FREUD AND OEDIPUS
The pioneering psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud
(1856–1939) has been linked with the Oedipus myth
ever since he coined the term “Oedipus complex” to
describe the sexual obsession of
a child (usually male) with the
parent of the opposite sex.
The phrase is somewhat
misleading, as Oedipus did
not know that Jocasta was his
real mother. It has been widely
used in both psychology
and literary studies.THE FAMILY
OF OEDIPUS
As a royal dynasty, Oedipus’s
family were closely involved with
the politics of their city, Thebes.
When Oedipus blinded himself and
left the city, Jocasta’s brother, Creon,
took over the throne until Oedipus’s
sons, Eteocles and Polynices, were
old enough to rule. But the brothers
fought and killed each other, and
Creon returned to the throne. He
tried to rule for the good of the city
but was known for his ruthlessness.
He did not even spare Antigone,
who was betrothed to his son,
Haemon, and confined her in a
cave to die for supporting her
brother Polynices against his wishes.THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX
The puzzle posed by the Sphinx to the people of Thebes is now a familiar
riddle, but it baed everyone when they first heard it. In its most famous form,
the riddle is: “What goes on four legs in the morning, two legs in the daytime,
and three legs at night?”
Oedipus rightly guessed that
the answer was a man, who
crawls on four limbs as a baby,
walks upright on two legs as
an adult, and uses a stick, or
third leg, in old age.THEBES
Although it is a family tragedy, the story of Oedipus and his sons is intimately
bound with the history of their city, Thebes, in Boeotia, whose ruling family
traced its ancestry back to a magical event in the life of the hero Cadmus,
the founder of Thebes. Much later, when Polynices was ousted by his brother
Eteocles, he fled to Argos seeking help from its king, Adrastus.
Together, they started a war with five other rebels,
collectively known as the “Seven Against
Thebes”. Their army was slaughtered, both
brothers were killed, and the noble line
begun by Cadmus came to an end.OEDIPUS AT COLONUS
The oracle had told Oedipus that he would die in a place sacred to the Furies.
Colonus was such a place; it was also special because it was the location of
one of the entrances to the Underworld. After Oedipus came to Colonus, there
was a thunderstorm, which he thought was a sign from
Zeus that his life was coming to an end. It was from
here that, ignoring the demands of
the Thebans, Oedipus passed below
the Earth to the next world. The Greek
playwright Sophocles (496–406 bce)
was born in the area and described these
events in his play Oedipus at Colonus.
Sigmund FreudAntigone
Oedipus’s daughter Antigone
supported her father and stood
up for her brother, Polynices,
after his rebellion (see right).
Creon
Trying to deal firmly with the rows
and tragedies in his family, Creon
acted violently and became the
archetype of the cruel ruler.The sphinx
Sphinxes take various forms in the
ancient world, but the Greek Sphinx
had the head of a woman, the body and
legs of a lion, and the wings of a bird.Oedipus as a blind beggar
In his blind wanderings, Oedipus was guided
by his daughter Antigone, the only member
of his family who remained faithful to him.Cadmus slaying the dragon
Cadmus killed a dragon that lived on the plains of
Thebes and planted its teeth in the ground. From
the monster’s teeth grew an army of men who
became the ancestors of the Thebans.OEDIPUSJocasta
Queen Jocasta hung
herself in anguish on
realizing that she had
mistakenly married her
own son, Oedipus.
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