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The first edition of this valuable book was reviewed thirteen years ago by Dr. Jelliffe in the first volume of this journal (Psychoanalytic Review) at which time its value as a guide to the interpretation of the incest mechanisms in history, poetry and legendary tales was duly emphasized. The present volume under consideration is the second edition, which has been essentially enlarged, improved, and somewhat re-written.
The author has thrown light into many of the dark corners of the Edipus situation, and his principal discussions center about the roots of the incest phantasy, the types of incest portrayed by the drama, the incest phantasies of certain great men such as Schiller, Byron and Shakespeare, and about the Edipus drama as expressed by the world's literature. Among a wealth of allied topics he has attempted to explain the psychology of the Stepmother theme, the Phadra theme, the conflict between father and son, the psychological murder of relatives, the psychology of the poetry of youth (Lessing-Hebbel), the castration motive, and various Biblical traditions, Christ legends and medieval fables.
The detailed index of twenty-three main topics each with subheadings and illustrated by numerous examples gives an idea of the enormous amount of material presented in connection with the incest and allied psychological motives in dramas, traditions, fables, legends, myths, poetry, various customs, folk laws, in the lives of historical characters, in contemporary literature, and in the neuroses.