Freud got Oedipus wrong
The myth is not about inc*st and repressed desire
Its much deeper — the story reveals a heartbreaking flaw of human nature
This one flaw haunted Aristotle, and shaped 3,000 years of Western thought on the soul…🧵
As a recap, Oedipus’ story begins with a prophecy:
King Laius of Thebes is told his son will murder him and marry Laius’ wife (the child’s mother)
To escape fate, he abandons Oedipus to a shepherd, who delivers Oedipus to Corinth
Later on, a full grown Oedipus is told the same prophecy:
“You’ll murder your father and marry your mother”
He flees Corinth, fearing King Polybus is his father
Ironically, running from his destiny only delivers him to fate
Oedipus later kills a man in self-defense at a crossroads
He then visits Thebes and conquers the legendary Sphinx, which had plagued the city
As reward, he’s made King of Thebes, since their own king mysteriously died…
Nonetheless, Oedipus rules nobly for 20 years
Unfortunately, in the present a new plague overruns Thebes
The city is cursed with famine and death
Oedipus consults an oracle, who says the plague will end on one condition:
If the murderer of former king Laius is brought to justice
Oedipus swears to find the killer
Ironically, HE is the killer, but no one else knows it
Filled with pride as a virtuous king, Oedipus seeks to find the killer
But the further he searches, the more he despairs
Oedipus’ advisors beg him to call off the search, but Oedipus refuses:
He has too much pride to quit
He finds a shepherd who claims to have witness Laius’ death
The news he shares horrifies Oedipus
The shepherd perfectly recounts the same events where Oedipus killed Laius
He realizes in horror that he’s the murderer
Perhaps even worse, he realizes he married his mother, Jocasta
She realizes too, but her fate is… not good
In despair, Jocasta hangs herself
Oedipus finds her corpse, wails, and grabs her hairpins
He gouges out his own eyes and promises to serve justice to the killer:
He banishes himself from city, left to live in shame as a blinded beggar
Why did Aristotle call this the greatest tragedy ever written?
It has to deal with an Ancient Greek concept — harmatia — which translates to fatal flaw
Oedipus’ harmatia was hubris, and it points to a brutal truth of human nature
Oedipus sought to be Thebes’ savior
Scholars call him “godlike” in that he is both cause and solution to the plague:
Much like how the greek gods themselves both caused and solved plagues
But Oedipus is not a God, so his “salvation,” is also self-destruction
Oedipus’ search for Truth is honorable, but creates his downfall
This is why his tragedy is so great:
He did nothing wrong. His downfall points to the weakness of human nature:
Man is finite and flawed, and tragedy lies at the heart his existence...
The play itself glumly concludes:
“Let no man be happy until he is dead”
While it’s understandable what makes this play a great tragedy, what makes it “good”?
What moral lesson does it teach?
Paradoxically, man’s meditation on his limits is curative
In suffering there is wisdom, and Oedipus has the ultimate redemption arc:
As a blind beggar, he becomes a prophetic, wise sage
It’s ironic - only in blind humility does he grasp heavenly truth
Oedipus dies of old age in peace, as a respected prophet
Better yet, his grave spot is consecrated and blessed by the gods:
He guided the souls of Ancient Greece to virtue thereafter
The play then, stresses the Socratic notion of “know thyself”
Oedipus as a proud and great king was blind, unaware of his own faults
Oedipus as a blind and humble beggar became great-souled
Humility showed him heavenly Truth and gave him identity
To understand human nature is to know we’re finite and flawed
Tragedy is tied to existence, and suffering is guaranteed
But to bare it with patience, like Oedipus, is to earn favor with Providence
Seek first humility, and you can bare any storm
So Oedipus is both a great tragedy, and a great redemption
The tragedy is this is a fallen world — you can be destroyed without fault
But the beauty is, suffering cannot conquer the human spirit
Oedipus carries his pain, perseveres, and becomes a heavenly sage
The moral is humility conquers suffering
Pain pushes you to seek heavenly truth, like Oedipus
And such a curse lets a soul bear any burden...
A life lived for Truth is never a life lived in vain
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