Assaultive Eye Injury and Enucleation - Journal of the American ...

Assaultive Eye Injury and Enucleation
presented and discussed in the literature,' in the battle.4 According to another verat
least through individual and series case sion, Horus either wounded Seth's testireports.
Subjects reported in the psychi- cles5 or Horus lost his testicles in the
atric literature were typically psychoti- struggle for the throne of ~ ~ and ~ ~
cally disturbed at the time of the self- Seth damaged one or both of Horus'
enucleation. In some cases, a mind- eyes.5 In a third version of this myth,
altering substance was involved. In Seth, incarnate as a black boar, either
several cases, the self-enucleator felt shredded the moon eye of Horus or indriven
to obey the familiar Biblical in- gested k5 According to a fourth version,
junction (Matthew 5:29: "And if thy right Seth gouged out the eyes of Horus, but
eye offend thee, pluck it out. . . ") within his eyesight was restored by rubbing with
the context of a very concrete and person- the milk of a ga~elle.~ Salient in the Hoalized
interpretation. In some cases, self- rus and Seth myths is the close associaenucleation
involved guilt over sexual is- tion between sexual aggression and eye
sues, reminiscent of the myth of Oedipus. gouging.
elt tho us^ and ~ e l contributed o ~ ~ sev- A recurrent belief among peoples of
eral unusual case reports of men accused various cultures and ages is in the mysof
violent offenses, including murder. Be- terious, puissant ability of the eyes to
fore the violent act, each had experienced express evil and cause harm. For a thorbizarre
perceptions andlor delusions in- ough treatise on this topic the reader is
volving cats or dogs. In a few of these referred to the classic contribution of Elcases,
psychotic thinking regarding the worthy, The Evil ~ ~ e . ~
animal involved the perception that the From ancient times in Russia, cutting
animal was staring at the individual and off part of the body (hand, finger, foot,
the animal's eyes were visibly changing ear, nose, tongue) was a fairly common
in some manner. In a few cases, the sub- form of punishment,' and eye gouging
ject was thought to have killed the animal played a historical role in several strugbefore
allegedly committing murder, but gles for political power. Vasily I1 Vasieye
gouging of animals or homicide vic- levich, Tiomny (1425-1462), the Grand
tims was not involved. ~ e l discussed o ~ ~ Duke of Moscow and Vladimir and
this phenomenon in the context of scopo- grandfather of Ivan the Terrible, was a
philia, oral sadism, and the Cyclopean central figure in one such ~truggle.~ His
glaring eye.
uncle Yury and Yury's sons, Vasily KO-
Assaultive enucleation is referenced in soy and Drnitry Shemiaka, did not want
myth, legend, and history. According to 10-year-old Vasily to become the Grand
Egyptian mythology, the sky god Horus, Duke. In the ensuing conflict, lasting
representing Lower Egypt, took the incar- years and into his adulthood and dukenate
form of a falcon, whose right eye dom, Vasily 11's minions abducted and
was the sun and left eye, the moon. Seth, blinded Vasily Kosoy, his cousin. Vasily
a god representing Upper Egypt, was de- I1 in turn was captured by Dmitry
feated by Horus whose eye was damaged Shemiaka and blinded (hence, his sobri-
J Am Acad Psychiatry Law, Vol. 27, No. 4, 1999 591