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Depersonalization has been discussed from many vantage points: structurally, topographically and defensively, as well as in its relationship to crises in identity. It appears not only in so-called normal fatigue states, hypnagogically and states of extreme excitement, but is also manifested in more malignant forms of ego-splitting such as the schizophrenic reaction.
This paper is concerned with one of the original essays on the subject, Freud's “A Disturbance of Memory on the Acropolis” in the form of a letter addressed to Romain Rolland.
In this sensitive analytic communication, Freud makes several important contributions to explain what transpired within himself on that particular occasion. Still, one is left with several questions: Why does Freud select to write about the Disturbance of Memory on the Acropolis on the occasion of Rolland's 70th birthday? What is the relationship between Freud's letter to his age and state of health at the time it was written? What is the link between his state of feeling at this time and his experience of unreality on the Acropolis? Finally, why does Freud refer to his state of depersonalization on the Acropolis as “a disturbance of memory?”1
The following account by Ernest Jones may explain what was uppermost in Freud's mind when he made his journey to Athens in August-September, 1904, and I suggest, may have precipitated the episode of unreality.
Ernest Jones, (I, 314) comments on a disagreement that developed between Fliess and Freud which was probably one of the more significant factors culminating in the termination of their intimate friendship: