Description:
He is the master of the household. He dominates and invades the unconscious mind of his children.
Biblical patriarch, Roman paterfamilias, the representative of God himself in the Moslem family, the Mediterranean father is surrounded by an aura of majesty from Gibraltar to Beyrouth. And yet, he presides but does not rule.
In this essay, we will learn that the Mediterranean father is most of the time absent from the home, his is a distant authority, rarely exercised.
He boasts his valour and demonstrates his brilliance in the company of other men like himself, yet remains a stranger in his own household. He returns there when the children are asleep and the mamma has everything in order.
The home, the casa, is the domain of the wife and mother. The female grotto where the male is only tolerated.
He regains his authority once he is a grandfather, as if his life before had been useless. And his law only becomes absolute after his death.