Theogony
The Greek theology Theogony is a poem written by Hesiod during the time period of the 8th century. The poem portrays a narrative about how and where the Greek gods originated, describing meticulous details about their genealogies. It was written to convey the evolution of the universe and the characteristics of nature. The specific narratives in the poem methodically depict the existence of the Greek Gods. The narrative holds much significance to Greek history and literature. Theogony can also be depicted to aide in supporting Sigmund Freud’s many psychoanalytic theories. Specific narratives contain details that correlate with Freudian psychology, such as the story of the castration of the Ouranos, the story of Prometheus, and more. Hesiod’s Theogony notably compares to Sigmund Freud’s many theoretical and psychoanalytical arguments, and I will strive to apply a Freudian lens to analyze this text encapsulating Greek mythology.
Uranus or Ouranos was the Greek god that exemplified the natural element of the sky. Father Sky or Ouranos was the son and husband of Gaia, who was perceived as Mother Earth. This specific relationship between Gaia and Ouranos epitomizes one of Freud’s arguments of the Oedipus complex. The Oedipus complex relates child’s sexual desire towards a parent of the opposite sex that exists in the subconscious mind. Sigmund Freud had confabulated this conception in his Interpretation of Dreams. The concept was formulated and based on the Greek hero of Oedipus, who had abruptly married his mother and unknowingly killed his father after being separated from his them at birth The feminine analogue that compared to this was the Electra complex. Electra was another Greek mythological figure who was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra,who ultimately aided in slaughtering her mother after attributing sexual desires toward her father. Hesiod’s Theogony initially begins with the four spontaneous formations of Gaia, Chaos, Tartarus, and Eros. These four generations signified the elements of Earth, Chasm, Torment, and Desire. Gaia depicted Mother Earth and birthed Ouranos, and eventually married Ouranos and gave birth to the twelve titans, the cyclopes, and the hecatoncheires. According to Sigmund Freud, psychosexual development consists of a stage of the phallic movement, which iconically represents an erect penis, or phallus. This is methodically represented in many aspects of Hesiod’s Theogony. Uranus had mated with Gaia(his mother) almost every night according to the genealogy, but extremely despised and loathed the children she birthed. Uranus had incarcerated and confined the youngest children in Tartarus, which caused his mother and wife Gaia to ask their son, Cronus, to castrate Uranus. Cronus had castrated his father and dumped his genitals into the ocean, eventually mutating and generating to form the Greek Goddess, Aphrodite. The utilization of genitals forming into a goddess greatly supports Freud’s psychosexual theory and its incorporation in Theogony. Aphrodite was the Greek Goddess of love, beauty, and reproduction. After the castration of Uranus, Freud’s argument of the Oedipus complex is strongly supported in the event of Gaia mating with another son, Pontus. As Gaia and Pontus mated, they had reproduced to create another descendant line of sea nymphs.
In Freud’s Interpretation of Dreams, he mentions that myths exists as “dreams of an entire culture”. (The Interpretation of Dreams) A numerous amount of myths, especially Theogony signify a culture of repressed and suppressed feelings that are not socially or culturally acceptable in reality. He strongly believes that an abundance of concepts in Greek mythology are actually feelings and ideas that are occurring in the human mind. He believes that the individual subconsciously feels many of the pleasures that are displayed in Greek mythology. Another Greek myth that related to a Freudian lens is the story of Prometheus. The myth about Prometheus appeared in lines 501-616 in Theogony, as he was portrayed as a contender to the mighty olympian, Zeus.(Hesiode) Prometheus played a trick on Zeus, offering him two sacrificial meals consisting of a meal of beef inside an ox’s stomach and a bull’s bones soaked in shiny and appealing fat. Zeus had chosen the shiny fat, but was outraged by the trick that was played on him and chose to hide fire from the humans as punishment. Prometheus stole back the fire and decided to hide it in a fennel stalk, or plant. Sigmund Freud had theorized that the fennel stalk portrayed a phallus, or erect penis. The erect penis directly correlates to a masculine man, so therefore the fennel stalk depicts the vitality of man. Freud had postulated that there were three levels of the human psyche, the id, ego and superego. Freud described the id as the human’s “animalistic instinct” that holds sexual desires and intrusive drives. The superego is characterized as the drive that serves as the moral and ethical part of our mind, and the ego is the pragmatic part of our mind that balances the id and superego. Freud analyzes the myth of Prometheus and concludes that the water on the fire symbolizes a penis urinating on a fire, strengthening a sense of masculinity in a man. He also argues that the fire can be portraying a carnal and erotic desire, as one penis(Prometheus) is striving to create a fire. He argues that this can represent the characteristics of homosexuality. Prometheus exists as the ego to Zeus, as he is the more logical and practical of the two. This argument through the Freudian lens exists to be quite controversial, as it is the less discussed concept of Freud.
Sigmund Freud vastly utilized many greek myths to support his psychosexual developmental theories. According to Theories of Mythology by Eric Csapo, a Freudian Myth is described as “Myths reflect strong fears and desires that are taboo and usually unable to be expressed in society”. (Eric) Therefore, Freud methodically refers back to Theogony to explain and meticulously support his psychosexual and psychoanalytic arguments of the human mind. He argues that the human mind is based on dream interpretation and contextual evidence surrounding a person and their mind. He firmly and abundantly ties his theories to the anecdotes contained in Hesiod’s Theogony, strongly supporting his arguments of the Oedipus theory and Dream Interpretation.
Works Cited
Eric Csapo, Theories of Mythology, Wiley, 2005
Hésiode, Stanley Lombardo, and Robert Lamberton. Works and days ; Theogony. Indianapolis: Hackett publ., 1993. Print.
“The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) by Freud – Free PDF eBook.” The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) by Sigmund Freud – Free PDF eBook. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2017.