''Seduction of the Minotaur'' is an

autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel, also known as an autobiographical fiction, fictional autobiography, or autobiographical fiction novel, is a type of novel which uses autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The ...

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell ( ; ; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

, the last part of her '' Cities of the Interior'' sequence. It is about a woman named Lillian, and her self-psychoanalysis. The setting is taken from Anaïs' diary account of her first trip to

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

in 1947, and the novel repeats much of the first part of '' The Diary of Anaïs Nin'' volume V. Since the author was concerned with psychology rather than physical adventure, there is actually less violence in the novel than in the diary account. The exception is that the doctor allows himself to be shot because he is loved only as a doctor and never as a man, perhaps patterned after her understanding of

Otto Rank Otto Rank (; ; né Rosenfeld; 22 April 1884 – 31 October 1939) was an Austrian psychoanalyst, writer, and philosopher. Born in Vienna, he was one of Sigmund Freud's closest colleagues for 20 years, a prolific writer on psychoanalytic themes, ...

's death. The title refers to the

Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

ian concept of a "monster" in the unconscious confined by a "labyrinth". Since one should not kill one's own mind, the repressed feelings must be "seduced" by developing conscious

insight Insight is the understanding of a specific causality, cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of se ...

. An earlier version was published in 1958 with the title ''Solar Barque'', after a ship found in an Egyptian pyramid.

References

Women's erotica and pornography 1958 French novels Fiction set in 1947 Autobiographical novels Novels set in Mexico Novels by Anaïs Nin {{1950s-autobio-novel-stub