Overview

Psychoanalysis and Euripides' Suppliant Women explores how ancient tragedy illuminates contemporary political crises through a psychoanalytic lens. Through a “tragic” reading of Euripides’ play, Suppliant Women, it demonstrates how fractured societies attempt to ""heal"" themselves through populism, authoritarianism, cruelty, and cultures of deception. It examines how democratic politics requires integrating split-off elements of mythical religious beliefs linked to mourning processes and feminine existence. The book presents Euripides' painful diagnosis that humans are fundamentally split beings whose public life constitutes a struggle to integrate primitive, ""supernatural"" forces that exist beyond rational political order. It analyses how humans struggle with omnipotence, bisexuality, and drives, often defending against painful knowledge through catastrophic tragic acts including war, suicide, and violence. The book uses the mother–infant relationship as a model for understanding societal and political functions, showing how tragic plots transform impossible impasses into tolerable paradoxes within transitional spaces. The infant's helplessness is thought of as the founding principle of the human psyche and society. This interdisciplinary study will be of interest to psychoanalysts in practice and in training, as well as academics and scholars of psychoanalytic studies, politics, and classical studies, and anyone seeking to understand how ancient wisdom addresses modern democratic challenges and the pathological mental functioning manifest in contemporary politics.

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9781032954332

Table of Contents

Reviews

“Psychoanalysts have continually explored the resources of ancient Greek tragedies, considering that this corpus of texts contains a kind of fundamental grammar of the human soul. Moreover, other psychoanalysts have offered readings and interpretations of the structure and conflicts inherent in political power. The great strength of this book lies in its ability to combine both aspects: the psychology of the heroes in ancient dramas is intertwined with a reflection on relationships within the city and society. We discover, with both interest and pleasure, that these conflicts remain just as relevant to us today as the intrapsychic struggles of the characters themselves.” Vassilis Kapsambelis, Dr and Editor-in-Chief, Revue française de Psychanalyse, France “A newly edited book which demonstrates how the art of politics relies on culture in order to allow leaders and communities to work out the vicious circles of violence and trauma. A contemporary psychoanalytical reading on the foundations of modern democracy threatened today by wars and the rise of ideologies.” Claire-Marine François-Poncet, EPF General Editor and Full member of the Paris Society, France Endorsements from the 1st edition: “This book combines psychoanalytic understanding and a deep knowledge of classical Greek drama. Sotiris Manolopoulos brings out the universal themes in Euripides’ play The Suppliants, as it explores the relation between past and present, inner and outer, male and female. Central to the book is its discussion, from a psychoanalytic perspective, of political issues. Manolopoulos demonstrates very valuably how The Suppliants illuminates the unconscious conflicts involved in maintaining a democratic society.” Michael Parsons, Training Analyst, UK ""A play on Greek society written 2,500 years ago reflecting women, mystery, tragedy, hubris, and politics around a core of mourning is a necessary reading for our pandemic times, as broken politics need to be re-imagined."" Dr Jonathan Sklar, Training Analyst, UK “In an innovative manner, and with an emphasis on the historical and interdisciplinary approach, Sotiris Manolopoulos creates the links between psychoanalytic theory and tragic poetry. In that unique but far-reaching space, the new theorisation has been built: about politics as a way of integrating split-off, untranslated, and denied elements of mythical acts linked to the process of mourning and the feminine core of existence. This viewpoint is especially important in a time of crisis and transformations, enabling us to learn about the alliances of community, about the connection of psychic and public life, calling for internalisation and participation. Many concepts are enlightened and deepened: primary union, work of mourning, feminine core, but also the questions of war and of leadership. The very idea that the foundation of our public life is linked to the integration with the psychic work is appealing, and could be useful for the generations to come.” Jasminka Šuljagić, Training Analyst, Psychoanalytical Society of Serbia; General Editor of the European Psychoanalytic Federation “This is a book whose time has come. At a moment when we are witnessing the resurgence of political populism, of attacks on science and on truth, and when destructive forces appear to be gaining the upper hand, overriding even man’s instinct for self-preservation through denial of the seriousness of a world-wide pandemic and of global climate change, a psychoanalytic understanding of these phenomena of ""political hubris"" is much needed. We as psychoanalysts struggle to understand what appears to be a recent turn of events, but as Sotiris Manolopoulos points out through his treatise on Psychoanalysis and Euripides' Suppliant Women, these are but repetitions of man’s struggle to hold 'deep unbridgeable contradictions'…'impossible links leading to impasses' … man’s 'tragic position'. This book will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists as well as to students of history, politics, and culture. It is well worth reading.” Dimitris J. Jackson, Training Analyst, Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society

“Psychoanalysts have continually explored the resources of ancient Greek tragedies, considering that this corpus of texts contains a kind of fundamental grammar of the human soul. Moreover, other psychoanalysts have offered readings and interpretations of the structure and conflicts inherent in political power. The great strength of this book lies in its ability to combine both aspects: the psychology of the heroes in ancient dramas is intertwined with a reflection on relationships within the city and society. We discover, with both interest and pleasure, that these conflicts remain just as relevant to us today as the intrapsychic struggles of the characters themselves.” Vassilis Kapsambelis, Dr and Editor-in-Chief, Revue française de Psychanalyse, France “A newly edited book which demonstrates how the art of politics relies on culture in order to allow leaders and communities to work out the vicious circles of violence and trauma. A contemporary psychoanalytical reading on the foundations of modern democracy threatened today by wars and the rise of ideologies.” Claire-Marine François-Poncet, EPF General Editor and Full member of the Paris Society, France Endorsements from the 1st edition: “This book combines psychoanalytic understanding and a deep knowledge of classical Greek drama. Sotiris Manolopoulos brings out the universal themes in Euripides’ play The Suppliants, as it explores the relation between past and present, inner and outer, male and female. Central to the book is its discussion, from a psychoanalytic perspective, of political issues. Manolopoulos demonstrates very valuably how The Suppliants illuminates the unconscious conflicts involved in maintaining a democratic society.” Michael Parsons, Training Analyst, UK ‘A play on Greek society written 2,500 years ago reflecting women, mystery, tragedy, hubris and politics around a core of mourning is a necessary reading for our pandemic times, as broken politics need to be re-imagined.’ Dr Jonathan Sklar, Training Analyst, UK “In an innovative manner, and with an emphasis on the historical and interdisciplinary approach, Sotiris Manolopoulos creates the links between psychoanalytic theory and tragic poetry. In that unique but far-reaching space, the new theorization has been built: about politics as a way of integrating split-off, untranslated and denied elements of mythical acts linked to the process of mourning and the feminine core of existence. This viewpoint is especially important in a time of crisis and transformations, enabling us to learn about the alliances of community, about the connection of psychic and public life, calling for internalization and participation. Many concepts are enlightened and deepened: primary union, work of mourning, feminine core, but also the questions of war and of leadership. The very idea that the foundation of our public life is linked to the integration with the psychic work is appealing, and could be useful for the generations to come.” Jasminka Šuljagić, Training Analyst, Psychoanalytical Society of Serbia; General Editor of the European Psychoanalytic Federation “This is a book whose time has come. At a moment when we are witnessing the resurgence of political populism, of attacks on science and on truth, and when destructive forces appear to be gaining the upper hand, overriding even man’s instinct for self-preservation through denial of the seriousness of a world-wide pandemic and of global climate change, a psychoanalytic understanding of these phenomena of ""political hubris"" is much needed. We as psychoanalysts struggle to understand what appears to be a recent turn of events, but as Sotiris Manolopoulos points out through his treatise on Psychoanalysis and Euripides' Suppliant Women, these are but repetitions of man’s struggle to hold 'deep unbridgeable contradictions'…'impossible links leading to impasses' … man’s 'tragic position'. This book will be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists as well as to students of history, politics and culture. It is well worth reading.” Dimitris J. Jackson, Training Analyst, Hellenic Psychoanalytical Society

Author Information

Sotiris Manolopoulos is a member of the Hellenic Psychoanalytic Societies, and is a child analyst, training analyst, former director of training and president of the Hellenic Society.

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