Kontou, Charis;
(2018)
The myth of Persephone as a representation of the death drive.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Abstract
Psychoanalytic theory uses myths to explain its ideas. The myth of Persephone and her relationships with the mother-Demeter and the father-Hades will be seen as the mythical and therefore theoretical setting within which, the death drive is born, shaped and established. This project will study and identify the death drive and its ‘mute’ nature (Freud, 1923, p.46). In fact, in ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’ Freud described the death drive as a force which designates unpleasure. However, the details of the process in which pleasure turns into unpleasure ‘are not yet clearly understood or cannot be clearly represented’ (1920a, p.11), as ‘many bewildering and obscure processes occur’ (p.60). Hence, as Freud underlines in the end of the paper, there is a need for ‘fresh investigation’ (p.64). The myth of Persephone, therefore, will be used in order to unravel this ‘inaccessible region of the mind’ (p.7). It will constitute an illustration of the death drive and, especially, an investigation of its origins and mechanisms, by attributing a ‘voice’ and a representation to it. Besides, André Green’s theories on the dead mother complex and the negative force will be used as the theoretical basis for this aim. The myth of Persephone is made to represent every subject’s experience of the ‘death drive’ as a psychic death in life. This subject feels psychically empty and inactive. Through the myth, the project will define the reasons behind this deathly state, focusing, in particular on the early relationship with the mother. The project concludes with the suggestion that the death drive originating from a symbiotic relationship with the mother prevents the sufferer from forming object relationships. The subject develops a ‘Persephone complex’. He/she is in a narcissistic state of being, which is classified into psychic stages. This narcissistic state prevents creativity. The concept of an ‘empty womb’, inspired by R. Perelberg’s work on ‘Time, Space and Phantasy’ (2008), is explored as the expression of this condition.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | The myth of Persephone as a representation of the death drive |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10041652 |
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