Théramène

Summary

Dominique Pagani returns several times, from 2017 to 2024, to Théramène, Hippolytus's confidant, notably in a session devoted to Racine. He dwells above all on the first scene, where Théramène brings down, one by one, the reasons Hippolytus gives for leaving1. He describes this work as a psychoanalysis: the confidant sees through the hero's stated motives and demolishes his justifications2. The phrase comes back from one session to the next with a nuance. In 2017, he speaks of "almost" a psychoanalysis, then, in the more recent sessions, of a "true" psychoanalysis. In 2024, he adds that the confidant also serves to balance the hero's excess3. Finally, in another 2017 session, he notes that Théramène recalls the art of taming horses invented by Neptune4. He brings this character into sessions on crisis and war, on amnesia and on the "misknowing" (déconnaissance) of oneself.

1. 1#9 Benefits and harms of amnesia…17 Dec 2020 · 1:04:13
2. 2#2.5 Between crisis and war: philosophising?1 Aug 2017 · 21:39
3. 3Evil, or the “unknowing” of the self2 Dec 2024 · 29:32
4. 4#2.6 Between crisis and war: philosophising?1 Aug 2017 · 1:10:26

Summary produced automatically from 6 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.