Mozhgan Shirazi and Bahee Hadaegh
Pertanika Journal of Social Science and Humanities, Volume 28, Issue 3, September 2020
Keywords: Euripides, General Psychopathology, Karl Jaspers, madness, psychopathology, The Bacchae
Published on: 25 September 2020
A great number of analyses have already been devoted to the study of the concept of madness but few have ever used Karl Jaspers’ psychopathological notion of insanity as a touchstone to examine prominent literary works. The present investigation aims to portray the manifestation of madness in Euripides’ The Bacchae. Applying the eclectic perspective of Karl Jaspers which bridges the gap between empirical and interpretive psychiatry, this research examines the justification of the divinely-induced madness in 407 BC Greece. Jaspers’ book, General Psychopathology includes a tentative classification of mental disorders which will be used to look at this particular work of art from his perspective, offering a standpoint which is equally person-centered and science-based. Out of the eight provisional categories of psychic abnormalities suggested by Jaspers in his book, the women of Thebes seem to be having problems with a disturbance in three of them, namely the awareness of objects, awareness of the self and the phenomena of self-reflection.
ISSN 0128-7702
e-ISSN 2231-8534
Recent Articles