ABSTRACT
Hysterical phenomena were described in the Kahun papyrus as a woman’s illness provoked by the spontaneous displacement of the uterus, which behaves like a confused little animal wandering inside the body. The word “hysteria”, from the Latin hystericus, derives from the Greek hysterikos, the adjective of hustera metra and finally womb. Theodore Thass-Thienemann speaks about a condensation of the Latin word matrix as a blending of mater and nutrix. One can therefore speak of hysteria as a disturbed wandering uterus-creature in difficulty. The mythical image of the devouring or consuming archaic mother and the Kleinian image of the greedy, crazy child inside the womb are interrelated. The field of psychosomatics has its origins in its relationship to conversion hysteria. The idea of theatricality in hysteria is evident in W. R. Fairbairn’s formulation, when he treats internal objects as actors; as in the Venetian Commedia dellarte, Fairbairn’s characters play classic roles.
