Calderón's Semíramis: Myth of the Phallic Woman

This paper will attempt to account for the insatiable ambition to rule of Semíramis, the protagonist of La hija del aire. It will draw on the writings of Freud and Jung and will utilize dramatic analysis, psychological theory and a knowledge of certain myths. It will trace the course of Semíramis' psychic development especially as it concerns the emerging domination of the animus (Jung). Semíramis exhibits 'penis envy' (Freud) when she complains that Nature erred in not creating her a man. She imprisons her son, the legitimate heir to the Assyrian throne, and, in male garb proceeds to assume his identity and rules, thus taking on the masculine role denied her by Nature.

Semíramis is protected by the goddess Venus, who herself is a transformed phallus, since she was born from the foam of the sea under unusual circumstances. Cronos, son of earth and heaven, castrated his father (Ouranos) and hurled his testicles into the sea. They drifted away and the semen from Ouranos' castrated genitals mingled with the foam. Semíramis lacks the phallus from a physical point of view, but from a psychological viewpoint she substitutes aggressiveness and valor, a phenomenon corroborated by psychologists.

Thus Semíramis triumphs over a male-dominated society. Under the protection of the goddess Venus, and possessed of phenomenal courage, she has asserted the masculine element in her psyche.