Oedipus Scapegoat Analysis

Oedipus as Scapegoat in Oedipus the King

The great psychologist-philosopher Carl Jung was briefly a student of Freud. Because Jung felt that Freud's approach to psychoanalysis was by far too narrow, he broke off from his teachings, and made significant contributions to mythological criticism. Jung's greatest contribution was his theory of archetypes. His proposal of archetypes argues that there is one original pattern or model of all things of the same type. According to Jung, beneath the personal unconscious is a collective unconscious that is in the psychic inheritance of all humans. Jung thought of the collective unconscious as a sort of memory bank that stores images and ideas that humans have accumulated over the course of evolution.

The scapegoat is first distinguished by his inversion of the social hierarchy. The archetype is further fulfilled by the sacrificial scapegoat being permitted to engage in sexual intercourse with a woman usually forbidden to him (Vickery 44). The scapegoat is a person blessed with special attributes - courage, strength, dedication - who is summoned by a calling which rouses him from the comfortable routines of his daily life and sets him on a road of adventure (Brunel 321). In some instances the herald that provokes the scapegoat to take action is an incident which unexpectedly disrupts his day-to-day existence. In response to the calling the scapegoat leaves his familiar surroundings and ventures out into a foreign world. This point within the scapegoat's quest is referred to as the "crossing of the threshold" because he is entering "a region of mystery and danger" (Brunel 321). Once the scapegoat has passed into the foreign world he immediately endures adventures, which often times involve his encounter with other archetypal figures (Brunel 322). Because the world that the scapegoat enters is so full of danger, he is often assisted in his adventure by various helpful beings. "The hero, it is clear, needs all the help he can get on the Quest, for whatever leads him, his journey is always, in a sense,

Just as Jocasta was, Oedipus is left in a confused state of mind and is quick to make the assumption that the oracles were false in their prophecies. "They led me to believe that I would kill my father. But he is dead and in his grave, while I stand here - never having touched a weapon" (Sophocles 22). At this time Oedipus is ignorant to the fact that Polybus was not his father. Although comforted in thinking that he was able to avoid the oracle because he did not kill his father, Oedipus still fears his union with his mother in bed. "But my fear is of her - as long as she lives" (Sophocles 22). If Merope was to have been Oedipus' mother, then he would not have been a sacrificial scapegoat, because one characteristic of the sacrificial scapegoat is the permission of the character to engage in sexual intercourse with a woman usually forbidden to him. It is not natural for a man to sleep with his mother, and Oedipus thinks he has managed to refrain from doing so. Later in this scene the messenger reveals information to Oedipus that contradicts everything that he had long believed. "Then you must realize that your fear is groundless. Because Polybus was no relative of yours" (Sophocles 23). The messenger proceeds in telling Oedipus about his childhood - that he gave Oedipus to Polybus as a gift after receiving him from another shepherd in the hills of Cithaeron. Because Oedipus wanted more information