Hephaistos: Symbols of individuation in the Hephaistos myth.

摘要

I find in the Hephaistos myth both a story of individual struggle, that can be read as an individuation process, and a symbol—the Shield of Achilles—that can be understood as a stunning image of constructed wholeness. The story of Hephaistos, as rejected son of a narcissistic mother and absent father; as creative artist who learns his craft under the guidance of Thetis and Eurynome (she who brought all things into being); and as one who struggles with formidable obstacles to make a place for himself in Olympus, gives us a mythic model of an important aspect of the human condition: that of individuation.; Individuation is an achievement of wholeness, a crafting or forging of Self through a process of increasing consciousness, and a successful resolution of primal life traumas. Hephaistos the divine craftsman, Hephaistos the working god, speaks to the challenges of crafting and forging one's own consciousness in the process of individuation.; Wholeness, in psychological terms, is often symbolized by the image of a circle, or mandala, in which the entire cosmos is depicted or symbolized in greater or lesser detail. Hephaistos is well-known for creating what is, in effect, such a mandala. The Shield of Achilles, forged by Hephaistos, is an astonishing creative accomplishment, which, in its symbolic and literal imagery, stands for a unified, integrated world view, and for individuation as depicted in the Hephaistos myth.; The imagery engraved on the shield—common, everyday, even banal life—is so powerful, so awe-full, that Achilles' own allies, the Myrmidons, tremble in fear and none have the courage to look upon it. The Shield of Achilles is the perfect image of wholeness, the very thing most lacking in the heroic consciousness of the Iliad. The primordial images brought out by Hephaistos stand for an individuated psyche. For the Myrmidons, it served to reveal what was unconscious to them but most needed in their culture or age. That kind of primordial imagery can be terrifying indeed to a mind that is not ready to accept the message.