbolic Equation: Girl = Phallus (in) The Collected Papm ofO. Fenil;heI2, chap. I . New York, 1954. (39) Ferenczi, Sandor: Psycho-Analysis of Sexual Habits (in) FurtMY Contributions to Ik Theory and TtI;hnique tJj' P.rycho-AnalysiJ, chap. :i~, London, 1926. (40) id. : An 'Anal Hollow-Penis' in Woman (in) Furlher Contributions 10 the Theory and Technique of P.rycho-AnalysiJ chap. 42. London, 1926. (41 ) Freud, Sigmund: The Taboo of Virginity, Siandard Edition II. London, 1957. (42) id. : The 'Uncanny', Standard Edition 17· London, 1955. (43) Gallini, Clara: Kala pontismos, Studi I Materiali di Storia delle Religioni 34:6I-go, 1963. (44) Gloyne, H. F.: Tarantism, American Imago 7:29-42, 1950. (4S) Hani, jean : Plutarque et Ie My the du DCmembrement d'Horus. Revue des Etudes Grecques 76: 1 11-120, 1963. (46) jona, Ecllat : The Symbolism of Beillg Run Over, Inltrlultirmal Journal oj Psychj)oAnalysis 1 :2°3, 1920. (47) id.: On the Nightmare. London, 1931. (48) Keiser, Sylvan: Orality Displaced to the Urethra, J ournal of lhe American P.ryl;hoanalytic Assodation 2 :263--279, 1954(49) Kouretas, Demetrios: Avw~aAol XapaKTijpEc Elc TO 'APXa1ov .6.pa~a, Athens, 19SI. (so) La Barre, Weston: The Ghost Dance. New York, '970. (51 ) Laforgue, Rene: De l'Angoisse a l'Orgasme, Revue Franfaise de Psychatwlyse 4:24S- 2SB, 1931 - 1932. (S2) Uvi-Straws, Claude: MythologiqUlS 3: L'On'gine des Manibes de Table. Paris, 1968. (53) !.Cry-nruhl, Ludell: L.J ;}[etllaliti Pn'lIIitilJt. Piub, 1922. (54) Loeb, E. M.: Personal Corrununication. C~.5) Lowie, R. H.: The Family as a Social Unh, Papers oj the Mil;higan AuJikmy oj Science, Arts and Letters I B:S3-6g, 1933. (S6) Macchiavelli, Niccolo: The Pn'nce. IS I 3. (S7) Malinowsk.i, Bronislaw: The Sexual Lift rif Savages in North-Westtrn Mtlanma l, London, 1932. (S8) Metraux, Alfred: Le Vaudou Haitien . Paris, 195B. (59) Nilsson, M. P.: Geschichte der griechisclltn Religion Il. Milnchen, 1955. (60) Norbeck, Edward: Trans-Pacific Similarities in Folklore: A Research Lead. Kroeber Anthropological Sodtty Papm, no. 12: 62-6g, 1955. (6 1) Poe, E. A.: A Descent into the Maelstrom (in) Talu of Mystery ami Imagination. (Fint publi.!hed in Craham's Maga:;ine, May lap.)
T M Dream M emphor uf the Danaides (62) Raum, O. F. : Female Initiation among the Chaga. Am~,.jcan Allthr~ JWlagist 41 :554-565, 1939· (63) Reuss, H. : Ein Fall von anatomischen Narzismus (Autocohabitatio in Urelhram). DeutsCM Ztitschrifl flir dil gesamle gtrithtiiche M edizin 28:340-346, 1937 (64) R6heim, Geza: Psycho-Analysis of Primitive Cultural T ypes. In/ematWnat Journal of P.rycho-Analysis 13: 1 ~24 , 1932. (65) id. : Women and their Life in Central Australia. Journal of the Royal Anthropologital Institute 63 :2°7-265, 1933. (66) id.: Aphrodite or the Woman with a Penis. Psychoanalytic Q.uarurly 14:350-390, 1945· (67) Shute, Nevil: Most Secret. London, 1945. (68) Sterba, R . F.: On Spiders, Hanging and Oral Sadism. American Imago 7 : 21 ~8, 1950. (Gg) Teitelbaum, H . A.: Psychogenic Body Image Disturbances Asso-dated with Psychogenic Aphasia and Agnosia,. Journal of Nervous and M m lal DiStase 93:581--6El, 1941. (70) Thomson, George; Aesch)'lus and Athens 2• London, 1946. (7 1) Wagley, Charles and Galvao, Eduardo: The Tapirape (in) Steward, Julian (ed.) : H andbook of South American Indians, 3. Bureau of American Etiln%gy, Bulletin 143. Washington. D.G, 1948. (7:2) Wigglesworth, V. B. : The Lift of Insects. Cleveland, 1964. (73) Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, Ulrich von: Die lfias und Homer. Berlin, 19 16 . (71) Wisse, ].: Selbrlmord lind T od~ifurchl bei dm Nnturv/jlkern. ZUlphen, 1933. (75) Yates, S. L.: An Inveo;tigation of the Psychological Facton in Virginity and Ri tual Defloration. International J ournal uf PsychoAnalysis II :167- 184, 1930.
Indexes
I Ancient authors and works Alhenag(lr.. !.3 Athenailll (Ath. ) !.5.. HI
AB . ... A~«douI GrlUUl (I . Beller) !.9.!
!!2. ~ !§j Auetor Priapcorunl (Auel. Priap. ) 3.35
Acciua 2fi8 AchilleUi TatiOi (Ach. Tat.) !.9!l Achmel W Ail~nOl (Ad.) 3§.. ~ ~!!2. !.l!L !.No !.11. !2..!3.3> ~ Aitc:hylOi (A .) ix-xxxvi, 1- 167. !.l!.o !.1l>
..tulSl" II &.kelly litO' (B.)
m
Cynie Phoo.ophen ~
~~.~
AplCIUI, C. (Apic.) !!:9. ApoIJodOTOl (Apollod. ) xxii , ~ n. 35. ¥i!t i.5l fZ., 4 ~ !..2!L !..!.l! !..!.5.> !.l.3.. !.13.. UJ., '90. ~ 202. ~ Wh :!11, !£.. 246. ~ 3..32. 3lb !3!!: ApoIJoniOl of RbodoI (A.R .) !33
AppWOI (App. ) ~ AppuleiUl, L . (Apul. ) ~ ~ ru AnlIOI (Ani.) !.!I§. ArdlilochOl ( An:h.iI..) ~ AriI ....rchOi (Ariltarch. ) xviii , "ix, 3! Arnleal of ProkoonelOl Aristeidea, Amot (!he rhelor) xxv, xxvi, lUtXiv, ~ ~ '..!I!..t !..9:it w.. 26" 3Q.I Arislophanes (Ar .) U!. II. L5.. U. " ' :zH. !!2. ~ ~ ~ 9l" 9ll. 100 . ~ !.1!.J ~ ~ !.1§. !M. !!!!It 205-207, ill> !3!, . ,6. ~ ~
m
u..
!.!12.~~ ~~ ~3.!£t3l.! Diogcnes Ihe Cynic (Diog.) t!!: Diogenes of Lactic (D.L.) u,. II Dion CluysollomoJ (D.Cht.) ~ !.3l! Dion of H. likamassos ~ 1!.!! DiOlkorides (Dse.) (a\Jo Ps._Dse.) \lOll, ~
Doun. 8c Empedoldes (Emp.) u,. !.!&. ill EphOl'Ol (Ephor.) iQ Epimen,deI (Epimenid. ) xiv EralOilhenes (Ps._Er:atlllth.) !..9!!
ElJmokIliQl1ll Mal'1um (EM )
""
Eu~loo ( Eum~l.)
m
!.!3.
Euripides ix-noevi, :it 1.. !.R. II.. ~ 33-
lL!lQ.~tl. ~fi,5.L ~§§.a.7§..
7B-a2, 84--86,!!!!,!!g,!lli 93. 91. 9.1::9!U 100, ~ 107-109, 113- 11 5, !!!!t 122 . !.1.L !1S.z. !.!2. ~ !.3Q, 132-135. 13 8 , !..5.L ~ 160. !.!!3.. !.l!b !.l2.. !!!.it 186, !Jl!... 194- 197. 200. 201, 205-1107. 222~ !B9. 230, ~ ~ i39t W. !fl,
1102. ~ ~ 1166. :n~72, ~
118 •• ~ 2QlH!Q!!. 300. 302. 329. 3.!.!.0
""
~!1§.. ~ ~
~ 9!!.
Euphorion (Euph.) 99: EupoU. (Eup. ) :<xxii
A",lOld.,. (Arist.) xi , xvi, xxviii_xxxi , to 5. !..i. 3Q, ~ ~ ~ Ih. 2l, !.l.!J.!.lh ~
" , (Pleudo-) (Ps.-Arisl.) !.llz !11 ArisIOleles Adw.o. (lliml Pmi.r) J.a2. ill Amobiw, A. (Am.) il. lit!! Arl~ (Artem.id.) aii, avi, xxviii, xxix, .i. ~ ~ 205, UL 240. !!iL ~
t!!:
Danid (Dan. ) 220, ~ '!lit ill D.:mc.th(nes (Ps.-) (D.) 1..9.! O il'W'l,.,..... nr !;;"il y ( D.!;.) !..!.t.t !.D. !.95..
3ll.:@
!.!!2.
ULI
Caw, M . P. ~ ~ Calullw, C. V. !.5.. ~ 9!. !.!2. !..5.9. $ Cblooiua 3!. ~ Ch:iUnaileon (Chamad.) !.§.5 Ci~ero, M. T. (Cie.) :lvii, xix, xxi, uiii, !..1t !.5!ia !.9!2.. ~ ill Clemo:na (ICe Kl emen l~ ) Columella, L. C. M. ~ Comic" AdtJpottl (Com. M tSp.) ~
175-178, 1 8 1 ~ 1 8 , 22 1-23 1, !ll. ~ .12-239, ~ ~ 1147-251. 267. ~ 270, ll!..t 276. 28,. 28 .. , ::87, ~ ~ 'lOO-30.,. 3QL. 3, 19::3i1
AlbiOl (Alc .) ~ Alkiphton (Alciphr.) :E§. Aikman (Akm. ) !..'!t 118, 1M. ill Anaknon (Anacr.) 2.l!.I Anui1aOl (Anarl.) i l l AtIlltoIop Pal4JiIu !!3.. !!!!. !..!I.! AntimachOl (AnUm.) l2 Anlonmua LibualiJ (Ani. Lib.) f!.,
~
~~!1!. 257=3 1 7,~ 327=3'29, 335
EwtathiOl (Emtath. ) !.R. !!2. gt :z6II &odDs (&00. ) !.1.5.. ~ ~ FOIl"", S. P . (Fat.) ~ ~
347
,..
lrukx
Firmicw Maternus (Firm. Mal.) !L !.!5.
Kratinot !.§.i Ktesias~ ~
Galenos (Gal.) :W:lI Gdlius, Aulus (Cell. ) !..it ~ ~
emesis (G'II .) 204. 205. 11118, GennanicUl Caesar (Gemt. ) Corgias (Carg.) lilli. Hellanike>. (H dlanic.) H erai.koo 119.
!..9!i.
~
HerUleilOl (H eracJit.) ](XXiv, ~ f&. !..91 Herodas (see H erondas) H erodo\OI (Hdl. ) uii , xxix, 4t 7- TO, !.!, ~ t8---'lo. ~ iL. 5.!-=53..t ~ ~ 13.. ~ !!Q...!h.!!!.!!9., 95: 99. 1011, 109IJ..i.t 1111, ~ !..59.0. 17$- 177. !..!!9., '93, ~
lI03, ;aQS. 111111.
~
11115- 11119, 1131 -
~~~~~~II68,~
!Z&~~~~3!Z Herondal (Herod.) ~ HcsiQdQ! (Hes.) ~£. i5! 1!. 19..!!5! ~ ~ .'..51. ~ !.9i. ~ 1136, ~ 300, 301l,~~~1.'....'...~
HeoychiOl of MilclOI (lisch. Mil. ) ~ HesychiOl the Lexicographer (Hsch.) !..Ql., !..!l§, ~ ~ HiluJJal Hang TUM fl, 5.3. Hippokr:at"" (Up. and Pl.-Up.) xxviii, !..it !]5, 110'. ~ ~ 287, ~ 3';'!L :E!i
§§.. !..5L. ~
HippY' ill Home"", ix- xxix, ~ ~ !h 11- 13, !..it !..!!. liS-SO, ~ i!..t 4& H. i5J 5Q, ~ th, §9.. Z3=25t z! ~ ~ 85-81, ~ 9l. 9!. *100, lOll, 1036 ~ 108, !5l'9. !..!l.. ~ ~ 11111, !.!o:., !..!Z.t ~ !l!.! 133!.3.5.. ~ !.39.J ,,SO, !..5.!.t 153=-157, 1611, !§, ~ ~ !.1J, !15. I B6-188, J 90!.9!. ~ 1101, 1104-1107, '!!.!.. 1130-::133. ~ 240, 245-2+1, 267-1173. 1117- ng,
2811- 1185, ~ ~ ~ 3~, ~ ~ 308, 3.!Q, 3!.!. ~ 326, 328-330 Hontius, Q .. .. Flac<:us (Hor. ) !<Xiv, !..it ~ ~ 33!l. Hyginus, aslr'O/llOmita (Hyg. ast1"DJI. ) !.9Q,!.9§: Hyginus, fohtllo. (Hyg. fob.) !..3.. :n. e. 4!!.. ~ !..!.:L ~ ~ W5, ~ 280, 2B..i
I bykot (Ibye.) ~ Ion of Chiot ~ hteT ~
~282.~
Macrobiw, A. T. (Macr. ) xxviii Mdeagros (A P) (Md.) ~ Mimnermos (Mimn. ) 12. Moschos (Mosch. ) ~ Mythographi Vatican; (Myth. Vat. ) 268, 'ill Nikandroo ( Nic.) i!..t ~ 202, ~ 3!!." :E!, ,B5" 3Th ~ 3.3.:L 339
Nikolaos of Damascus (Nic. Dam.) 228,
'"
Nonnos (Nonn.) !..S.!..t u§.. NII17I.r; (Nurn.) ~ ~
~ ~
3fl
"Orphew" (Orphica) (Orph.) !..3" ~ Ovidiw. P ... . Naso (Ov. ) y, £. 2i.
n.
62--t15, ~!l!!" 1!..3... ~ ~ ~ 1.'..Q,
3.!..!..
~
33Q., 335
PopyrNs Jurn;IIraG :l!1 PofrYn'S Oxyr"inchus (Pap. 0 ...),.) fl617
Ir. i:
'"
PofrYn's Te6lrmi LOO Partheniot (Parth.) :Ei Paul (51.) W Pausanias (Paus.) xxi, [. ~ ~ ~:n. lit i!..t otlt 5lt :z!!, ~ ~ 160, !.l.1o. !.l5.. !..9§,~m3QoL3Q1,.E5..33Q,335
Philon of Byblot (Phil. Bybl.) 331 Pholiot (Phol. ) ~ Phrynichos the Alticill (Phryn.) :M.! Phrynichos, tragic poet (Phryn. Trag.) ~ Pindaros (Pi. ) xx, ni, xxvi, 1I!L. !..it 3!. ~ ~ loB, 110, !..!.!.z !..3§, ~ us. ~ ~ 281, 1.'..Q, 33!!. Plalon (PI.) xx-xxii, xxix, xxx, [. !..3.t !L 40,41,45. ill, 1h.!!!.... ~ IQO, 121, !..3§, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~265.!H.
Jeremiah (JeT,) Lfu Job (iJ«JI; (1) 39
KalLimaehot (CaIlim. ) ~ ~ ~ ~ ~301Z,~ Kallima~b .... Comi~UJ
Livius, T. (Liv. ) 1.!..t!!§.. ~ Longinos (Ps.-Long. ) xxx, oL ~ 120, 3!!.! Loukianos (Lue.) xx, xxi. xxiii, 3.3... otlt 122, 129=13t, !.35.. !.3L. ~ ~ 238, ~ ~ 282, 308, ~ 33§. Lucretius, M, A. {Luc •. } xxiii, !.5> !..5.!.. ~ Lydos, L (Lyd.) ~ Lykophron (Lye. ) !<Xiv, xxxv, §§, Z9.. !!3., ~ ~ 13&-138, ~ !1!t t~ !..9!L.
(Callim. Com,) 3..39
Klementot of Alexandria (Clem, Alex.) ,e KonoD 3.!.Q
28,. :.tB2 Plalon Comicus (PI. Com. ) I..Q Plinius, C.. .. SecundUJ (maio.) (Plio. H}{ ) 4!!.. QOQ, Q04, ~ ~ ~ Ploutarchot (Plu.) xxii, xxxii, !!. !L. ~ !L 3.!., y,!1. 4!!.. 5..!.. 23. ~ ~ 101, !..Q3., !.Q9,!.tlt!M.!.!1.~~!.l!.!15.! 186, .'..!M; 1100, QO:h UI, ~ ~ ~ ~~~Q78,~3Q{j,~~
'alenal
~
echos de al.llor
349 Ploutarchos (Pseudo-) (PI .• Plu.) ~ Pollux (_ Polydeukes), L (Poll.) !.9.!
Porphyria. (Porph.)
~
~
PoscidOniOl (POIid.) ~ Pre-Socratics l l i Propertiu., S. A. (Prop.) ~ lJI6 Protagoru (Prot&.g.) !.!.5 Ptow,bs (Prov.) 9Q Pythagoras (Pythag.),!!n ~ ~ QuintOil of Smyrna (Q.S.) 9. ol&.. ~ ~ ,oa, ,OG, ~ ~ '!.39. ~ ~ Sappho (Sapph.) !l.t!iQ.. ~ Zit 2L!!1,!!z, 91t,~,120, ~ ,66 , ~,88,204,~
282, ~
Satyroo (Satyr.) ~ Seneca, M. A. (Sen.) ~ 3ft ~ ~ L86 &neca (Pseudo-) (Ps.·&n.) 3i Servius, H. (Serv.) xxiv, ~ ~ ~ 268, 28, , ~ ~ Simonides (Simon.) xxxv, 8 SkymnOl (Skymn.) 3!.'? Skythinot (Scythin.) M Sokrates (Socr.) !l! Solinu.,J. C. (Sol. or Solin.) ~ Sophokles (S.) ix-uxv, 3.t L!!. !.Q., ~ 3.3.. Yo. ~ H. 5Q, !iQ.. ~ ~ z§., 18-&, 8§, 9!t ~ !.Q.!, ~ 108, ~ ~ !..i!I ~ !.59.r !.l.!... '73-176, ~ ~ !.9!t !.9i, 207, ~ 210, ~ 21!l:'255, 26" ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 308, 3.!.Q., ~ :H.!
269-<122, 285.
StasinOl (liypria) ~ Stesichoroo, (Slesich. )!!:i.. ~ 9L !.QZz 122, !..!L ~ ,69-=119, !.!!:9. ~ ~ .'.93. 212, 22 1- 225, ~ ~ ~ !3..L ~ ~!.. ~.EI
StesimbrotOl (StoJimbr.) ~ Statiua, P. P. (Stat.) 9Q.. ~ StObaiOl, I (SlOb.) La!., !§.5 Slr'abon (Str .) 232, ~ ~ Slr'aton (AP) (Strat.) 62 Suetonius, C . .. . Tranquillua (Suet.) .wi, ~~go
Suidu (Suid.) 1111 TacitUl, C. C. (Tac.) !!. !.9.! Thalc:s (Thal.) ® TheognU (Thgn.) ~ TheokritOl (Theocr.) xxiv, Zit!!z.,!!9.. ,oS. !.!.4. 166. 222. 335 TheophTaatOl (Thpbr.) xxxii, ~ 100, !.11.
,.,
Thoukydides (Th.) ix, 200.205, ~ ~ Timaios (Timae.) !.5! TyrtaiOl (Tyrt.) !l5.. 3Q1 Tzetzes, L (Tzetz.) l!.o 1:L ~!!Q, 1!.3.t ~ ~~
V2ieriUS Max;mUl (Val. Max.) ~ ~ VIUTO, M. T. (Van.) i!!.!!9.. '!3.3. VergiliUl, P.. . , Maro (V. ) Z3.t ~ ~ ~
268,
280,~ ~
Vila Atsdlyii ( V. Audl. ) Z. ~ Vila Euripidi ( V. Emp. ) 26" ~ Xanthos (Xanth. ) !.5 Xenophancs (Xenoph.) !.51 Xenophon (X')!h '.5t ~ ~ Zit ~ ~ .'.5!l. ~ ~ ~ ~ 302, ~ Zenon of Elea (Zcno Eleat.) xxi ZenodolOl (Zenod.) g§.:illJ
II Modern authors Aboulku, P. ~ Abraham, K. xvii, xxii, xxxvi, 3t ~ ~ .m. m., ~ :H.! Acton, Lord ~ Adkins, A. W. H. ~ ~ Ahrem,H.L.~~~~ 106, '!1.r ~ Akimoto, H. (see Uchimura, Y. ) Aluanda', F. §.. ~ !.l.!..z ~ ~ ~ Allen,]. T . and Ital ic G. ~ ~ Allport, G. W. and Vernon, P. E. ~
Anderson,J. K.ll.!l.
~
~8'i, ~
Angyal, A. ~ ~ Anonymous, see Hika,YDt Hang TuM.
Anan, E. !.!M:. !!J Ashl~.Montagu , M. F.
Bal""", H.
d.~
~ ~
~
3J
Bamberger, F. LCIti Ba'""'tI, W. S. ~ ~ 3.J., Zlb ~ ~ ~ ll.!l. ~ ~ Bales, W. N. 268, ~ 3.!! Bateson, G. and Mead , M. 1110. ~ Bauddaire, C. §s.. ~ Tl Baumann, H. H.!!. ~ !.l.!..z !1!!.. 225. !2! Beach, F. A. (see Ford, C. S. ) Beare,J. L . Ivi, xxx
llefu, H. ~ L66 Behr, C. A. xv, XlIV, xxviii, xxxvi, 5.0. ~ Z5..r z!!..1.Q!h!JQ,!.l:L~~ Bd.ier, L ~ Belmont, N. '.9Q.. ~ Benedict, R. 9L !..iQ Benton, W . 335.z:M.! SergI<, Th. ~ u.s. Ikrnard, E. 1.01
Bernfeld, S. and Feitdberg, G.
~
!.!J
Ikrtalanlfy, L. von li& Iksano;on, A. ~ 5.1. ~ ~
Balon, W. !!,., Heron, W. and Scott, T. H. (see abo Heron, W.J ~ ~ ~ Bezdechi, S. xxx, """vi, I~O, ~ ~ ~ Blaicklock, E. M . xxx, xxxvi, UC), ~ Blass, F. ~ Blaydeo, F. H. M. ~ Blomfieid, C.). LO!i. Boas, F. 4!!.. i l Boccara, M . ~ 5.3.
3~6':Ii!
Bord, Th. ~68, ~ Bothe, H.~ Bourguignoll, A. xxiii, xxxvi, 2.!.t !.i.!...
~
166. ~ 308, l l i Bowen, U. G.!lZ.. !A!t. ~ ~
Bowra, Sir (C.) M .
~ !.J.!.1I~1 .1I~7. ~
~~
Br.u1ley, N. xxxii, xxxvi Brdich, A. xxviii, xxx" i, ~ ~ Briehl, W. and Kulka, E. W. ~Oll,
~
~:!31,~
Bichli, E. 22 1, ~ ~ lI81, ~ ~ Bailey, F. L. ~ !.9:i.. ~ ~!.!J
Balter, S.J. 3§, ll.t §.!..
Boll, F. II Bohon,). D. P.
Broadhead, H. D. ~ ~ 1.. !!.. !.!t. ~ Brvustra, J. (Itt Nicolai, j . Or MonrougaNicolas, J.) Bromoy, P. L06 Buonaparte, Lt. N. §1 Burkert, W . xv, iJ.,H, 51. 5f..~ ~~, ~~~
Burrows, E. G. and Spiro, M. E. Buucmaker, U. C. ~ Busdan, G. !.91t ~ Butler, S. !.!l
~
'!1.'.
Cahell,j. B. ~ Cakulcva-Diamantis, D. ~ ~ Campbell, L. LO!i. Cannon, W. B. !.91. '!.!.5 Caprio, F. F. (Itt London, L. S. ) Carpenter, R . ~ 51 Caspar, F. ~ ~ 3!! Chombarl de Lauwe, M .·j . ~1O, ~ Clifford, Sir H. ol.L. Mt!!5t 2BB Cochrane, A. D. ~ ~ Conington, J. L06 Cook, A. B. !.3, g, 3§, 5!t Zl.t !.4!.> Ui. !.l!!. ~ ~ 306, lli Coulon, V. !.Q., I I C rahay, R . ~ ~
m
D&]e, A. M .
~ ~
Davison,J. A.!!a. ~ de Balzae, H. !13 Decharme, P. ~ ~ de HCRd ia,j._M. Delcourt, M. ~
9Q,. ~
!1!!
Dclebecque, E. !.!. !.l! :u De Martino, E. 33!t :Ii! Demenl, W. C. ~ ~
• alenal
~
echos de al.llor
1M'" !k,,",.IO",
J.
(I.e ala<> raile, Sir D.) 19. 81-83, 95. g§, ~ 100, 106, 108, 110, !.!.3..t !..!L. 1~3- 1~6, !!!L !..3lo. !.3§, !31. ~ ~!.1l!:
Ikonna, W.!h. ~ de Romilly,J. ~ 93. 9L 9!L. ~ !.i!.> 2Si ill de Sausaure, F. 266, ~ Dacart"", R . ~ Detienne, M. ~~9, ~ ~ !kubner, L. xxi~, xxxvi, !.!2! ~ Deutsch, H. 9L !.4.!.! !.9Q, ~ Deven:ux, G. (passim) Deven:ux, J. W. (wilh Devereux, G.) xV, xxi, xxxvii, ~ ~ ~ lQ., ~ ~ :z!!. 19. ~ ~ ~
!.!!5.
1!.i" 330,
~ 2~~, 224, ~ ~
~
Diehl, E. ~ Diels, H and Kranz, W. :r3A. :M3. Dieterlen, G. (see Griaule, M.) Dindorf, W. fu., ~ ~ 102. !.l.! Dobrec, P. ~ Dodds, E. R . • ", xix, xxiv-xxvi, xxviiixxx, xxxvi i, xxxviii, §.. !l.. !.5... ~ <18-31, llo ~ 55.. §§.. Z5, !!!l.. 120, !!!L ~ !..'i!.. !.5l, 160, ~ !.!!5. ~ !.1l. 'lO I, <116, ~~~~~~~~ ~~27HI73,~ ~~~ ~ 3Q1, 3.!.4, :E9., :M3.
Dollard. J. 95., !.Jg Dover, K .J. xV, b.!b. '.Q,!.5... ~ ~§3, ~ 87,88, !.34" ~ ~ 16~, !.!!5. !.l3., 188. ~ !.9l. ~05-208, ~ ~ ~ ~ nL. 288, ~ ~ ~ 3Q1, ~ 306, :E.!. .3!1. .:E.5... ~ .3..3.l! 13.5..> 3.39: Du Bois, C. ~ ill Dud..., G. :z8.J Dummler, F. !l5. Ebcner, H. 3.!!.. 3.!.i Edd.nein, E.J. &lid L. ~ 55.. ~ !!!L ~ !1!L. ~ ~ ~ ~ 3.!.i Edmunds, j. M . 3Ql, i l l Edwards, M. W. ~ 3.!.i Ei""l~n,
A.
~
I<XXV
Eliol, T. S. m Elkin, A. P. xxix, xxxviii, 9!!.. ~ Ellenberger, H. ~ i l l Empson, W. ~ ~ Engelmann, R . (sec Roscher, W.!!J 1M Enger, R . 99 Erlenmeyer, E. H. 236, ~ Escher, A. 30:1, l l i Evans-Pri tchard, E. E . 39.. 55.. '.Q3.. !.e..
"'" Wi Fairba irn, W. R. D. ~ !l9 Fehling, D. !.5!! F~lelbctg, S. (_ Bcrnfeld, S.) Fcniehcl, O. ~ ~ ~ !Uz !H!.
~
<103,
35'
,.,
~ 216, ~ ~ '!.9.!.t ~ .'i!..5. ~
Ferenczi, S. xxiii , xxxviii , ~ ~ ll.. ~ 1116. 33.'.. 335.. :M1 Firth, Sir R. !.9Q Fhuhar, H. §§.. !.4.3 Fodor, N . xxii, xxx vii; Ford, C. S. and Ikach, F. A. ~ i l l Forde, C. D . 236, ~ Forrest, W. G. G. (with Devereux, G. ) ~
l'±
Fortune, R. F .• 6~, !§z FraenkeJ, E. xii i, xv, ~ix, ~xxv, xxxviii, !L 3l. ~ fu., §3, ~ ~ z§, z!!. ~ ~ ~
!.!.1!
95::9!L 101, '02, 104- 108, '....I.3.J. !..!L. 120-126 . !!!L ~ !lL
~
~ ~ !39.. !.4l, ~ 226. ~ ~
~~:i.!5..~
Franz,J. 133-135,!39..!.4.3 Frazer, Sir J. G. !fu., !..25.. !.9Q., ~:z8.J French, T. M . !!!L ~ Freud, A. 3Q5, ill Freud, S. ~vii, xxii, xxiv, xxvii, xxx, xx~ii, xxxiii, U-l
95::9.lt 100, 101, !.!.§.. 12 1- ' 24, !3L. ~ ~ !.3§, ~ !.4l, !li. !.5L. !fu., 163, ~ 208, 210, ~ ~ 2.6, 222, ~ ~ 2 35--237, ~ ~ ~ 260, 266.
m
271--273, ~ 282, ~ ~ ~ ~ 3QZ., 308 , ~:i!!.t ~ 3lL.:M1
Gahagan, L. §.. ~ !1.!., !1!L. ~ ~ Galv.ilo, E. (see Wagley, C.) Gallini, C. !h. !Alr ~ 3i.3 GalW, K . F. 60. Gayton, A. M. 1i. ~ Gillen, J. G. (sec Spencer, Sir B. ) Glaslle, R . 112, !.i3 Gloyne, H. F. 13!.. ID Glueck, N. !!9, ~ Gocth~,J. W. von xxvii,!1 Goltbtein, K . !.Q5., !A3 Gorer, G. ~ 55.. ~ 9L !.4l, (see also Rickman, J .) !.95! aJ.6. Cow, A. S. F. !11. !l9 Graves, R. 15.. !.i3 Grecn, ..... ~ !.§z Grecne, W. C. xxi, xxxviii Grecnacre, P. ~ 2 . 6, 302, ~ ill Gr~enwood, L. H. G. ~ ~ 3.!1 Gr
9!.
Imhx
35' C ruppe, O . lUl, XlUlviii, !9>
H.du, M .
Kruer, S. 326, 3i3 Kelchner, G. D. ~ !19 Keller, O. ~ l.!§: Kennard, E . !Ii. ~ 116, !.j3, !!it1!§. Kennedy, B, H. ill KiUeen, J. F,!I!I..!J3 K.iniel, C. 1!.1
~
:a6t!9!:! !.ll. uti
Hallowell, A.
H amdorf, F. W. ~ 22 Hanu.r, f . l!I!!..lli Hani, J. 3!1. ID
H_tlu""J. A.!..E
Head lam, W. XlDlV, U§. ~ l!lo 126. ~
Healh, B. H. ~ !.!1 H ebb, D. O. (tee .1so Baton, W.!:!J !!!L. ~
!.13
Heine, H.
LtIJ
Hamann, G. F. !.§s.. !..!l!.a !!19
~ ~ 10 1,
!!.L
~
Heron, W ., &"1011, W . H. and H ebb, D. O. !!!L. ~ !A3 Herter, H. ~ l2L lli Hem:, H. !..§3 Henog, R . ~ !.1.3 H esa, E. H. u.II. Hialt, L. R . ~ ill Haa;,al Ho", T~olt !lL A3 Hirmcr, M (see Lullia, R. ) Hinkle, L. E., Jr. and Wolf, H.. G.:!.!!:4.lli Hocbel, E. A. (see aoo Utwcllyn, K . A.) !..llt!.&1. H afer, W . i l Holt, R . R . (with Devereux, G. ) ~ H CUlma ... , A. E. 1!. ~ !!1J u§. ~ H owald , E. "",vii, lllUtVIII Hubbard. M . "vi, JCUI , ,.,." ,-;i; H umboldt , W . von L06 Iu.kowo:r , O . aQ/L ill hhibashi , T . (tee Uch im ura , Y.) Ita lic, G. (tee also Allen, G. T .)!1. ~ 9!L
ill J acoby, F. !..5
J akoblon, R. and Uvi-Slnuas, C. lCDIvi, l<1%"m, ~ ll. U, !.i3 j ama, H. L ~ !.!l. i l l Jcbb, Sir R . xvi,
zl!. ~~ UI, ~~
ill
J CnKn , W. XlIvii , xxxviii ) o kl, R . H. u vii, xxxviii, l!.!.. Jona, E. """iii, lluvii i , 33. 5.5. 9Q, !.j3, !..!l.i.. ~ ~ !!L ~ azg, ~8$, 306,
m
l!.l.13I, 336, 139, 341 jouvet, M . :oiii, ",,,",viii, ~ ill jung, C. G. 3.!.! junod, H. iQ, ~
~!1l.
Railer, M , (I« K rauu, F. S,) Kannich t, R. l!!.l.!§: Kapp, R. 0., lli.. !!1 Kardmer, A, (I« Linton, R .) Kanten, R . ~ !.!l Kusel, R, a95. 1!§.
308,
Kinsey, A. C, 11 u Kipling, R, 3!4. Ki tto, H. D, F. ~ !H K1ausm, R, H. ~ 106, ill
Kkin, M. $!, lUll KnOJ: , B. M . W . "',
~ ~
KodolinY;, j. :urii Kourc:w, 0 , ~ 3&.. ~ $5. 128. ~ !no ~ ~ !!it 3.!§. 3.3!. Y2. :w Kramer, A. 308, 3!§. Kranl, W. (I« nicis, !!J KraUD, F. S. 5.. u Kreisler, L. ~ !1.9 Kri., E. uvii, ~i; Kroeber, A, L. ",viii, ltltltvii i, §!. ~ ~
:illi
Kub;e, L. S. ,,",",ii, :uxviii, !U. Kulka, E. W. (lief: Briehl, W. )
~
!.J:i
La Barre, W. u.. !i5.z !.9.3, ll1. ll2.. ttL 268, ~ :i.!!. 3'l6, l£I Lafargue, R. ~ !M.z !!L ~ ~ ~ 3.!§. ~:H3
au..
Lagache, D, 9l. !i! Lagrange, j , L. :lJDlV, """vi, 22. 2.2J Landes, R. ~ 3!§ Lang, A., Leaf, W , and M yers, E. ill Leaf, W. (I« also Lang, A .) 9§: Legrand , Ph._E. ti. ~ H i.e Cuen, A, II Le Cumnd, N. U. ~ Lehrs, K . ~ !.J:i Lcibniz, C, W. von ~ Lennig, R . ltD, """viii, aB::u. ~ !.h.!!l Le Roy Ladurie, E, 1!3!1.. !.$i Lcsky , A . ~ :I.!§.
Levarin-, U.-J.-J. !..§3 U vi-Slrauu, C. (oe<: alto j altob.on, R ,) $., ~
§5.. 111
u.. !.j3, 1M. ~ !.111 !.l9..
!..!!11 ~ 266, 3.!§. ,:16, Y3
Levy_Bruhl, L. !.9.'....ll1. 3!,9., Si3 Lewin , B, D. I..!M.o 208, !!l Lewis, N. D. C. !I:Ql, :i!.§ Licht, H.~ ~ LiflOn, R.j. '!.!!i.. 3..!! Lilly,j. C,!..Q.L.!i! Uncoln , j . S, ""vi, "","viii, 2. a.a. !.32. ~ 226, ~ ~
l!.§.
LinlOn, R . tit !..!1.:L 108, !A4. !.l3.>.!§z. !..!l.i.. 2OO, !!L~ ~~
Utln!, M. P. E. ill Uewdlyn, K . N. !.U. W Uoyd-joDCI, H.:KY, ",vii, uxiv, M.
~
9.! ,
ImU" !llt 91!, I~ ,~6, ~ ~ ~!!19, ~ ~ ~ ~,o, ~76, 300, ~ 3!!3 Lobel, E. !fu u",b, E. M . ~ llt ll!.t W (and Toffe!_ mier, G. D. ) ~ 1!.!1 London, H.. L. and Caprio, F. F. ~
'"
Lord, A. B. ~ ~ Lorimer, H. L. ~ ~ ~ Lowie, R . H..iL llt un, !.H.o. 33..!..> W Lucas, F. L . §z, 1.« Lullj ... , R . and I-!itnu:., M . 20:), ~ Luomala, K . (5« Toffelmier, G. D.) Mau , P. xix, xxxviii, 6.i Ma.asa, E.
~
e
Ma UII ,M. ~~ Maxwell, j . C . ~
M azon, P. !.!.. ~ ,'i!, 4.i>.!!iI. 9!L ~ 106, '-!.1.t ~ ~ ~ !.ll. t6t, ~ ~ 22 t
, ~
Nligeisbach, C. F. " on !.2§., '-'-1 Nauck, A. 9l.. LCI!." ~ Nicolas, ] . ,6, , !.fu: Nietzsche, F. ~ Niiuon, M. P. xx, xxxix, i.3.. ll. !lit ~ !.llo!.§L.!l5:.UlL.~!!1.,~~ ~ ~ 308. ~:M.!.. ID Norbeck, E. '.9§. !!1., 3~6, ID Norwood, G . 3!!L 3.!.§: NOI2, R . ~ Oldfillhcr, C.il.
~
OnialU, R . B. !ll. UlL. !.94.. ~ Opler, M . E. ~ ~ Oppenheim, A. L. 2.i, ~ !!19, 203, !!1., 228, 23)- 23', ~
Macchiavelli, N. :ill. 3i3. MacCracken, R. D. ~o " ~ Macgl'qlor, F. C. (5« Mead, M .) Mach , E. xx Malino..... ki, B. §.. ~ 5!i. '!.'....'..t ~~8, ~ ~80, 33 339.. 3i3. Malten, L. :n. ll. ~ 1.« Mar<:ade, j . Sf, 5!i. Z5.!.±L ~~, i l l Marcovich, M. ~ no, 1.« Margoliouth, D. S. 9!i Man, L. (with Devereux, G.) xxxiii, xxxvii, ~ '.' , ~ 3.!.!. 339.. ~ Mas ten, j . 204, ~
~07,
353
I!i3..
~
l!i! 3.!5:
M cNichols C. L. ~ 1.« Mead, M . and Macgregor, F . C. 3!!L 1!§.. (and Metraux, R. ) ~ ~ (see also BatClon, C .) Mcismer, B. lIU, xxxviii Mellaart, j . xxxii, xxxix Menninger, K . A. ~ ~ ~ 1!.!i. Mercier,j.-L. !!g M endier, L. ~6~, a8J M ~imu, P. ~
Merker, F. ~!!1., 236, ~ Merton , R . K . !.fu. !.fu: Messer, j . 5.100(, xxxix MtlTllux, A. ~ ~ 339.. ID Mttraux, R . (Stt Mead, M .) Meyerson, E. §5., ~ M ichaels, j . j . 236, ~ Millman, D. 1Jl6 Milton,j. lOtii, ~ L2li M owrer, O. H. !.fu. !.fu: M=y, A. T . ~ Murray, G. xxiv, xxxix, 9.t ~ 55t!!1. 99.t , 06, !..!.5.t ~ ~ ~ ~ 2", ~ ~ 3.!.§. Myen, E. (see Lang, A.) MyIOll», G. E. ~
Orlaruky, H. !..2.!.t U9. Owen, A. S. !!i. !.ti Padel, R . xv ,:it !.Q.. 44. 55 Page, Sir D. xv, ~ ~ :l!. 3.3.. ~ 3L 55" 5§., ~ zg, 81-83, !l.!.o !l5... ~ gB-100, 106, loB. !...'.Q, !.!.3.t '-!.1.t ,gO, ,g3-1ii6, ~~!.3§,!.l1.~!Ji,~!l.!.t ~~~~
Paley, F. A. !.Q§, i l l Papathomopoulos, M .!!Q.. !15, Patin, H. ,~68, ~ 1!.!i. Pauly, A. and Wiasowa, G. 266, ~ i l l Pavlov, I. P. ~ Pauw, j . C. de w6. Punan, A. C. l!I. Picard, C. !!9.. ~ I....'..L ~ ~ Pimare, E. 53 Pitani, V. !!!L ~ Platnauer, M . ~ Pla tt, A. 1Jl6 PliIu, Th. 1Jl6 Poe, E. A. .1:M.. lli Poincare, H. xxii , xxxix, ~ !§.z Potzl , O. 3Q:9.t 3.!.§: Powell, B. 1~8, 1.i5.t ~ ~ ~ 3.!§: Prcller, L , and Robert C. xx, xxxix, !.9§.. \1I8,~~
sa.
Premenlein, A. \'on ~ Privost d 'Exilcs, Abbe A. F. !!1 Quilling, F. 115 Raingeard , P. ~ '.U Rank, O. !HI., ~ ~ 3.!.§: Rapaport, L g02, :uS Rapp, A. !l.!... ~ ~ RasmU53C'Il, K . ~ ~ Raswa n, C. ~ 3.!!i. Raum , O . F. ~ :Hi Rawlinson, G. :ulI Reik , Th. ~ ~ :uS R ~i.ke,J. J. ~
Renault, M . glO, 218, 1146,
~
I..u,
354 RelW, H. as§., 3H Rickman, J . (see Corer, G. ) Riemer, S. 5.1. ~ Ritchie, W . xxvii, xxxix, '.Q. ~ .'.l!, U!h ~ ~ ~68, ~ !lI6, ~28, 3.!.!. i l l Rive", W. H. R. ~ !AS.. '!3.5J ~ Robert, C. (see Preller, L. ) Rob<.rt, F. ~ 1170, ~ 1!l Rohde, E . 952!j5, !.5.1..!.55! 1611, ~ ~ IIIB, 22S, 11:>4
R 6heim, G. xxix, xxxix, 9t ~ ~ !8 ~ ~ !.l!L. ~ ~ 211, 1118, ~ ~ 1136, ~ ~ 3Q1, s08, 1!.1, :Ill. ~ 33h 3.!!, 3M Roscher, W. H. !.l, ~ gg, l!! ~ n, ~ ~!l.!.o 1 110, !.:Y. !..3.1.0. !AS.. '..5.!.... ~ ~ !.§..z.. ~ !.l!L. ~ ~ ~ 1180. 1188, ~ 308. i l l R ose, H..J. ~ Rosenberg, S. B. H.. ~ ::uS Rousseau, C. S. ~ ~ 186, 188, ~ liDS,
""
Roux,J. l.6.2 Ruark, R. UH.t:uS. Russell, B. xv, )Op(ix, I I , ~ '..21 Russell, D. xv; Rycroft, C. xiii, xxxix, ~ :u.S Sachs, H. IJ..5.o. ~ Samler, E.
~
Sandbach, F. H. !.§.s. Saul, L. J. 35., 5§. Saue.-, !..3h !..11 Schiller, I'. von 3.! I Schmid, J. ~ 1!l Schmid, W . ~ !.§..z.. ~ ~ 1181, ~ ~1!l
Scholeficld, A. F. (see Cow, A. S. F.) Scholefidd, J. Ul6 Scholz, U. W . !3., 22 Schonberger, S. xxii, ltX)th( Schopmhauer, A. Lfia Schuh!, P.-M.!!L. 1..45 SchUu, C . G. !!§... L02, 1!3.. l...!L ~ ~ Schwerdt, F. L !!5 Scolt, T . H.. (see Sexton, w.!iJ Seligman, C. G. 1138, lli Sellman, C . xx, xxxix, ~ 3.!.l Sewell, W. I.JJ6 Shakespeare, W. !!1 Shute, N. ~ 3M Sidgwick, A. I!Y.I, IJ.1 Smyth, A. W. xvi,!. a§. ~ 3.!.. 4.l!!!1.!!§.. 9!b 10 2, 106 , !..!h 120, ~ !!!h ~ !.49. ~ 182, ~ !.9!!.. 321-3 2$ Snell, B. 3!U s§.. ~ ~ Sollo, A. IJ.1 Spenoo-, Sir B. and GiU~n,J. G. ~ ill Sperling, O. E. ~ ~ ~ Spiro, M. E. (see BurroWl, E. G. )
S~nley, Th. I.JJ6 Sterba, R . F. U!.z !19. ~ ~!5i. ~ 3.l!.. ~ 3M Stillton, T . C. W. ~ ~ Stubbings, F. H. (see Wace, A. J. B.) SlUdent Work Groups xv Swifl, j . '!3§. ~
Teicher, M. L a83, ill Teitelbaum, H. A. ~ ~ ~:H4 Thorman, G. lli §!., Z!..I!!. ~ 9!.. 93.z 9!b 100, !..Q.1, !..Q5., 106, !..!.l. !..!.L 118, ~ ~ 138, !5§., !..5.l, !..59. !.§5, ~ 3E.
'"
Thompson, C. M. ~ ~ Tim. Mf16adn. 1.O!... 3Q2, 3.!.9. T odd, O.j. ~ ~ T offelmier, G. D. and Luomala, K. xxvi, xxx ix, Z!.. !.f5., 228, ~ (see alJO Loeb, E. M. and Toffe1mier, G. D,) T remearne, A. j. N. 161 ,!..!!z TricHniua, D. I.JJ6 Tilmpel, K. !l. 9.! Tylor, E. B . 120, ~ Uchimura, Y., Ishibashi , T. and AlUmoto, H.it~
Van Dade, H. !.Q, u VellacolI, Ph. xiii, xv, ~ Verden;"" W . j. ~ Verheyl, P. !..4Q, ~ Vernant,j.-P. 3!U!l!. s§.. ~!&. ~!..!.l. I....'..i.t 120, !.F., ~ nL ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~246,!55.,~
"-'
Vernon, P. E. (see Allport, G . W.) Verrall, A. W. xXXV, !&. III, !..!l.t 118, !Th ~ !&1, !ZQ, ill Vidal-Naquet, P. 41t ~ !l!. s§. Vurtheim, j . U!t!.TII Wace, A. j. B. and Stubbings, F. H.
~
~~
Wackernagd,j. ~ ~ '''agenwoorl, H. !..!.. ~ Wagley, C. and Galvin, E . ~ ~ 33§.
'"
Wallace, A. F. C. ~ ~ 267, l.!.l Waszinlr.,j. xxviii, xxxix Webster, T. B. L. 101, ~ W~k1eill, N. 99... 102, 106, IJ.1 Weider, G. ill WeinbeTg, S. K . ~ ~ 5..3.. 5§: Weinreich, O . !!1.. ~ ~ Welcker, F. G. I.JJ6 Wesl, M. L. !.Q, ~ Wesl~rmarck,
E.
m
:u.8
While, T. H. ~ 3.!.l WielaWlki, j . (see Winian, W.)
• alenal
~
echos de al.llor
Index Wigglawortb, V. B. !.1!!.. ~ 3.3l, 3H. Wilamowin-Moellendorfl", T. von xxvii,
="< Will,Dlowitt-MoclJendorfl", U. von xx , xxi, xxxix , ill ~ ~ I!t, 9.!.. 95.t !.Qfi, !.!L !.1!, !ll. ~ 2&.1, s.!L ~ lli Winian, W. and WieiaWJki , j . ~ 5§. Winnington. Ingram, R. P. 95.t ~ 26!j, ill WiJdom, j . O. xxii, xxxix Wisse, j . ~ lli
355 Wi!sowA, G . (see Pauly, A.) Wolf, H. G. (Ie<: H inkle, L. E. j r)
Wolfson, L. !.!!. !A5 Wormhoudt , A. x Worner, E . :E Yala, S. L. 3.11.:H.l Zielinski, Th. !!!!. !A5 Zuckerman, Sir S. ~ 5§. Ziircha, W. xxvii, xxxix
MaterKiI
:Ie autor
III Ancient persons, gods, beings, etc. Aaron <1119, ~
Achilleus xxi, :ni;,!h 3!t ~ §g, u. ~!!Q., 9.1t 9L!19.. ~ , 08. !.Q9., !..!3., ~ ~ 131-133.
!.3!!.
~ ~
a6a, <163, a6:;,
!.51..
~ ~ !l00, ~ 1I~70,
!Z!!.,
""
AdmclOI ~ 9l.!I!!. loS.!.Q9., 113- 1 !.a. '211, ~ !..3!. ~ 'tl9. ~
Agamemnon ;,,;, xi, " viii, xxxvi, !.§.. ~ 3Q, 3!. ~ 20. §9, 15.. ,a-til! ~ ~ 9i.o. ~ IJ..,l, ~ !..5!. ~ 12,- 25', ~ nQ, !l711, :nz, 1I8"~l4, lI88, 30$-308,~ Agaue !l!, ~ ~ 3Q9
'!9.!..
~
Agdistu 92: Aias Oiliado (the Lener) ~ Ai ... Tclamonidea xxix,!l!!,. 1110, 228, ~ Aigem 8. Aigisthos ix, ~ ~ ~ !..i.iI ~ !!!:9. .:1:08. ill H:t13 , lIlIO . ~ 1I4l1- lI¥i, <149. ~
.,;;
~ 3Q1.o. 306, Ap
!15.. !.!M..
aa~, ~ aa~~a9, a33~3~, ~
Athamas~
Alhen., 3!. ~ ~ loa. ~ la6, ~ 161,
16a, I,. 176. !.95.0. I!.!!L. 30a, s06, ~ ~ AII as !..3.5.
~:wu ~
~
Atosaa xxiii, xxv, 2-20, ~ ~
20 I !.Qg,
~60, ~
Astyanax ~ :t82 Atalanta :t82
m
AI"esti. xxi, xxii,!!!!... 91. 108.
ill
Arachne 3!'>. 3!9.. ~ AratOl r.8fi Areion 12 A..,. ~ ~ 306, 33Q Arete !!! Argos 33., 35.t 3!!.. i5.. ~ ~ Ariadne :zg, ~ Aristagora !.H Aratophon ~ Artllbanos ~ !!9 Artame:s 1.8 Artemit ~ ~ 265. ~70, ~ ~~~ Artysl(me !!!. !9 AlIklepios ~ !.l.i. ~ Amabakos !..B. ~
A.uyage.a
Aigi.tho.. (of Alba Longa) ~ Aigyptiadai !3, 32<)-34' Aigyptos 311~41 A"laion Alaslor !l§, 188. !.!!9. Alexandra (5« KassandraJ Alc:xandros (ICC Paris) Al"",androo (faille prophet ) ~ Aleu.ndres (the Great, of r.bcMon )
1!..3.t l!..f.t
!.l9. I "", ~ !..3!. ~ ~ ~ Alkmaion ~ Alkmene !..95.t 102. 3Ql Aloadai aSo, 3.32. Alp (the) l19. Althaia ~ Amphiaraos ~ ~ Amphitryon ~ Amuljw~
Amymone~~
AnchW:s~~~
Andromache ~ Antigone !!.i.. ~ n!. ~ ~ An!igonos ~ Antikleia !.33 Aphrodite (Kypri.) 9.0. ~ iQ., ~ Ih. t t6. 122. ~ 161 . !..9§, ~ ~ ~ 306.
'"
Apollon xxviii, JW<;v. ~ ~ ol!.t ~ ~ ~ !..Q9, 1.,0-166, !.!!9.. !..9§, !.99. !i!.. 276.
i9. Z!t :M. :z§., aal, ~ Atreidai (Atreides) 7S-80. !M.t 186, au, aa6, 'tl;L as8-'i!40, ~ Atfe\U 9.!I a~6, ill Alum (Egyptian god ) ~ Augeias~
Augustus, C. J. C. O. (Emperor) !.i Aurora (see Eos) AutolykOl ~ Axiokel"lOl ~ BelIerophon ~ ~ Bilhah ~ Bri. eis ~ ~ !If Bryas 35 Caeculul ~ Ca.,..,.r, G. J uliul xxii, !..'>.. 951: Charioleer of R he:so. 1
~
z§..
356
'alenal
~
echos :Ia al.llor
Imkx Europe ~
Chavalov (painter) 15 Cheiron ~~ Chimaira xxxiv, Chryuor !!S9 Chrysothcmis :z§., ~ 220, 1!.1..! ChthorWtllll (Ihe) !3L ~ ColIatinUl, L . T . 1.! Cuneo (Ihe) ill
Eurydike 74. ~ EUJ)'Ithcus ~ Euthydcma. 119
m
Daimon ~ Dal
m
Dryal~
Gaia (sce Earth) Ganymedes !..5.. 3! Cdon 268. Geryooes !5! Glauka. (of Potniai) !.3.
m
Gobryaa L8 Graiai~~
Hades 32t t!!.. 99. Haimon ~ H armonia !.!L Ig§ Harpagos (Mede) !.92. 2lZfi Hebe !h H ckabe xxvi, ~ 3Q. ~ ~ Q05---\U)1. ~ ~~2U~3'2
H cktor xxi, 9.t ~ 208, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 282, 283, ~ ~ 3Ql, ::!Q1,
""
Helene
!.Q, 57~ [40, !..9Q, ~
210.
~
~2B2
H elena. 262, 263. ~ 282, ~ H eIiodora ~ HeIia. It~ 16, 22!1 H ephaista. (also Vule.. nUl) M. [28, !..5Q.. ~ !!.19.t S08 . .1!Q, 33Q H era i!3l. fit t!!.. t02 , ~ !.9.1. !..9ir. !.9§. ~ ~ :i'..!!. 3.3Q, .34Q H erakla !U 19.. !!.5. 120, !M. !.91. !..9ir. ~ 2t2, ~:!33, ~ ~ ~ 306, 3!1.1 H erald of Ihe Aigyptiadai 320-341 H erma Th 3! 99.t ~ 2S8, '!l!b 3Q5.t 308,~
Earlh (G .. ia) xxix,
~
262, ~ SQi., 306,
::!Q1, 3!.'l, ~
Earth Shaker (see Poseidon) Elcklra IIi, ~ ~ !l1. !.5.!.. ~ ~ !.9!L. 200, 20], 208, ~ ~ Elpinike xxxii Endymion 3QS. Enkdados ~
£OS (Aurora) 34 Epaphos ~ ill Epcios 2Bll Ephialtes 3.35l: Epizclas ~ Erginos !1 Erioy(e}. (Eumenides) xi, lOIiU, lOIU:, ~ 3Q, 3!1.. ~ 9!.0 ~ !..ll. 148-166. !1L ~ ~
357
!..9!.
[92~I99, 201.!!3, ~
Eriphyle !..§.i. !1§. ill En» 122, 3Q.3 EteokJ.es xvii, ~ 3Q, §!!.. ~ M. Eumelos !3. ~ Eumenides (see Erinyes)
2!l
H ermione ~ H ippias xxii, :z.liB. H ippios (occ Poseidon) H ippodamcia ~ Th 4!!.. ~ t.62 H ippolylc 29 H ippolytos !.l. 33.t H.o 95.t ~ H oly Gha.1 112 H yma i3.t !1i1 !.15. ~ H ypermnatra l.3!. 3.3l Hypnos (see Slcep) H ypeipylc 1!5. Hys wpcs !II I won 34.t is. !!.5. 309=311 Idas, i!t !h lnachos xxix, ~ WJ8 I ntaphema (wife of) !Z! 10 xx, xxix, ~ M. :z§.. !.3!. 208, 2S0[ l.3!. :i35.t .34Q Iowte xxii, !1, gQ..!!l.. ~ ~ ~ 2[0, ~~
Iolaoa 95 Ioo ~
• alenal
~
echos :Ia al.llor
I..ux Iphigeneia xxvi, ~ ~ z§..!!Q..1!!.. 99.t ~
Lynkeus ~ 3.11
Lysimachoa 339:
1100,208,1130 ,1157-3 111
I pbillCl !..!l5. Ithmonilr.e ~
Lyssa !5.!
hhtar~
Maia 99 Mainades H.. !.3:h ~ ~ ~ ~ Makaria 268, ~ Mandane ~ lI28, ~ ~ ~ ~ Marpasa 3!t .4!.. ~ Matavilye (Mohave god) 93 Medria !1 !.!.i MedoaB Mega timOiS ~
bion ~
!..5!!. :i!.Q
Jawb~
Job 39: Kadmos ~ ~ 1183, ~ ~ :E.5. Kaineus (lUinil) i!... !9'?, ~ 28"
~
""
Kairos Ul KalyplO 3!t !15.. :i!.Q Kambyses II ~ !!l Kassandra (see Alexandra) xxxv, .4!..
~ ~ !9:9, ~ 11611, ~ ~ 1I8~, 3Q!
Kephisophon ~ Kerbuoa ~ Kayneian hind 2&. Kerkyon ~ Kiliua (lICe Nurse of Oresles) Kinton xxxii, xxxiii Kirke ~ ~!15.. 325 Kleo 3Q1 Kleomenes 66 Klytaim(n)eslra ix, xi, xiii, xxiii, xxvii, xxviii, ~ 30;>, :u. 3!!. !lQ., :z§. ~ !h, !!§..
9!!t
126, 10j.8-25', ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 3Q5., ~, 3!.!.., ~ 3Th ~
Komailho~
Krenn
!..Q, ~ ~
I!:i
~
270,m~
M erope ~
M cs.oenger (Penian) 3 M cs.oengen (in general ) ~ Metriche :iQ Min OiS, !.ll. lIo:I, ~ ~ ~ Moira; !..5Q., ~ L6c Moliones !.9Q. Muse (l) xxyil, i!h ~ MykerinOiS fl, 510. !..!J M yrLil.,. !.3... 9..!
Nausikaa ~:E. t!!,. 5Q Nebuchadneuar 229, ~ Neoptolemoa !.Q!i, !39 Nephde :i!.Q
~
Kreusa .4!.. H.. ~ ~ ~
Nesaoo
Kroisos ~ ~ Kf()nos xx, ~ ~ !.5!, !.53., !..93.. !.95.t 3Q4.,
Night !.E, !.!.i3. Nikias i.! Niobe 93 NiSSOI ~ Numitor ~ Nurse of Orestes (Kilissa) 182-214,
Krimisoo ~ K rilias 1!.9
,."".
K yklops l3.. H K ynegeiroo !.§.. 62 Kypril (see Aphrodile) Kyroa the Great (K urul h)
~
228,~~
m
Lesbia !.!1 Leto !Z§: LionKing~ ~
Loxias (lICe Apollon ) Lupa~
Lykaon !..9:L ~ Lykourg
203, 226,
!.ll. 20:1,
~ 3.!Q, ~
~
OdysseUi ~ ~ 3!t .H.. ~ Z!r ~ 9!!.. 99.t !.!Z.t ~ !.Sit ~ ~ ~ 1176-278, lI82, 286, ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Laerles ~ ~ Laioa !l.z !!!t 203, ~ Lamia (hetaira and lpectre) Laodamda Z!r !..!3. ~ !!.5. Laokoon 3!!J :E!t 339: Leda !.9'='
.i!L
57-140, 1107, 1110, ~ Y.1.o ~ ~
Kekrops 3!1
Koron;"
MelampoUl~
Melanippos ill MeIeagros !.H. ~ Melissa "n!.. ~ Mendaos XViIi, xxii, xxvii,
Odysseus' Mother (see Antikleia) Oidipous xiii, xix, xxii, xxxiii, ~ ~ ~ .39z 103, ~ !.95.t 1103, ~ 210, ~ ~ ~ 30ll, 3l16,
33.!...
~
Oinomaos !.3.t :u. 4!1. Okanoa II Okno. xxi, 13 Olympians (the) !!!U !..S§, ill Onan~
Ophdtes ill OrestCi xxi, xxix, !1 !Q.. ~
.iQ.,
z§..
!.Q!i,
148--2511 264-266, ~ ~ n.!. ~ 28" lI83-28:;, lI87, 288, ~ ~ ~ 30:1, 305-308
'alenal
~
echos de al.llor
I,""x
359
Orpbeuo ~ Osiris ~ ~ ill Otanes!..9 Ouranol D, !3.. 4Q., ~ .'..53, ~ 3!!4..
Priamos ~ ~ aJla Prome 1.!1 Prokris 13!1. Prokroustel ~ Prometheus ~ 39.0 ~ ~ !39.o.11S6, ~
Pan~~
ProsyrnnCl (Polymnoo) .i3. H. ~ Protesilaos !..!.,1, l....'..9.t !.§ Protem !J§, !13 l'lyche ~ Pterelaoo ~ Pyladrs!l:h!!i.1. 1170, ~ Pythia xi, xxiJ:, 5.!.. §§.. !.§z, !!!9. ~
,.,
Paris (Aleundrnl) 23.t ~ S3--.86, !M.. !!1.0 ~ !.!S. ~ IllS, ~ ~ ~ ~
m
Parthenopaios !..!lQ., 31:!3 Paaiphae i1., :i3 PatroklO$ Dii, !L :zs.. 108, ~ !.3.l, 135!ll, !..fl, !§5, i l l PegaJOl xxxili, :axiv, !.5.z n. ~ !!!3.. lilli, ~
Peililtratol ~ ~ Pdeiades !3l Peleus Yo. ft5.. ~ Pelopeia 33.! Pelopid(ai) ~ ~ PdoI'" ~ ~ !l!... 95.. 11I1, ~ ~ ~
""
Queen ofEpeiros:roo. Rachd~
Rhea3Q1 Rhaos ~ !.n.. 266--269, 1178-ll80, llSll, 286,~~
Riches (see also PlouIOl)
~~3l!!.
Pendope XIi, xx.iv, §. !.5.. liS-SO, 3.:L 5Q., 1;l, 9!h~~~I88,~~~
Pentbeus
~ ~
265,
~
llSS, 30\1, 3Q3,
'"
Periandrol ~ !!.1!. ~ i l l Perikles xii, ~ Persephone 99, 136, 1'\4 Perseus!;!, ~ 3Q1 Phaethon !A.. L6 Phaidon !.5. Pbaidra «.:zs..!l9, 95.t 120, ~:E:4. PhaonTL~~~
Pbaraoh (see abo MykerinO$)
~ ~
~ll!
Pharaoh'. butler ~ i l l Pberes !39.. ~ Philoktetes ~ Philomele 1.!1 Philyra 3Q!. Phoenix (bird) ~ ~ Phoinix (man) :u. !.Q.1, ~ !..9§. 1I06, 3Q1 Pleinbenes (_ides) 122-'14, 202, lIlI.l Plouton ~ Ploutos (see aoo Riches) ~ Polybos !lOll Polydektes m Polydoro. ~ lI65, ~ 1I11-l173, 281-l18S, ~~~SO\I,3Q5
Polykrates !.!9 Polymeslor ~ 278, 11811, 1186, 3Q!!. Polyrnnoo (lICe ProsymnOl) PolyphClllOl 2lll Polyxene 11611, ~ ~ 281, llS2, ~
..,
Segeata
~
Seirenes 33!l Semde 4 I ~ ~ 30ll-304 Servim Tullius ~ Silenos ~ 3Q!, 3Q1 Simaitha lJl8. Skamandros Di Skylla ~ i l l Sleep (Hypnos) !..'M.. !.31.t !.3!!.. ~ Smerdill (true and false) !.!L. :.til Sokrates (qua penon ) 31, ~ Solon i1 Scslrata m Sphinx ll. !12.0 !..d. ~ 33§, 33!!.. 3.39. Sirepsiades xix, ~ Seraphios !.9..! Supernatural Beings ~ Tantalos !..93 T ciresw ~ ~ rnt. !..!Eo. ~ 302, Tdemaehos :E TdepbOl!l2!L 20'" <>06 Tuem zg, !..93 Tewos 80 Th"mi..oIU.,. !I', aw. 203. ~ Theseus ~ :zs.. ~ g§, ~ Theuioo 19 Thetis ~ ~ !13
3Q!!.
Th~~
~
Poseidon (Earth Shaker, Hippios) l!.. !.5.. i.!o 43.. .y, ~ 1;l, !..9C!. lISlI, 1I91-l193,
"'" ".
~
Romulus~~
Thonis 3!t 13. !.n Thracian Rider (ICC aoo Diomedes the Butonian and Rhesos) :zBoo Thyestes iQ, 9.!.. !.93, !9L 1126. ~ 3.1! T imon fi, ~ T ithonos Yo. 108. ~ 3Qi, ~ Triptolemos !..5.. 3!.Q Triton ~
Index
360 Tydeus !1l Tyndareos Typh~
~
(Typhon) 3§. 3!!.. ill
T". " Vulcanus (Hepha,. ta.)
XeniOl (sec Zcm) L6:;t
~
Zew (Zeus Agamemnon, Zew XeniOl, etc.) xxi, !U !..5t ~ :M. B.. 102. ~ ~ 1116, .'.!9. !.SQ, !.53.. ~ ~ ~ ,62. I 1t- 176,
~ ~
236, '!3!b.
~
262, ~ ~ llEb, 302-304, ~ :l!.Q.. :E!.. :E3.z 3!Z.t :i3Q, :tl!. 3.35
• alenal
~
edXlS da al.llor
IV Persons, non-Graeco-Roman Apulz, L . xxii Albr:rt, Prince-<:M>SOrt lU Arp6d (Hungarian rulet) IlfiS.
Lagrange, J.-L. :lJ(JtV, lOUtvi Uonardo da Vinci xxxii LqIordl03! I..ac.aut, M anon !..!1. ~
Beethovm, L . van ~ ~ 3!!l Boed.h, A. lJU
Locke, J. ~ Louis XIV i.! Luke (sq !!1!
''Boecl
LO.l
'BIIck1in, A. UlI
<_
Buonapa.l"u:) Buonaparte, L. ~ Buonapane, N. !..it §1
Bonaparte
Cannen !.!.2. ~ Chaplin, Charles ~ Conquc:rina: Lion of Judah ill de Coligny, G. (adminJ) ~ de Lamb&lle, Prina:u M .-T.-L ~ Dacarlet:, R. xix, xxii Oiabelli, A. S!9
GenghiI Khan !l. !J1. ~ ~ George III ill George V 121 Gilli (None Ilave) Iz!i Gulliver, L. ~ Hamlet
~
Mwtesta (dynuty) ~ Manop Laeaul (Itt LeKaul, Manon)
Manson, C.
1.ll
M aria-Thereaia (Empress) :t6:8 Mark (51.) ~ Matthew (51.) ill. Mohanuned 80
MOfPD.J· P. ~ Moses !.l5 Mozart, W. A.
uXV, ~ ~
Newton, Sir L rix
Park.,..,C.!..!l Poincati, H. xxii Rembrandt van Rijn J:viii, xxxiii Robcru, M. R . (Brigadier) ~ ROOKVdt, F. D. ill
aJ I
Harold (Kin«) 280. H enri I V (Ki", of France) t66 Hilprecht, H. V. xxii Hitler, A. ! j HOOWl ~~
Schubert, F. ~ Stendhal (H .lkyle)
John
Victoria (QueaI-Emprm) ~ 91
(51.) !i!
K&ul~,
F. A. Wi
Kenned y. Jacqueline a2 K~nedy.J .
p . ( Pftsutft\l, U.S.A.)!l2 KodoIlnyi, J. szni
Watteau, J .·A. ~ Veuka; !25.
~
V Places, peoples, groups Achaia(m)
~ ~70,
Acoma Indians
ill
Colorado National Guard Crele xxi, !1 Crow Indians l.OlI: Cumans (Kipchilk) i l l Cynict 4:L i!!:
~
Aethiopia(llI) &L ~ Africa i l l Ainu 4§.. !..!ll Albania(no) !.5l Alkyoneian Pool i3. All Soub College xvi Alor(cse) 31! Amazons ~ lilllI. America ~!!4., 91t!..!1. 199, 214. 33!0 33&-338 American Arctic iQ American IndiaIlll :u American West !5
~
=
Delos JXlphi Ili, xxviii, xxix, xxxiv,
!..!!L. 203, 24", Dendra ~7ti! 297.
Aquiyawan ~ Arabia :rul AreopagOi L60
ArgO$ (Argives) ~ 410. n. ~ ~ !Er ~ ~ ~ 3!lt:ll! Argive Spring (see Kanathos) Arizona ~ 113. Alia 228, ~ ~ ~ 268. m Athens ix. xii, xiii, :z::g, !..!!. ~ aQ,.!l.!.t §§, Z5.o. u.:h 126. !.59.. 203. ~ \l29. ~ iH3.. ~ 268, ~ !!.9!!. 3Q.L 308, '1 26, ~ 33!.. 332, 334. 33§. Attica !..!3. !..!.i Aulis ~ 281, ~ ~ 3Ql, 3Q5, 3Q!I: AUlItralia(ns) xxix, !I!!. !.l!. !..9:h ~ ill Mande (tribe) !..Q3, ~
~
~
5.!.. 5!t §§.,
:E.!..> 3!1
I~
Diegud\o India"" Z! Dobu (a"") !.fur. Dodona 5! Doric ~ z., !1 "Draussm" (das) tl, H Earth (...,e also Gaia) ~ Eden (Garden of) 9. Egypt ~ !.!i.. ~ 'lOS, ~ 308, 3'l5:lll.t
~
33 2
Eleusis ~ El)"oian Fide\. ~ Englaod (English) !.!L. Ep"iroo m
&hylon !§3 &li= B.-Thonga (tribe) ~ Bavaria ~ Belllileo (tribe) ~ Boiotia 339 "Britannia" 8 Brobdingnag 9 Brooklyn N.Y. 6.1 Bl,lIhmen ill
I~O,
!.!5..
~
Illi8
Ephesos~~
Epidauroo !1! Erymaothoo 2lIa Eskimo xix, ~ ~ Euboia ~ i l l Eurasiat;c StepP" !..!lL Europ" ~ 334.
!.9!!
Far East ~ Ferghana u.B.
Fooll in Chrbt 4i Foxes (Crow IndiaIll) LQ2 France (La) (oee a1so "Marianne") 8 France ( French)!&.~ 120, ~ ~ ~8[, ~ l.3§. Gates of Hom 13!! Gates of I vory Is!! Geelvinlr. Bay ~ !.9..5 "Germania" 8 Germany (Germans) ~ !..ll. ~ :tl§. Great Britain (su England) Greece (passim) Creek Orthodox Church 115
Calvinislll ~ Gatal H uyiik xxxii, !..!ll Central AlIia (Zoroastrian) ~
Central Europe(ans) 268, ~ 13§. Cheyenne Indians !..ll. ~ China (South) ~ ChthonWu: ill
~81, ~
Greenland. a3§.
36, alenal
~
:lerechos da al.llor
I""'" H adetilt!..Q!!,!.Q9,!.!.R.!.3l.!.ll.!5i.. ~ ~~~~33Q.
Haiti (ans) !29 Hal.ibm....,.z Hauua (tribe) L6..a H ebrew(l) ~
HeUas
~
1... 8
Helletpont
~ il
Hippiet~
Hollywood (Calirornia) :H Hopi Indians 9l.r 9!!. ~ U5... 236, 113 Hotten totl XX " Hungaria" B Hungary(ians) lOOtii, ~ ~ !§3, 207, ~ ~ 268, ~ 331
~
!1136, ~
'!n.
~=~~334.336 Molouians :lOO
113g-=::l"" ~
Mytia~
Japan(ese) ~ ~
Navaho Indians !9i.. ~ ~ Naxes gfu. Near Ean Z5.. !II~6, 11116. ~ ~ Nether World (see Hades)
Jeww(Gennan)~
Jeww (H .... idic) ~ J ivaro Indians ~ Judeo-Christians !!i
Nile~
Kalydon 1180 KanathOi (Ipring) i l Kamtchatka(m) ~ Khoisans (see Bushmen and Hottemon) Kikuyu (see Mau Mau) Kipchak (see Cuman) Kolaxaian (Sltythian) 118 Krimisa ~ Kuanyama Ambo (tribe) i.!.. l3.! Kwakiutl IndiaJII Sf Kyrene ~
Nilo...Hamitic (people) ~ North American Indians (in general)
m
Ojibwa Indians ~ Olympians 3.!Z Olympos ~ ~ Oxford ltvi, 375 Papuans !.9l. !.9!i Pathans i l l Peloponneaos ~ Persia ix, 11-:10 . 5.!.! §:!, ~ ~ 1103. 1105, ~~1l3
Peru(vians) ~
Lake D istrict it
Languedoc
1102, ~' ~ ~ u6.
Mongols ~ !.9§, 1136, ~ Mount Lybion ~ Mount Oite ~ M ykale Z Mykenai ~ ~ 11110. '!.3!, ~~~
Iceland ~ India ~ \lO7, I!i!l. Indonetia ~ ~ lonia (ns) 1... 9 Iroquois I ndians ~ ~
llrad
"Marianne" (_ La France) 8 M.rquesas(ans) !.9.5.0 lIOO Masai (tribe) !..9t ~ Mau Mau (Kikuyu) !..!M, Media 1I~0. m Mediterl'2nean 110,5 , 113 Mesopotamia 110'3. 11116, 11119, ~ 'tlZ Micronesia 2llB Mideia ~ Mohave Ind iiUU uii, xxix, ~ 1!9. H.t ~ ~ ~ ~ 9l. ~ ~ !.,U, !..5:i. .60. !..§a.~!.l!.!.Th~!.9l.!.9.5.0~
~
Phaiakia
Latin (see Rome) Lemnoo ~
Lengua Indians ~ Leme ~ ~ ~ ~:f9.t ~
Levi (tribe) ~
Lilliput~ Lumpw~ (arow Iftdiam)~
Lydia !.5t ~ ~03, 3QZ Macedonia ~ !.9!i Matljapahit Uava) fl Maelstrom 3M Magna Gl'2ecia :IE: Malacr:a .iZ MalaY(I) ~ ~ ~ 188, Maori ~ 2611. Marathon §.. 1... !..i. !§., §!. §a, 93
m
~
Picardy!!9 Plains Indians ~ ~ Plawa !1 Z Poland(-ilIh) ~ Polynesia ~ ~ Praeneste ~ Pre-Hellenic Greece lCtViii I'IyUoi 3!!... 333 Pueblo IndiiUU ~ Pyles ~ R eungao (tribe) 333 Rhineland 4§. RhodOi !..!.i
Rome (Latin) uii. Rumania{JII) ~ Ruatia(lII) ill
!!.
~ ~
MaterKiI
:ill! li!
:Ie autor
IM.x
3<4 Sakai (tribc) if. Salamis 11 1, !.4z ~ !il. ~ 93, ~ Sardis~ ~
Scotland 4 SMang Moi (tribe) H.t ~
!!L.
2!!.!!Q.
!iQ, 161,
~OS~07, ~ 236, ~ ~
280, l35... ~ Sqena~
Shilluk (tribe) ~ Siberia(nl) ~ Sicily ~ Skiapoda ~ Skopzi 2lllt Skylhia ~ 102. ~ Somali ~ 308, ill South American Indiano ~ ~ ~ Spain (Spanish) !M SpaTIa !!!.. ~ !!5., 162, ~ ~ Steppe Nomads 19!!:
Thebes (in Boiolia) z,. i'!t ~ !..i3.. ~ Thera IJ..i Th.,..a1y 2 Thracc ~262,~~~~~ ~~~
Tikopia(.,. ) ~ T robriand(en) ~ 280. 339. Troy~~~I!s..~ ~ '!.3.t 1!.4z I~ !...'..9. 126. ~ ~ ~ 201, 208. !39!
262, a63, 268.
278, a82,
~
286.
Tundra !9i Viet Nam
~
Wolof (Senegal) H
Yuma Indians
~
Zaghawa (Iribe) Taurilr.e i'!t ~ ~ ~ ~ TeumeslOl xxi
~
29$~97
Zen Buddhism
~
~
• alenal
~
echos :Ia al.llor
VI Proper nouns _3§
Katapontilmo5 ~ KomondOl' (dog)
m
Amphilbaina ~ !.l!t !..ll.. !.9§, 3!2 Argo (Ihip) !9! AurochI 3§ Biecia-mek:r (alyle)
Latin (Silver) !.!5 LaiUl compla ~
!h. lli
Marlena! (wavc:o) !!3 Mah.n Zl M iulor (mid~) ~
Ca1.Kiine Jokes w Cowvoiaier (bnody) 6.J Dark
Aiet (of Gn:ece)
~
Neptune (p1anel) !..§l
Ckwb" tplts (5« 'fIll'S «,.,.) OedipUi complex xiii, xix, lW
Fauue non-ruonnaisu.nce !.l9 Female Libention Moyement Frontiapieoe uS GelqmheitJg!illcr !l3 G lo.ool, ljl 66. GoId·leaf coven:d babiel o;§ Good Friday i l l "Gorhid:" (1Iyk) LlU emu (Oxford) 1!i H ippomanam h ehlhara
~t
xni
211 , 3.!!.L 309 OTI'FFSSENT (puulc) !fu
m
PortU(UeM: Man-of-War
lllllIV
RenaiM&ncc ix, n§. ~
W.
~
SI Bartholomew', Night ill
Tar.nlum 9.3! Thematic AppeKeption Teol (TAT) Vacina Dmtata m. 3ll. ~ Vi<;torian §z, ~
Windiro (iIlncst)
~
I~
•
•
CONTENTS Ato~'s
/I /II
Dream
lo's Dream Mcnelaos' Reaclin' Depression and Drc;lm
IV The Dream of t he Erinyes V Klytaimestra's Dream in Stcsichoros' Ores(cw
VI V/I V III
IX
Klytai mestra's Dream in Aischylos' CllOcpli(Jroi Klytaimncstra's Dre,uTI in Sophokles' E/eklru T hree EUI-ipidcan Dreams: Variations on a Theme The Dream Metaphor of the Dana ides
11"" n>t'('r illll~lnUlOlI Il adUl'lld ~ro", Q delall ()f a relief from lire TI'Ulllil' of z('''~ al OIY"'fIlO, dep/el/lZ/! He/"Uldes IQml " ~ iiI(' Crf'lilll B/II/, II i., rt'IJrodIKf'd by ~.",d pl'rmM.I/on of M. Ser/f,e {\fIJl/lwler, Ille flfr(J{0l<"/phu, und 8. Anlw"d. flub/Miler. il, U'/I(Jsi! Iwo~· L'Ordrc Gree (Grcroblc, 1958) II
nriWHully uppcar<:d.
Jackel
design 1\ Simon Cohcr)on
•
••