Freud's suggestion that the human mind has an unconscious part has had an immense effect on our intellectual and cultural history. Once developed and substantiated, this assumption added a psychoanalytical perspective that yielded new interpretations of myth. Freud’s description of the interaction between the conscious and the unconscious mind, particularly the effect of this interaction on the process of symbolization, underlies all the modern psychoanalytic approaches to myth. In the course, we will discuss the work of Freud's immediate followers, Otto Rank and Karl Gustav Jung. Psychoanalytic thought has since continued to evolve and expand, and we will also be introduced to the work of several later researchers, who have made highly creative theoretical contributions that constitute certain paradigm shifts.
The study of myths and religions intensified in Europe in the 19th century. This enabled extracting and comparing certain similar mythical patterns, and gave rise to theories on what they revealed about the human condition. Myths were increasingly regarded as expressions of inner needs of the human psyche. In the course, we will examine the ongoing mutual influence between psychology and anthropology. The psychoanalytic approaches to myth will be illustrated through selected myths. We will analyze their representations in ancient literature and in modern cinematic adaptations.