The Collective Social Unconscious According to Carl Jung, the collective unconscious represents part of the mind in which certain memories and impulses are shared by all beings of the same species and are not a by-product of the individual. He believed that myths and dreams were expressions of this collective unconscious and expressed ideas shared by all human beings. Sophocles’ Oedipus the King highlights several examples of the collective unconscious through the shortcomings of the main character Oedipus, who sought the cure for the blight that had plagued his city only to find out that he was the source of the problem. His incestuous actions with his mother Jocasta had corrupted the city, and led to the suicide of Jocasta and the self-inflicted …show more content…
In society, laws and morals are created so that those who go against the law, for example by committing murder or incest, will be punished and looked down upon in society. Aristotle claimed that “man is by nature a social animal… Society is something that precedes the individual.” Humans are social creatures and cannot function efficiently without relying on others. For this reason, people repress their desires to break the rules of society because they wish to exist in society, which explains why laws work so effectively since nobody desires to be ostracized or exiled. In Oedipus the King, Oedipus mentions how “he [Apollo] foretold other and desperate horrors to befall me [Oedipus], that I was fated to lie with my mother, and show to daylight an accursed breed which men would not endure, and I was doomed to be murdered of the father that begot me. When I heard this I fled, and in the days that followed I would measure from the stars the whereabouts of Corinth—yes, I fled to somewhere where I should not see fulfilled the infamies told in that dreadful oracle” (lines 920-930). Oedipus is told a prophecy from Apollo that he is to sleep with his mother and murder his father. He decides to run away from home not only to save his father and prevent bedding his …show more content…
In the play, Oedipus exemplifies the limitation and fallibility of human knowledge through the usage of confirmation bias. Oedipus is portrayed as an intelligent and perceptive character, and was known throughout the kingdom of Thebes for his clairvoyance demonstrated through solving the riddle of the sphinx. Despite his intellectual ability, throughout the play we see him struggle with piecing together the simple truth that he himself was the culprit behind Laius’ murder. Oedipus utilizes fantasy because he is unable to fathom the idea that he is the evil that blighted the kingdom, therefore, he only seeks information that adhere to the belief that he is not the culprit. At first he concocts the idea that both Teiresias and Creon were conspiring against him so that Creon can take the throne away from him. In order to convince himself and everyone else that he is not the culprit, he decides to vilify Creon because if Creon were to be the murderer, he himself couldn’t possibly be. Afterwards, when Oedipus learns of his father’s death, he rejoices and fantasizes about having bested the Gods, since he believed that prophecy did not come true after all. When relying on fantasy was not enough, Oedipus turns to repression and refuses to accept the information that
In the play when Oedipus asks Teiresias to reveal the murderer of King Laois, Teiresias blames Oedipus as the murderer and Oedipus denies the blame and gets angry on Teiresias. The chorus even denies the blame on Oedipus and takes Oedipus’ side. The chorus says the following lines to protect Oedipus “This is the king who solved the famous riddle, and towered up, most powerful of men. No mortal eyes but looked on him with envy, Yet in the end ruin swept over him”(Freud 988). Oedipus on the other hand who is really mad at Teiresias blames him and Creon for plotting against him. As Oedipus was blind from the start he was unaware of his origins which will cause him to trigger the unavoidable chain of events that would lead to the fulfilment of the prophecy. But he didn’t knew the fate itself was unavoidable. The irony of theme sight and blindness is produced here when Oedipus is compared to Teiresias. Oedipus who is not blind and has the capability to see with both of his eyes doesn’t finds anything wrong in killing a man, who he later discovers was King Laois and his group. He even took over the throne of Thebes and was found to be lying with his mother thinking her as his wife and having babies with her. On the other hand is Teiresias who is really blind and unable to see than...
Oedipus can be argued to be a sympathetic ruler of his people, "my heart must bear the strain of sorrow for all." (4). He shows a strong desire to rid the land of its despair. Yet as the reader captures a more in-depth glimpse into Oedipus' soul, we find him to be a jealous, stubborn, "blind", guilty, and sinful man. Oedipus' character outwardly seems to want nothing more than to find the guilty persons involved in the murder of Laius, yet when given obvious clues he turns a blind eye, not wanting to know the truth behind the prophecy.
The selfishness that Oedipus possesses causes him to have abundance of ignorance. This combination is what leads to his father’s death. After fleeing Corinth and his foster family, Oedipus gets into a skirmish with an older man. The reason for the fight was because, “The groom leading the horses forced me off the road at his lord’s command” (1336). Oedipus is filled with a rage after being insulted by the lord and feels the need to act. The two men fight, but Oedipus ends up being too much for the older man, and he kills him. What Oedipus is unaware of is that the man was actually his birth father and by killing him, Oedipus has started on the path of his own destruction. Not only does Oedipus kill his father, but also everyone else, “I killed them all” (1336). The other men had no part in the scuffle, but in his rage, he did not care who he was killing.
Trying to solve the mystery of who killed the previous King, Oedipus does not look at the facts around him. As a prophet, Teiresias explains to Oedipus that he is at fault for the death of Laius but Oedipus does not accept this as true, he embraces the darkness and his view of the truth. Teiresias goes further to convince Oedipus of his fault by saying, “Your clear eyes flooded with darkness. That day will come.” Oedipus has placed himself in a world that is suitable as the truth for him. He is not prepared for change or the opinions of others although he is directly seeking the answer to who killed Laius. This connects to Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” because Oedipus is very similar to the prisoners. He is set in his way and the light of knowledge does not immediately impact him. Teiresias bluntly says to Oedipus, “You have eyes to see with, but you do not see yourself” (Sophocles, 42). He pushes and pushes Oedipus to understand that he killed Laius but with no luck. Once Oedipus learns more about how Laius was killed and figures out that he killed a man that way he goes into the light. His reality has now changed just as it did for the prisoner who was released from the cave. But for Oedipus, facing the truth is something he is not able to do with ease. Teiresias says to Oedipus that “wisdom is a curse when [it] does nothing for the man who has it” (37).
As the truth is getting revealed: "… You, Oedipus, are the desecrator, the polluter of this land." Oedipus does not believe (his choice). He (Oedipus) start to accuse Creon of truing to take his powers away (king). And still want to reveal whole truth. After talking to Jocasta Oedipus faces that he in fact might killed the king Laius. " There was s herald leading a carriage drawn by horses and the man riding in the carriage … The driver pushed.
The first of Oedipus’ fatal traits is naiveté, a flaw which causes him to unknowingly weave his own inescapable web of complications. While searching for the murderer of Laius, Creon recommends that Oedipus ask the blind prophet, Teiresias, for his thoughts. Teiresias and Oedipus begin an argument after the prophet accuses Oedipus as the murderer, and Oedipus retaliates by calling the blind man a fool. Teiresias responds with “A fool? Your parents thought me sane enough.” To which Oedipus then replies “My parents again!- Wait: who were my parents” (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. 1.1. 423-424)? Oedipus’ naiveté regarding his parents plays a big part in his downfall because he does not know that Laius and Jocasta were his real parents. If he knows this at the time, then Oedipus could realize Teiresias is correct, and that he truly is the murderer. Another proof of Oedipus’ naiveté occurred in the second scene of part one when Oedipus returns after his talk with Teiresias and believes Creon is an enemy. He speaks towards Creon saying “You speak well: there is one fact; but I find it hard/ To learn from the deadliest enemy I have” (Sophocles, Oedipus Rex. 1.2. 5...
Ironically, he initially became a King by solving a riddle and now he is trying to solve another to try and maintain his image and control his destiny. “Human happiness is built on an illusion” (Dodds 27). This quote is a good connection to the role of Oedipus, because while attempting to keep the Kingdom under control and keep his image unharmed, he is left in the dark by ignoring the signs. The irony of ignoring the past continues when “Creon brings the information that there will be no relief until the murderer of Laius is expelled from the city… [And] the murder mystery slowly becomes a quest for Oedipus ' identity” (Derrida). Building upon the investigation, Oedipus grows a keen interest for who he truly is. Is there any truth to the prophecies that which he and Jocasta have seemingly forgot about? At this point, it seems as though Oedipus must finally face his fear and discover the truth that he has been avoiding for so long. The only way for Oedipus to find out the lies he has been living is to seek for the only witness of his father’s murder, a shepherd. Only until Oedipus threatens to kill the shepherd does he tell the truth and reveal the tragic events which have been avoided for so long. In this moment before certainty of the past is brought to light, the relationship between self-control and self-image is linked and soon to be changed
In “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, Oedipus, the king of Thebes finds out that he kills his father and that his wife is his mother. Oedipus is very concerned for his kingdom and his people. He wants to “drive the corruption from the land” (Sophocles 109) by finding Laius’s murderer and killing him. Through his curiosity, Oedipus finds out that the man he kills long ago is Laius, who is his father, and that his wife is his mother—all in accordance with Oedipus’ prophecy. After coming on this realization as well, Jocasta, Oedipus’ wife, commits suicide, and Oedipus gouges out his eyes as a result of this. In his search for the murderer, Oedipus strives to be a fair king. Ironically, he often is not fair to the people he sees or things that are essential to him. This play demonstrates the theme of justice through Oedipus’ denial of justice in three situations—Oedipus’ meeting with Tiresias, Oedipus’ gouging out of his eyes, and Creon’s asking of Oedipus to adjudicate fairly
While reading the play Oedipus the King, my response to the work became more and more clear as the play continued. When I finished the play, my reaction to the work and to two particular characters was startling and very different from my response while I was still reading. My initial response was to the text, and it was mostly an intellectual one. I felt cheated by the play because the challenge of solving the mystery of the plot was spoiled for me by the obvious clues laid out in the work. My second response was not as intellectual; instead, it came more from a feeling that the play evoked in me. I felt a strong disappointment in the drastic actions that Oedipus and Jocasta took at the end of the play. My two different responses to Oedipus the King, one intellectual and one not, now seem to feed off and to amplify each other as if they were one collective response.
It is clear to see that Oedipus is an impulsive and passionate man, which causes Oedipus to fulfill the prophecy that haunts him. He flees the kingdom of Corinthian in order to avoid his fate. Along his journey he comes to a crossroad that is blocked by a chariot, and “in a fit of anger” Oedipus kills the father he never knew (Meyer 1422). Oedipus’ anger causes him to kill the father he never knew and all the men in the entourage. Oedipus’ cannot control his temper and this personality flaw leads him to his fate.
Throughout my lifetime, I have been told to “be yourself” or that “you are the master of your own fate”. Each one of us is told that we are important because we are unique. However, it certainly hasn’t always been that way. The perceived value of individuals has evolved as we have advanced as a society. The progression of global religions over time is evidence of this. During the period from soon after the advent of religion many thousands of years ago until around 1900, humans saw themselves as relatively unimportant compared to the omnipotent gods. However, since 1900, humans, collectively and individually, have been seen as the utmost authority in the universe. The play Oedipus The King, written by Sophocles
Dramatic irony in Oedipus the King is evident throughout, which is similar to the latter play, but in a different form. In here, the irony is evident. Oedipus the King revolves around characters' attempts to change their destiny (which fails) - Jocasta and Laius's killing of Oedipus and Oedipus's flight from Corinth. Each time somebody tries to avert the future, the audience knows their attempt is futile, creating irony. When Jocasta and Oedipus mock the oracles, they continue to suspect that they were right. Oedipus discounts the oracles' power, but believes in his ability to uncover the truth, yet they lead to the same outcome. His intelligence is what makes him great, but it is also what causes the tragedy. When he ridded Thebes of the Sphinx, Oedipus is the city's saviour, but by killing Laius and marrying Jocasta, he is its affliction, causing the blight that strikes the city during the opening. Meanwhile, the characters, especially Teiresias, mention sight, light, darkness, &c as metaphors, while referring to `seeing the truth'. However, while Teiresias knows the truth and is blind, Oedipus can see all but the truth. When he discovers the truth, he becomes blind. Also, he does not just solve the Sphinx's riddle - he is its answer. His birth is mentioned throughout the play (crawling on `4 legs'), and he never relies on anybody but himself (`standing on his own `2 legs'),...
The play is divided into three parts. This is very logical. In The first part we have the problem and the accusation of Creon. In part two we have the discovery of the truth. At the end of the play we find the truth and the consequences of it. Oedipus admits his blindness, feels ashamed and is pious.
Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragedy authored by the playwright Sophocles, includes many types of psychological phenomena. Most prominently, the myth is the source of the well-known term Oedipal complex, coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. In psychology, “complex” refers to a developmental stage. In this case the stage involves the desire of males, usually ages three to five, to sexually or romantically posses their mother, and the consequential resentment of their fathers. In the play, a prince named Oedipus tries to escape a prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother, and coincidentally saves the Thebes from a monster known as the Sphinx. Having unknowingly killed his true father Laius during his escape, he marries the widowed queen of Thebes, his mother Jocasta. Many events in the story should lead to suspicion of their marriage, but out of pride and ignorance Oedipus stubbornly refuses to accept his fate. Together, these sins represent the highest taboos of Greek society, revealed by Socphocles’s depiction of the already pervasive story. Before the Thebian plays, the myth centered more around Oedipus’s journey of self-awareness; meanwhile, Sophocles shows Oedipus’s struggles with his inevitable desire toward his mother throughout these stages of psychological development.
The theme that the lives of humans are controlled by the gods, in Oedipus, show that everything humans do are futile and result in no gain but only loss. This theme is mainly shown by the character Oedipus, king of Thebes. In the beginning of his life, Laius the king planned to kill his son by leaving him on Mount Cithaeron to die. "...at the moment I was your savior."