Misreading Narcissus

ABSTRACT

This article explores the myth of Narcissus as told by Ovid. The author examines why one scene in the story became the focus for the term ‘narcissism’, which has been extrapolated to become a theoretical concept as well a diagnosis. Closer reading of the myth suggests this may have been a distortion. Narcissus as a mythological figure may tell us more about late male adolescence than we have given him credit for. Freud’s paper ‘On Narcissism’ is contrasted with Jung’s views on libido. One legacy of the way in which Freud conceptualized narcissism was to pathologize the development of gay men and women. Two cases are presented to show an alternative understanding of sexual development for young men in mid and late adolescence. The author proposes that a dawning awareness of feminine aspects of sexuality can be experienced as a kind of potentially harmful ‘flowering’, about which young men can feel considerable shame and anxiety.

KEYWORDS:

• Adolescence
• Narcissus
• sexual identity
• narcissism
• shame

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Robert Tyminski practices as an adult and child analyst in San Francisco. He is finishing his term as president of the CG Jung Institute of San Francisco. He is a clinical professor at the University of California at San Francisco. His book, The psychology of theft and loss: Stolen and fleeced, was published by Routledge in 2014.

Notes

1. In both of these cases, demographic information and certain case details have been disguised and altered to protect patient identity.

2. Ovid, Metamorphoses III, lines 403–404. Retrieved from http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/ovid/ovid.met3.shtml.