October Book Spotlight:
Violence and Women:
Exploring the Medea Myth
Paperback Original Price $29
On Sale for $20
The archetypal story of Medea is a cautionary tale for our era. Jason and Medea’s marriage, favored by the gods, represents an attempt at a union of opposites very far from each other. They represent the masculine and feminine principles, covering a wide range of psychological, sociological, and historical aspects.
This synthesis fails. In the myth, as Euripides presents it, the failure is caused by Jason’s regression and submission to the exclusivity of the patriarchal principle — the Old King. Medea, who not only represents the feminine but also the forces of Nature and Transformation, is profoundly incompatible with this regression. She reacts! She destroys and creates havoc. This is what the unconscious does when it is not heard or denied. In the end Medea is saved by the gods, the divine principles or psychic laws that regulate the laws of Nature and Transformation in the psyche. They support her to the bitter end.
Table of Contents
PART ONE
- Introduction
- The Medea Rage
- The Myth of Medea
- Euripides: Medea
PART TWO
- Historical and Cultural Background
- Euripides’ Place in Greek Theatre in Fifth Century BC
- The Truth of Medea for the Greeks
- The Universality of Medea’s Truth
PART THREE
- Edith
- Jason
- Medea & Jason
- The Poet and the Women
- Concluding Remarks
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
“This is a rare book in the field of therapeutic psychology that deals with the taboo subject of Women’s rage, which can destroy their children and themselves. Using the ancient Greek mythological story of Medea by Euripides, the author deftly draws parallels to the destructive examples of modern times. We have a better understanding of the dynamics of the extreme imbalance between the repressed feminine principle within men and women both, and the raw forces of Nature manifested in external as well as intra-psychic relationships. It is highly recommended as a required read by all mental health professionals.”
-Manisha Roy, Ph.D., Jungian analyst, author of Women, Stereotypes and Archetypes
“Drawing on her experience as a dramaturg, Jungian analyst Anita Chapman bridges the death-dealing divide between masculine and feminine values from the 5th Century B.C. to the present day. Artfully addressing feminine rage in the ancient myth of Medea, in several analytic clients, and in the daily news, Dr. Chapman identifies the archetypal energies that continue to play out in our personal relationships, and in our social and collective lives—including the political arena and Nature’s stage. Readers will leave the book as if leaving an evening at the theater, having participated in the most important psychological drama facing our species.”
-Jerry R. Wright, Jungian analyst, author of Reimagining God and Religion: Essays for the Psychologically Minded
About The Author
Anita S. Chapman, Ph.D., is a Jungian analyst. She received her doctorate in Dramaturgy from the University of Amsterdam, and her Diploma in Analytical Psychology from the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. She is also the author of Edward Albee: The Poet of Loss (Mouton-de Gruyter, 2010) and In Search of the Father: Two Plays.
Also from Anita Chapman
In Search of the Father: Two Plays
These analytical discussions of two plays, The Heiress and A Delicate Balance, demonstrate how too much or too little parenting can have this detrimental effect. Particularly, when a father withdraws from the family and does not give loving attention to his daughter, or when he presents himself as an overbearing elder, he is neglecting to support his child in the natural process of separation from the mother/Mother—not helping her achieve personal autonomy and an individual life of her own. As an adult, such a daughter will likely find herself in a place not directed from within by her unique potential for wholeness, but rather in one dictated by the limiting expectations of her family and the collective patriarchal culture around her.
Coming Soon
The Shadow and the Problem of Evil:
Five Examinations
Edited by Murray Stein
Psychedelics and Individuation:
Essays by Jungian Analysts
Edited By Leslie Stein & Lionel Corbett
Mind of State
Conversations on the Psychological
Conflicts Stirring US Politics & Society
Edited by Betty Teng, Jonathan Kopp, Thomas Singer
The Wise Old Woman Spirit:
Help as a Partnership
Open this book and enter the world of eros and, curiously, emptiness—two vital qualities of the Wise Old Woman spirit that can help us survive … possibly even thrive.
Our Uncertain World:
Challenges and Opportunities in a Dark Time
Edited by Leslie Sawin
New Releases
Individuation Psychology:
Essays in Honor of Murray Stein
The Wizard, the Egg and Fitcher’s Bird:
Returning Spiritual Life to Nature
in the Individuation of Women
The Lion Will Become Man:
Alchemy and the Dark Spirit in Nature-
A Personal Encounter – ZLS Edition
Eternal Echoes:
Erich Neumann’s Timeless Relevance to
Consciousness, Creativity, and Evil – ZLS Edition
The Lost Coin:
A Memoir of Adoption and Destiny
Download the Chiron Catalog
for a Complete Listing of Titles
