★From a psychoanalytic perspective, aggression is placed on par with sexuality, and the root causes of anger and its impact on human behavior are deeply analyzed.
★This book reveals the physical and mental health problems that may result from suppressing anger, the cost of repression, and emphasizes the necessity of facing anger directly.
★The author provides profound insights to help readers break free from automatic reactions and excessive suppression, learn to handle aggressive behavior freely, and enhance psychological resilience.

O Goddess, reveal the wrath of Achilles, son of Peleus, which brought endless sorrow to the Greeks. The Iliad, a Greek epic nearly three thousand years old, is regarded as the foundation of Western literature. It begins with the description of Achilles' wrath, as this valiant hero directed his immense and proud anger towards his comrades, leading the entire Greek army to the brink of defeat in the war against Troy.

What exactly happened to Achilles? After a victorious battle, he was convinced of his status as one of the most powerful warriors and demanded the most beautiful female slave for himself, challenging the army's commander, Agamemnon. However, Agamemnon, using his authority, took away the slave and offered Achilles another one as compensation. This act was seen as a serious insult to Achilles' dignity.

We can understand that this was to satisfy his desires. As we will see, frustration often breeds anger. Achilles was extremely angry at this insult and acted upon it. He not only felt the anger within but also developed an uncontrollable need to take action to quell the sense of injustice - in fact, the sense of frustration - that pervaded his heart. We too sometimes feel similar rage, as if this emotion is a bothersome thing that must be released through screaming, slapping, or throwing things to prevent it from painfully accumulating within us.

Achilles' way of expressing his anger was to refuse to continue fighting: he left the battlefield, leaving his comrades to face death without his help. Only after his best friend was killed and he grieved would he take up arms again for revenge. However, isn't the desire for revenge a form of anger?

This story and many others in our culture - myths, fables, legends, and literary works - seem to warn of the dangers of anger. Loss of self-control, unrestrained violence, the breakdown of relationships and close friendships - these are the risks we face when we cannot control ourselves.

"I'm burning with rage!" and other common expressions show how this powerful emotion takes control of our selves. To borrow Sigmund Freud's famous words: "We are no longer masters in our own house." In other words, the unconscious automatic reactions that govern aggressive behavior compete with our more rational actions, weakening the control of our consciousness.

As we will see, aggression is so powerful within us that psychoanalytic theory places it on par with sexuality as one of the fundamental drives that govern human emotions and behaviors.

Therefore, whether we like the feeling of anger or not, we must face it throughout our lives.

Like other emotions and psychological states, anger has a bad reputation. Christianity lists anger as one of the seven deadly sins, and even among ordinary people and in other cultures, anger is often regarded as a primitive, dangerous, and unseemly emotion that should be suppressed as much as possible. For a civilized person, patience, self-control (or "grace" in English), going with the flow, and showing superiority seem more appropriate. In the worst case, one can always choose to suppress it.

If not for the pain that drives me, I would not have written this section. However, our daily lives constantly remind us that suppressing anger and aggression comes at a high emotional cost.

Sometimes, this repression can even lead to physical and mental health problems, affecting our psychological and physiological functions.
The core goal of psychoanalysis is to examine and analyze unconscious conflicts, and the conflict between the expression and suppression of aggressive drives is one of the greatest challenges faced by both humans and psychoanalysts. Just like all internal and external conflicts, there are no simple solutions to such conflicts, nor are there any shortcuts. Instead, by deeply understanding why we feel angry (or not angry), we can more freely break away from automatic reactions and suppressions, and choose how to handle aggressive behaviors.

Luca Nicoli, psychologist and psychoanalyst, he is a member of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society and the International Psychoanalytic Association. He also serves as an editorial board member of the "Italian Psychoanalytic Journal". Passionate about psychoanalysis, he tirelessly spreads it. He works in Modena as a consultant, psychotherapist and clinical supervisor. He has lectured at universities, master's and specialized schools, and has published many psychological works.

Aggressiveness is an important component of the human inner world. Psychoanalytic theory regards it as one of the fundamental driving forces of human behavior, on par with sexual desire. Therefore, whether we are willing to accept the emotion of anger or not, it remains a reality that we must face throughout our lives. We can choose to suppress the impulses of anger and aggressiveness, but this approach often comes at a high cost and may lead to physical and mental health problems. On the contrary, by understanding the root causes of anger, we can manage aggressive behavior more freely and avoid it being influenced by automatic reactions or excessive suppression.