Psyché

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani first comes back to Psyche for her name: in Greek, psyche means the soul, and the myth tells of Eros's love for a shepherdess1. He dwells above all on the episode of the lamp. Driven by doubt, Psyche shines a light on her sleeping lover to see him, a drop of oil falls and wakes him, and everything vanishes: she lost everything because she wanted to see Eros23. He takes it as an image of the couple's failure4. He links this myth to Nerval, in connection with Angélique and then in a session titled "The Nerval case", and to Wagner. He compares the episode to Lohengrin's prohibition and stresses that it is Psyche's sisters who give rise to the doubt5. In his reading of Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods), he sees Psyche as the soul, a woman who loses herself because love demands it, and makes her the figure of true femininity and of the spirit of the people6. He also mentions her in connection with Vinteuil's sonata: in the dream, only two sounds remain, you and me, against a background of silence7.

1. 1#2.2 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?15 Feb 2016 · 1:07:07
2. 2#4.8 Angélique (de Nerval)16 May 2018 · 28:44
3. 3#4 Nomade et sédentaire - Le cas Nerval4 Oct 2021 · 1:00:56
4. 49 #19 Le Crépuscule des dieux ou de la répétition à la libération • Partie 214 Apr 2021 · 29:59
5. 5Le féminisme des privilégiés, censure puritaine de la féminité - Molière, Clouscard, Wagner6 Feb 2022 · 25:13
6. 69 #19 Le Crépuscule des dieux ou de la répétition à la libération • Partie 214 Apr 2021 · 32:26
7. 7Musicosophie 9. Ironie romantique et sonate de Vinteuil15 Jan 2021 · 42:37

Summary produced automatically from 7 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.