"Oedipus Rex" Misinterpreted

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that "Oedipus Rex" deals with more modern psychological questions, such as the existence of genetic sexual attraction between shattered families and the existence of a fate, which determines our lives. The author points out that it certainly appears Freud was more interested in creating his nascent field of psychology than in doing a close reading of the Oedipus myth. The paper relates that the idea of a biological fate, which can be fought tooth-and-nail and yet still not be overcome, is central to the psychology of Oedipus, and it is certainly something with which readers can identify today.

From the Paper:

"One could indeed make a Jungian analysis of this story, and say that Oedipus was in fact afraid of his own shadow -- which is not why he married his mother, but which may be why he fled from his old home and lashed out so violently against Tieresias and others who tried to help him. (Sophocles) Jung suggests that those who repress their shadow rather than dealing with it may find that it takes over their lives, as Oedipus was consumed by his cruel tyranny because he so feared the idea that his shadow would try to harm his parents. One might also try to argue that Jocasta was Oedipus' Anima (his female self whom he repressed and therefore lusted after and needed to be complete) but that's an entirely different essay, because it's both theoretical and more or less honest to the story. However, in other ways Oedipus shows no sign of having an Oedipal Complex, for he is neither afraid of having or using power, nor possessed of any sexual interest in the mother that raised him."

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