to the power of the outer woman and have lost access to their own genuine inner femininity. In either case, the independent feminine spirit is not honored and is lost.
In many ways, Iphigenia in Aulis provides an image for today: chaos and lust for power still prevail between the sexes; spirit (the harmonic relation between the feminine and masculine principles) still has not been found to be moving effectively in the lives of most men and women. But at least questions abound, and where there are questions, there is quest, consciousness, and hope of breaking through the inadequate existing patterns.
Many modern day Iphigenias exist in our culture, suffering from a narrow vision of femininity, a narrow vision which is imbedded in the culture and frequently in personal fathers and mothers as well. These women are often angry and aware that the images allotted to women in our patriarchal culture have been influenced by men’s inadequate relation to femininity. Nevertheless, they feel trapped and helpless.
Joan, a talented and attractive woman in her forties, is an example. She grew up feeling that the ideal woman should be like Helen—most beautiful, most desirable, a woman who could attract all men by her looks and who also could be and do whatever the man needed and desired. This image, supported by the culture, came also in part from her parents. Her mother, who suffered from a split within her own femininity, was cute, youthful, and dependent (the eternal girl), yet with an overface of the independent fighter (the armored amazon) who was unable to let go and enjoy the sexual relationship with her husband. Her father, frustrated in his marriage, loved his daughter, probably too much, so the daughter most likely received his unconscious wishes for a love relationship and also his guilt feelings about this.
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