ENFPs I have known

With thanks to ENFP Haven, a Yahoo group that links to BwP.

The ENFP is among my favorite MBTI types, but I must say, I admire them at a distance. Some ENFPs work very hard to be charming, flirty and irresistible. Then, when you have become a fan, they move on to the next set of potential fans. (Emphasis on the some.*) Not fun for those introverts among us who believe that when you have met one nice person, that should be your one friend, and you can spend your time reading together.

(Boh-ring! We introverts should get out more.)

Image: Detail of Botticelli's Venus found here.

Aphrodite, "lover of smiles," the ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty, is the "archetype" ENFP personality. Is it any coincidence that the links on ENFP Haven are mostly about love and relationships?

This goddess might be the most powerful of all the Olympians outside of the Fates. Her particular power is to cause all creation to fall in love, even her father Zeus, who is famous for his numerous affairs.

The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite is a charming example of Greek mythological poetry and chock full of details about Greek divinities. It is not a hymn such as you would sing in church, but a story that would have been accompanied by music, in honor of the goddess.

The tale is told that Zeus was a bit ticked that Aphrodite was so able and willing to use her power to strike desire into others, so he found a way to make Aphrodite fall in love with a human being, Anchises, as a bit of shame and humility.

Anchises was a fine catch, however. "To look at him and the way he was shaped," sings the poet, "was like looking at the immortals." So Aphrodite gets all dolled up and seduces Anchises, who is more than willing to be seduced.

Then she tells him not to boast about his evening of love, and leaves him for her next conquest.

I sure hope he wasn't an introvert.

But Aphrodite gives Anchises a gift: a son, Aeneas, the hero of Troy who is claimed by Rome as their founder. In the Aeneid, the finest poem in the Latin language, Aphrodite turns into Venus, the Roman version of the Greek goddess, and her attitude becomes much more maternal, much more political, much more responsible. She still has that power of seduction-- and deception-- but uses it to make sure Aeneas gets what he is due from her father Jupiter.

Aphrodite is in fact perfectly happy and comfortable with her role as power broker, which doesn't jibe with the classic and/or stereotypical ENFP, the aspiring Broadway actress. Young female ENFPs radiate a vulnerability and neediness that Aphrodite only feigns. It is true that multitalented, endlessly cheerful, beautiful (inside and out) young women often come into tragedy and trauma early in their lives, but their nature is to cover over this pain with the irresistible optimism that comes so naturally to them.

So Aphrodite should be inspirational to all those ENFPs who feel less power in their lives than they should-- and a warning to all those who tend to use their seductive powers for less than wholesome purposes. Aphrodite is out for herself, which is both a good and a bad thing.

*See addendum in comments section. Thanks, Joni of ENFP_Haven.

(Inspirational quote found here, with hopes that the author will change the "frist.")

Comments

[DF]

In my writing about ENFPs and Aphrodite, I'd say that the most exception ENFPs take to my comparison is the idea of fickleness and loyalty. Some ENFPs are very particular about their heart-trueness to others and let me know about it.

I don't want to come off as flippant about the subject. I DON'T think the average ENFP is out there to scalp hearts. I do think that when an ENFP is outgoing, optimistic, and charming, he or she is going to attract a lot of possessive, needy people who want to own them, and who will get the impression that the ENFP is flighty and fickle when that ENFP doesn't immediately shut down all other relationships for them.

I do think there are a few ENFP's out there who use attraction as a game. It all depends on what they've lived already and how they're personally wired.

[pandora wood]

This is scarily spot-on. I attract so many needy/possessive types, it's just ridiculous and only contributes to my unintentional fickleness

[DF]

Ouch... sorry, Pandora. It's nice to be attractive, not so nice to attract not the right kind. Reminds me of the story of how the Norse god Odin received the gift of insight in exchange for one of his eyes. Personality giveth, and personality taketh away.