Freud's Intaglio with Athena
Freud's intaglio with Athena
Roman carnelian. Freud Museum, London.
- This signet ring features a classical carnelian intaglio depicting Zeus seated upon a throne flanked by Athena, holding her spear and shield, and Victory (Nike), who offers him a laurel wreath.
- Famous for having belonged to Sigmund Freud—gifted to him by Ernst Jones in 1913 and mounted into a gold ring in 1925—this piece carries deep psychoanalytic and symbolic weight.
- Freud viewed Athena as a representation of wisdom, intellect, and the triumph of the ego over the chaotic impulses of the unconscious, while the central authority of Zeus and the presence of Nike symbolize power and victory, making it an emblem of intellectual sovereignty and psychological insight.
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