fei75766_ch11_345-376.indd 363  02/06/20 12:38 PM
Chapter 11    May: Existential Psychology363
Maybelieved thatpeople com-
municate withoneanother ontwo
levels. Thefirstisrationalistic lan-
guage, andonthislevel, truth takes 
precedence overthepeople who
arecommunicating. Thesecond is
through myths, andonthislevel, 
thetotalhuman experience ismore 
important thantheempirical accu-
racyofthecommunication. People 
usemyths andsymbols totranscend 
theimmediate concrete situation, to
expand self-awareness, andtosearch 
foridentity. 
May(1990a, 1991) believed 
thattheOedipus story isapowerful 
myth inourculture because itcon-
tainselements ofexistential crises 
common toeveryone. These crises 
include (1)birth, (2)separation or
exilefromparents andhome, (3)sex-
ualunion withoneparent andhostil -
itytoward theother, (4)theassertion 
ofindependence andthesearch for
identity, and(5)death. TheOedipus 
myth hasmeaning forpeople because itdeals witheachofthese fivecrises. LikeOedi-
pus,people areremoved fromtheirmother andfather andaredriven bytheneedforself-
knowledge. People’s struggle forself-identity, however, isnoteasy,anditmayevenresult 
intragedy, asitdidforOedipus when heinsisted onknowing thetruth about hisorigins. 
After being toldthathehadkilled hisfather andmarried hismother, Oedipus putouthis
eyes,depriving himself oftheability tosee,thatis,tobeaware, tobeconscious. 
ButtheOedipus narration doesnotendwithdenial ofconsciousness. Atthis
point inSophocles’ trilogy, Oedipus once again isexiled, anexperience Maysawas
symbolic ofpeople’s ownisolation andostracism. Asanoldman, Oedipus isseen
contemplating histragic suffering andaccepting responsibility forkilling hisfather 
andmarrying hismother. Hismeditations during oldagebring himpeace andunder -
standing andtheability toaccept death withgrace. Thecentral themes ofOedipus’s 
life—birth, exileandseparation, identity, incest andpatricide, repression ofguilt, and
finally, conscious meditation anddeath—touch everyone andmake thismyth apoten -
tially powerful healing force inpeople’s lives.
May’s concept ofmyths iscomparable toCarlJung’s ideaofacollective 
unconscious inthatmyths arearchetypal patterns inthehuman experience; theyare
avenues touniversal images thatliebeyond individual experience (seeChapter 4).
Andlikearchetypes, myths cancontribute topsychological growth ifpeople will
embrace them andallow them toopen upanewreality. Tragically, many people deny 
theiruniversal myths andthusriskalienation, apathy, andemptiness—the principal 
ingredients ofpsychopathology. 
TheOedipus myth holds meaning forpeople even
today because itdeals withexistential crises common to
everyone. Alinari Archives/The Image WorksFinal PDF to printer