Oedipus The King

Freud’s theory of Psychoanalysis and the Oedipus Myth

This essay will argue that Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is highly applicable to Greek mythology, particularly in regards to immoral acts of incest and murder that occur in the myth of Oedipus. Freud is well known for his emphasis on the underlying meaning behind dreams, the three divisions of the human psyche (Id, ego, superego), and of course the Oedipus complex. The myth of Oedipus is one that can be thoroughly analyzed and explained using these three particular tools provided by Freud’s theory.

The myth of Oedipus is one involving fate, kingship and the subconscious. Oedipus had been “told by god that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother” (MLS 431). According to

He interpreted them as portraying bits and pieces of our subconscious in a socially acceptable manner. “It is clear that Freud’s connection between dreams and myths is illuminating for many myths, if not for all. In addition to the story of Oedipus one might single out, for example, the legend of the Minotaur or the saga of the House of Atreus, both of which deal with some of the most persistent, if repressed, human fears and emotions and, by their telling, achieve a kind of catharsis” (MLS 9). Freud analyzes myths by seeking their underlying nature. In the myth of Oedipus, he acknowledges Oedipus’s repressed emotions and desires as the reason for his unavoidable fate. Despite his initial wishes to escape his dreaded destiny, his actions continuously lead him to the very life that so many consider taboo and immoral. “Dreams for Freud are the fulfillments of wishes that have been repressed and disguised” (MLS 8). Freud believed that symbols appeared in our dreams that portrayed our hidden thoughts, emotions and sexuality. “Freud’s discovery of the significance of dream-symbols led him and his followers to analyze the similarity between dreams and myths… Myth therefore reflect people’s waking efforts to systematize the incoherent visions and impulses of their sleep world” (MLS

The Oedipus myth gave rise to the concept of the Oedipus complex (a child’s desire to lust after the parent of the opposite sex), which is considered “basis for any psychoanalytical approach” (MLS 430). The Oedipus myth is largely and primarily known as the myth “in which the son kills the father in order to possess the mother” (MLS 9). Although this immoral concept is not the only aspect of the myth, it is certainly the most intriguing aspect, and for that reason it caught the eye of Freud who shared then shared his interpretations with the public. “Modern fascination with the Freudian interpretation – powerful and satisfying as it may be – should not obscure the origins of the myth in the role of kingship in pre-classical Greek society” (MLS 430). Like Freud, we as humans tend to focus our attention on concepts that trigger stronger emotions, such as the father-son rivalry and the incest that occurs in this myth. That is not to say that concept of kingship deserves no recognition, however it is not as easily analyzable with Freud’s methods as are the more provoking topics of this