ABSTRACT
Against the background of mythic themes in general, one could consider antisemitic myths in order to detect the universals from which they obtain their power and authority. Each developmental phase may contribute its characteristic images and fantasies to antisemitic myths. With respect to the child's earliest attachments to its mother, the Jew reminds one of the father or other caretaker who may be experienced as someone trying to seduce the child away from its mother. In the phase of separation-individuation, the Jew represents the stranger who is the rival of the father. With the achievement of political authority in Rome during the fourth century, the Church continued its policy of degrading the Jews, but now with governmental power. The Jews were still disparaged as nonbeliev-ers. During the Middle Ages antisemitism varied considerably from time to time and place to place. During and after the eleventh century, the regular and deliberate degradation of the Jews resumed.
