Love and the Soul

Psychological Interpretations of the Eros and Psyche Myth

James Gollnick

• Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Year: 2006
• eBook ISBN: 9780889208049
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Emotions in Psychology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book provides serious students of psychology, religion and mythology with a detailed account and analysis of what has been accomplished in the psychological interpretation of the Eros and Psyche myth to date.

The Eros and Psyche myth has, over the course of the twentieth century, received nearly as much attention from depth psychologists as has the Oedipus story. In their attempt to better understand this popular story, scholars have proposed various interpretations, which have generally followed either Freudian or Jungian theories about the nature of the psyche and its development.

Love and the Soul emphasizes how psychological theory determines the direction of interpretation much more than does the literary context of the myth itself. It also examines the strengths and weaknesses of these psychological interpretations (five Freudian and six Jungian) of the Eros and Psyche myth in order to lay the groundwork for an interpretation which (1) avoids the rigidity of both Freudian and Jungian dogma and (2) restores the myth to its rightful literary and religious context — something which has been ignored by most psychological interpretations.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1 Origins and Nature of the Eros and Psyche Story
• 2 Psychological Approaches to the Eros and Psyche Myth: Freudian Interpretations
• 3 Psychological Approaches to the Eros and Psyche Myth: Jungian Interpretations
• 4 The Eros and Psyche Myth and the Psychology of Transformation
• Selected Bibliography
• Index