| Revision as of 13:40, 11 December 2007 editZeraeph (talk | contribs)5,776 editsm →History: typo← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:11, 11 December 2007 edit undoZeraeph (talk | contribs)5,776 edits →History: can whip that out, it's all expanded in next section ANYWAY...less misleading for now?Next edit → | ||
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| ==History== | ==History== | ||
| The earliest recorded use of the term Cassandra complex was in a 1988 study by ] analyst Laurie Layton Schapira, in which she explores the "Cassandra Complex" in the lives of two of her analysands.<ref>Laurie Layton Schapira, (1988) The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Vol 36)</ref> | The earliest recorded use of the term Cassandra complex was in a 1988 study by ] analyst Laurie Layton Schapira, in which she explores the "Cassandra Complex" in the lives of two of her analysands.<ref>Laurie Layton Schapira, (1988) The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Vol 36)</ref> | ||
| Based on clinical experience, Layton Schapira proposes three factors which constitute the Cassandra complex: | |||
| # dysfunctional relationships with the “Apollonic archetype” | |||
| # emotional or physical suffering, including hysteria or ‘women’s problems’ | |||
| # being disbelieved when attempting to relate the facticity of these experiences to others. <ref>Laurie Layton Schapira, (1988) The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Vol 36)</ref> | |||
| In the year following Layton Schapira’s publication, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California Jean Shinoda-Bolen published an essay on the God Apollo<ref>Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) Harpur & Row</ref> in which she detailed a psychological profile of the ‘Cassandra woman’ whom she suggested referred to someone suffering –as happened in the mythological relationship between Cassandra and Apollo- a dysfunctional relationship with an “Apollo man”. Shinoda-Bolen added that the Cassandra woman may exhibit “hysterical” overtones, and may be disbelieved when attempting to share what she knows.<ref>Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) p.130-160 Harpur & Row</ref> | In the year following Layton Schapira’s publication, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California Jean Shinoda-Bolen published an essay on the God Apollo<ref>Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) Harpur & Row</ref> in which she detailed a psychological profile of the ‘Cassandra woman’ whom she suggested referred to someone suffering –as happened in the mythological relationship between Cassandra and Apollo- a dysfunctional relationship with an “Apollo man”. Shinoda-Bolen added that the Cassandra woman may exhibit “hysterical” overtones, and may be disbelieved when attempting to share what she knows.<ref>Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) p.130-160 Harpur & Row</ref> | ||
Revision as of 19:11, 11 December 2007
The Cassandra metaphor (variously labelled the Cassandra 'syndrome', 'complex', 'phenomenon', or 'dilemma'), is a term applied in situation where valid warnings or concerns are dismissed or disbelieved.
The name Cassandra is derived from Greek mythology. Cassandra was a daughter of Priam, the King of Troy. Struck by her beauty, Apollo provided her with the gift of prophecy, but when Cassandra refused Apollo's romantic advances, he placed a curse ensuring that none would believe her warnings. Cassandra was left with the knowledge of future events, but could neither alter these events nor convince others of the validity of her predictions. Cassandra correctly predicted that Paris's journey to kidnap Helen would end in doom for Troy. In Vergil's Aeneid, Cassandra warns specifically that the Greek gift of a giant wooden horse was soon to carry tragedy within the walls of Troy, a prophesy in which "All heard, and none believed".
History
The earliest recorded use of the term Cassandra complex was in a 1988 study by Jungian analyst Laurie Layton Schapira, in which she explores the "Cassandra Complex" in the lives of two of her analysands.
In the year following Layton Schapira’s publication, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California Jean Shinoda-Bolen published an essay on the God Apollo in which she detailed a psychological profile of the ‘Cassandra woman’ whom she suggested referred to someone suffering –as happened in the mythological relationship between Cassandra and Apollo- a dysfunctional relationship with an “Apollo man”. Shinoda-Bolen added that the Cassandra woman may exhibit “hysterical” overtones, and may be disbelieved when attempting to share what she knows.
Description
Dysfunctional relationship
Layton Schapira views the Cassandra complex as resulting from a dysfunctional relationship with what she calls “the Apollonic archetype” which refers to all those cultural and intrapsychic influences of an overly intellectual nature, combined with an absence of emotional reciprocity. Of the negative “apollonic” influence, Dr. Shinoda-Bolen writes:
Individuals who resemble Apollo have difficulties that are related to emotional distance, such as communication problems, and the inability to be intimate... Rapport with another person is hard for the Apollo man. He prefers to access (or judge) the situation or the person from a distance, not knowing that he must "get close up" - be vulnerable and empathic - in order to truly know someone else….. But if the woman wants a deeper, more personal relationship, then there are difficulties… she may become increasingly irrational or hysterical.
Hysteria
Layton Schapira states that the Cassandra woman is very prone to “hysteria” because she, "feels attacked not only from the outside world but also from within, especially from the body in the form of somatic, often gynaecological, complaints.” Jean Shinoda-Bolen has suggested that Cassandra women may become increasingly hysterical and irrational when in a dysfunctional relationship,.
Disbelief
Speaking of the metaphorical application of the Greek Cassandra myth, Layton Schapira states that:
What the Cassandra woman sees is something dark and painful that may not be apparent on the surface of things or that objective facts do not corroborate. She may envision a negative or unexpected outcome; or something which would be difficult to deal with; or a truth which others, especially authority figures, would not accept. In her frightened, ego-less state, the Cassandra woman may blurt out what she sees, perhaps with the unconscious hope that others might be able to make some sense of it. But to them her words sound meaningless, disconnected and blown out of all proportion.
Dr. Shinoda-Bolen also refers to the disbelief factor,.
In Popular culture
The films Twelve Monkeys, The Dead Zone, and Terminator 2 all provide examples of this term. A 1961 episode of the television show Twilight Zone titled "Back There" relates the story of a modern man sent into the past who tries unsuccessfully to convince all who will listen of the impending assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
References
- Laurie Layton Schapira, (1988) The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Vol 36)
- Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) Harpur & Row
- Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) p.130-160 Harpur & Row
- Laurie Layton Schapira, (1988) The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Vol 36)
- Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) Harpur & Row p.130-160
- Laurie Layton Schapira, (1988) The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Vol 36. P.65)
- Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) Harpur & Row p.130-160
- Laurie Layton Schapira, (1988) The Cassandra Complex: Living With Disbelief: A Modern Perspective on Hysteria (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, Vol 36. P.65)
- Gods in Everyman: A New Psychology of Men’s Lives and Loves (1989) Harpur & Row p.130-160