Understand Oedipus Rex by Sophocles

Many great thinkers, philosophers, artists, and scientists have made a single work of Greek tragedy a central piece, or a supporting pillar their theories. Oedipus Rex is the center to a trilogy of plays written by Sophocles, which includes Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone. Oedipus Rex has surpassed these other works for a number of reasons, most probably because out of the three it provides the clearest example of a classic tragedy. In this paper first we will first describe the play itself. Then we will examine the piece as it relates to performance work, which will involve looking briefly at the conventions of theater during ancient Greece. Then we will look at the philosophical examinations of the work through the eyes of Plato and Aristotle. Finally, we will bring the piece in a modern context, and show how it ultimately influenced Freud in his work trying to understand the human mind.

To understand Oedipus Rex, we must understand the story itself. The story of Oedipus really begins with his father, Laius. When Laius is young he is asked to teach the son of a king charioting. Laius breaks the rules of hospitality and kidnaps and rapes the young prince, who later kills himself of shame. Much later, Laius becomes King of Thebes with his wife, Jocasta. Laius receives a prophecy from an oracle that he will be killed by his son. In consideration of this, Laius binds the childs feet and orders his wife to kill him. She cannot do it personally and so orders a servant to do it. The servant is reluctant to kill the infant, but brings it to the mountains and abandons it to die of exposure. A passing shepherd finds the infant with bound feet and takes it in. He names the child Oedipus, which means “Swollen Feet”.

When the infant is...

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...because it offers us glimpses into the heart of the ancient world, as well as a single story that helped to define and birth modern western society.

Sources:

Goldhill, Simon (1987). "The Great Dionysia and Civic Ideology". Journal of Hellenistic Studies 107 (1): p. 58.

Thomas, J.E. & Osborne, E. (2004). Oedipus Rex: Literary Touchstone Edition. Prestwick House Inc. p. 69.

Plato, The Republic, Book X.

"catharsis," Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature, Merriam-Webster, 1995, p. 217.

Charles Rycroft A Critical Dictionary of Psychoanalysis (London, 2nd Ed. 1995) p.52.

Sigmund Freud, ‘Civilization and Its Discontents’ (1930) in The Standard Edition Of The Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud – The Future of an Illusion, Civilization and its Discontents, and Other Works, trans. by James Strachey (Hogarth Press; London, 1961), vol. XXI, 79–80 p. 33.