Icarus complex
The Icarus complex is a term in psychoanalysis and personality theory first used by Henry A. Murray to describe a particular type of overambitious character. Psychosynthesis has applied it to those in whom spiritual ambition exceeds their personality limits, leading to a backlash.
Etymology
Icarus was a Greek mythological figure who tried to escape imprisonment in Crete with his father Daedalus, using wings Daedalus crafted out of feathers and wax. Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too close to the sun or too low to the sea. Overwhelmed with the excitement of flying, Icarus flew much too high, and as a result the wax melted and his feathers fell off. Down Icarus plunged into the sea, and indeed into death as well. The story of Icarus is often used to signify the dangers of over-ambition.Characteristics
It is seen in a personality type that contains many or all of the following attributes:- cynosural narcissism ascensionism combined with an anticipation of falling
- Cathexis of fire
- possible enuresis or incontinence in childhood, linked to an abundance of water imagery.
- a craving for immortality
- a conception of woman as an object to be used for narcissistic gains
- Oedipal defiance.
- Perpetual adolescence.