sigmund freud's collection an archaeology of the mind
sigmund freud's collection an archaeology of the mind
sigmund freud's collection an archaeology of the mind
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Artemis<br />
Greek, Hellenistic period, from Myrina, 2nd century BC<br />
terracotta, 31.0 x 13.0 x 8.3 cm<br />
LDFRD3273<br />
Collection Freud Museum London<br />
Artemis was a free-spirited virgin goddess whose realm was nature,<br />
<strong>the</strong> wilder <strong>the</strong> better, where she roamed <strong>an</strong>d hunted with a b<strong>an</strong>d<br />
<strong>of</strong> women. Artemis has lost her arms <strong>an</strong>d, presumably, her bow<br />
<strong>an</strong>d arrows but it does not detract from her vigour <strong>an</strong>d personality,<br />
emphasised by her st<strong>an</strong>ce <strong>an</strong>d fl owing robes. She is on <strong>the</strong> move <strong>an</strong>d<br />
inspires o<strong>the</strong>rs to do <strong>the</strong> same.<br />
This statue comes from <strong>the</strong> <strong>an</strong>cient city <strong>of</strong> Myrina (now near Aliaga<br />
on Turkey’s Aege<strong>an</strong> coast). In <strong>the</strong> late nineteenth century, m<strong>an</strong>y<br />
treasures were excavated from a necropolis on <strong>the</strong> site. The haul by<br />
<strong>the</strong> French School at A<strong>the</strong>ns found its way to <strong>the</strong> Louvre Museum while<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>an</strong>tiquities, pillaged by <strong>the</strong> locals, surfaced in <strong>the</strong> marketplaces <strong>of</strong><br />
Vienna, A<strong>the</strong>ns <strong>an</strong>d Paris.<br />
Freud noted <strong>the</strong> continuity <strong>of</strong> pag<strong>an</strong> prototypes despite Christi<strong>an</strong>ity’s<br />
attempts to obliterate <strong>the</strong>m. In his essay, ‘Great is Di<strong>an</strong>a <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
Ephesi<strong>an</strong>s’, he describes how, after <strong>the</strong> destruction <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> famed<br />
temple to Artemis [Di<strong>an</strong>a is her Rom<strong>an</strong> name] at Ephesus in Turkey<br />
in 301 AD, a basilica to <strong>the</strong> Virgin Mary was built, ’<strong>the</strong> new mo<strong>the</strong>rgoddess<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Christi<strong>an</strong>s ... Now once again <strong>the</strong> city had its great<br />
goddess <strong>an</strong>d, apart from her name, <strong>the</strong>re was very little ch<strong>an</strong>ge.’ 1<br />
1. Sigmund Freud, ‘Great is Di<strong>an</strong>a <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Ephesi<strong>an</strong>s’, (1911), S.E., vol XII, p.343.<br />
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