tober1988 W. R. CONNOR rformance while (by colonizing ne of the rf Chicago Seizedby the Nymphs: Nympholepsyand Symbolic Expressionin ClassicalGreece . or do menbecome happy in noneof theseways, but either-like thosepos- sessedby nymphsor deities-througha sort of divineinfluence, being as it were inspired. AristotleEudemian Ethiis LL.5.L2l4a23 ff, trans.J. Solomon Sr..u E. R. DoDDS'Sather lectures, published in 1951under the title The Greeksand the lrrational, classicistshave increasinglyrecognized that possession and inspiration pose questionsof great significancefor the interpretationof ancient Greek civilization. Dodds' insistencethat many works by Euripides, Plato, and other classicalauthors cannot properly be understoodwithout atten- tion to thesephenomena and to the role of the seeminglyirrational hasproved highlyproductive. Classicists have also studied the role of oracles,prophecy, and other practicesin waysthat make possiblea far richer understandingof Greek culturethan has hitherto been achieved.These movements in classicalscholar- ship have paralleledand sometimesbenefited from work in anthropology,psy- chology,and other fieldsthat shednew light on the phenomenonof possession andits relationshipto socialstructures. This study beganin 1977-1978when I wasa researchfellow at the American Schoolof Classical Studiesin Athens. Much of the writing was done on sabbaticalat Stanford University and the University of Melbourne; the work walfinally completed at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. I am indebted to these institutions for their hospitality and assistance.I am especially gratefulto the Australian-AmericanEducational Foundation for a Fulbright Fellowshipto Australia, and to Nora Laos for the plan. But my greatestobligation is to many colleaguesat theseand other institutionsfor their help and criticism. O 1988BY THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA CONNON: J Volume7/No. 2/October1988 156 cLASSICALANTIQUTTY nor dismil but still neglectedphenomenon among the This essayinvestigates a related "seized ern terms certain individualswere by the Greeks_nymphotepsi, or the belief that but we nt surveyof the often allusive or playful nymphs.,,lThe invesiigationinvolves a_ without a literary texts. In addition epigraphical, treatment of nymptroi'epsyin Greek approach upon the phenomenon'as doescom- mythological,and medicuit"*t' shedlight diagnosis caves dedicatedto the nymphs parative material from widely divergenicultures. the iArchedamos' cave" near Vari in Attica for Pattet are especiallyrevealing, not l"utt DesP whichthelastsectionofthisessayproposesaninterpretation.Fromthismaterial comment nympholepsycan be.pieced together' a consistentand intelligibtedescriition of of how tl of Greek civilization and at the This picture contributei to a richer understanding the so-ca sametimeposesimportantmethodologicalquestionsaboutthestudyofthat a satisfac culture. If th side NYMPHOLEPSY and of pass cannotbe separatedfrom the understanding The study of nympholepsy the I wiitrin Greek culture, and these, despiteimprove- I other forms of possession that mentsintheunderstandingofsuchstates,areStilloftenmisunderstood.2Tobe I Are "a degreeand species of epilepsy"' sure,the view that pora"ra[n is no more than and almost entirely aban- as Meric c"ruuuon pirused it, is now discredited The asa symptomof psychosisor doned.3Nor is porr".rion anylonger to be regarded be read as we shall might act very dr severepersonality disorder'n A nympholept' -see' "crazy" most neitherregarded as simply t strangelyand displaya kind of mania,but was totallY occurTe tion of ' l.E.R.DoddsinTheGreeksandthelrrational(BerkeleyandLosAngelesl95l)paidlittle basisfo attentiontothisphenom"non.e*ongtheusefuldiscussionsofnympholepsyseeespeciallyN.w' caveat (Marburg-Lahn 1957),and E' Rohde, Psvcfte,trans' Himmelmann-wildschtitz, THEoLEpros Thr g-"naon 1925)esp' 314 n'58, 316n'63' 567.n'105' n. ffoffit 'u." 1971) and N' K' I. M. Lewis, Ecstatic Religion(Harmondsworth firmed 2. Especially ur"tui in the (c^ tslzl' em-ong the discussionsof possession Chadwick, Poetry and i,A"y aiii byaPe pfister, in RE s.B. 7 (Stuttgart1940) 100-114; A' ancientworld seeespecially: F. s.v. daimonismos philosophes_prAsoc11til1tes(Paris 1934)esp' Conceptio^'a, f rirnoiinsme chez les Delatte, Les w. Burkert's review in on p. ,r proconessus.(oxfoidlg6i) l37ff ., with 2lff.; J.D. Botton, irirri 't7f' E' R' lair Os-eA' On'possessionin-later antiquity' Gnomon35 (1963) Zzs-in;itias (supran't; Greek seeJ. C' Lawton, Modern lifi JRS 37 (Ig41)Oi, l.n'o* u^iu"tl"..On modern farallels Dodds, tre GreekFolkloreandAncientGreekReligion(Cambridge1910)142ff.- Thomas, Relj. concerningEntiusiasm (|655) 95, quoted in K. 3. Meric Casaubon,A Treatise "shamanist to wl ct. Max weber, ecstasyis linked gion and the Decline "iii"ci (G"aon 1971)t+s. hit representsa charismaticqualification'': epilepsy,the progressionand testing.ofwhich constitutional W. Mills and H' H' Gerth atl ,.Sociology iutlnorlty,,' in From Max Weber, irans. C. of ChansmatJ was as an (supra n.z) 64 long ago showedhow inadequateepilepsy (London Lg48)246. Ch;;;i;k (supra n 2) ioriclusions are confirmed by Lewis explanation of ,"flgiorrJ porr",!on. Cf,ua*i"k's l80f.,whoshowsthatmanyshamansareinperfectphysicalandP:y:llologi.calhealth,andbythe 5. eds. spirit Mediumshipand societyin Africa materialcollecteo in rono-n"uttie and John tuiaoteton, ' 6. (NewYork 1969)esP. xxiv' Deverli 4. Chadwick (suPran'2) 64' I t tober 1988 coNNoR:Seized by the Nymphs 157 rmong the nor dismissedas incapableof functioningwithin ancientGreek society.In mod- zed by the ern termswe might saythat his conditionwas that of a "dissociatedpersonality" "carrying or playful but we now know that in some societiessuch personsare capable of graphical, without a falter immenseburdens of responsibilityand leadership."5We canbest doescom- approachthese individuals not through attemptsat medical or psychological re nymphs diagnosisbut by studyinghow they actedand askinghow thoseactions fit into Attica for the patternof life in their society. ismaterial Despite these advancesin our understandingof statesof possession,the l together. commentsin the fourth chapter of the Hippocratic SacredDisease, a discussion and at the of how the charlatansand magic-healersof the day put blamefor eachform of Jy of that the so-calledSacred Disease on a particulardivinity, arestill sometimestaken as a satisfactorydescription of suchstates in the classicalGreek world: If the patient imitate a goat, if he roar or sufferconvulsions on the right sidethey say the Mother of the Gods is to blame.If he utter a piercing and loud cry, they liken him to a horseand blamePoseidon. Should he tanding of passsome excrement, as often happensunder the stressof the disease, improve- the surnameEnodia is applied.If it be more frequentand thinner, like rd.2To be that of birds, it is Apollo Nomius. If he foam at the mouth and kick, epilepsy," Ares hasthe blame.6 rely aban- part polemical of possessionand need to iychosisor Thesecomments are of a treatment one aspectof possession-the t act very be readwith somecaution. To be sure,they reflect ,ly "crazy" most dramatic and memorableaspect, the momentswhen the individual goes totally out of control and entersa stateof frenzy. Suchmoments undoubtedly occurredfrom time to time and cameto be the basisfor the literary representa- l) paid little tion of possession,for they readilyseized the imaginationand could providethe :speciallyN. basisfor a sceneof greatpower, asin Vergil'sdescription of the Sibylbefore her he,trans. W. caveat Cumae(Aeneid6.47-5t). t and N. K. That ancientGreek societyassociated such behavior with posessionis con- :ssion in the firmed by Plutarch'sdescription of a carefullycontrived imitation of possession 100-114;A. by a personwho had blasphemedthe Mother of the Gods: s 1934)esp. t's review in on a suddenhe threw himself upon the ground . and after having iquity,E. R. lain there sometime without speaking,as if he had beenin a trance,he ton, Modern lifted up his head, and turning it round, beganto speakwith a feeble homas,ReI- trembling voice, which he raised by degrees:and when he saw the r is linked to whole assemblystruck dumb with horror, he threw off his mantle,tore ralification": his vest in pieces,and ran half-nakedto one of the doors of the the- :I. H. Gerth atre, crying out that he was driven by the Mothers.. He ran toward sy was as an (supra n.2) , and by the iety in Africa 5. M. J. Field, Searchfor Security(London 1960)55. 6. HippocratesSacred Disease 4, trans. W. H. S. Jones.Cf. Luctatius PlacidusGlossae, ed. A. Deverling(Leipzig 1885) 62. 158 cLAssrcALANTIeurrY Volume7/No. 2/October1988 CONNOR: the city gates,omitting neithersound nor gesturebefitting one that was Atl heaven-struckand distracted.T nympho hexamel Possession,real or feigned,was often good theater.Xenophon remarked, ing the I "all who are under the influenceof any of the godsseem well worth gazingat," what do and went on to note that in comparisonto thosepossessed by chasteLove those enthousi possessedby other divinities "have a tendencyto be sterner of countenance, Socl more terrifying of voice, and more vehement."EFrenzy, however, was neither possess€ the constantnor the inevitablemark of suchstates. Less sensational, but no less frenzy is characteristic,were momentsof silence,followed by heightenedfluency and instead: awareness,a concentrationof faculties,an elevationof expression,and ulti- sinceit r mately the reorganizationof personalityinto a new identity and a new social