The Ape
The human made animal, and the animal made human.
The Ape: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The ape stands at the border of the human: imitator, clown, reminder of the animal nature beneath culture. The Middle Ages called the devil simia Dei, the ape of God, the one who imitates without understanding; the Egyptians gave the baboon to Thoth, god of wisdom.
The Ape: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Thoth as baboon, Hanuman of the Ramayana, the monkey king Sun Wukong, the ape of God.
In the Press’s Books
“What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock, a thing of shame. And just the same shall man be to the Superman”: Zarathustra, in the prologue.
From the Sources
Zarathustra says that the ape is to man what man will be to the Superman, a laughing-stock and a thing of shame, and that man, who was once an ape, is still more of an ape than any ape.
“What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock, a thing of shame. And just the same shall man be to the Superman: a laughing-stock, a thing of shame. Ye have made your way from the worm to man, and much within you is still worm. Once were ye apes, and even yet man is more of an ape than any of the apes.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None, Zarathustra's Prologue, section 3. Translated by Thomas Common. The text, read in part
The Britannica notes that 'ape' is used specifically for the tailless, manlike primates, and that the common verb, transferred figuratively to human beings, is 'to ape', to imitate.
“…still used specifically for the tailless, manlike representatives of the order Primates (q.v.). The word is now generally a synonym for “monkey,” but the common verb for both (as transferred figuratively to human beings) is “to ape,” i.e. to imitate.”
Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition: Ape, 'Ape'. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, as transcribed on Wikisource. The text, read in full
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
Where to Read
- The Book of Symbols, Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (2010)
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Overman.
Also among Beasts
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Ape.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/ape.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Nearby in the alphabet: The Anthropos: The first man, whose body is the world. The Antichrist: The shadow of the redeemer, returning at the end of an age. Apollo: Form, measure, clarity, and the beautiful image. The Apple: The fruit of knowledge, discord, and youth.