“Lust, Dust, and Steam: Norse Goddesses in the Steampunk Psyche

This presentation explores the Norse goddesses Freya and Hela through a psychological lens, interpreting them as symbolic embodiments of Freud’s concepts of Eros (the life drive) and Thanatos (the death drive). This psychological duality is then connected to the aesthetic and philosophical values of steampunk, a genre that romanticizes the tension between life (innovation, beauty, passion) and death (decay, rust, dystopia) and thrives on contradictions—mechanical vs. organic, progress vs. collapse—and this dualism mirrors the Eros/Thanatos polarity. Freya’s sensuality and vitality parallel steampunk’s fascination with invention, while Hela’s dominion over death echoes the genre’s obsession with the gothic, the decaying, and the post-apocalyptic, and viewing their myths through this lens can offer deep insight into the human condition—one that oscillates eternally between creation and destruction, passion and loss, love and death.