Transcript Oedipus and family

Oedipus and family – myths
about Thebes
Hesiod, Works and Days (Anthology
166)
• “The divine race of Heroes, also called
demigods, the race before the present one.
They all died fighting in the great wars, some
at seven-gated Thebes, Cadmos’ land, in the
struggle for Oidipous’ cattle, and some,
crossing the water in ships, died at Troy, for
the sake of beautiful Helen.”
Map of Boeotia and Attica (territory of Athens)
Oedipus and the Sphinx of Thebes, Athenian red figure kylix, c. 470 BC, from
the so-called Oedipus Painter
Oedipus (Greek spelling is Oidipous)
• Oracle concerning birth of son who would kill his
father given to Laios, king of Thebes
• Exposure of son on Mt Kithairon, piercing of
ankles (Oidipous from oideô [“to swell”] and pous
[“foot”]) – what’s up with that?
• Adoption by shepherd and Corinthian king and
queen
• Oedipus grows up, receives oracle he will kill
father and marry mother, leaves Corinth.
• Killing of Laios on road from Delphi when Laios
refuses to give way
Oedipus and the Sphinx
• Arrival in Thebes, problem of the Sphinx (from Gr.
sphingo “to choke, throttle”) and her riddle.
Sphinx as mixed-type monster
• Solution of riddle “What is four-footed and twofooted and three-footed though it has but one
voice?”
• Self-destruction of Sphinx on receiving correct
answer
• Motif of riddle contest in Greek culture and selfdestruction of loser, phenomenon of the “neck
riddle”
Riddle of the Sphinx and Monty
Python’s Holy Grail
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2R3FvS4
xr4
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpx6Xna
nkZ8
What is the Oedipus myth about?
• It’s about growing up and replacing your father in
the world? (cf. Freud’s Oedipus complex)
• It’s about tyranny?
• It’s about autochthony [lit. “coming from the
earth itself”], extreme endogamy [lit. “marrying
within the group”] vs exogamy [lit. “marrying
outside the group”]?
• It’s about fate?
• It’s about self-knowledge?
The Oedipus complex according to Sigmund Freud
• the childhood desire to sleep with the mother and to kill
the father
• A formative stage in each individual’s psychosexual
development, a universal condition
• Quickly repressed if all goes well, otherwise may be
playing out various displaced and abnormal ways
• Present in dreams and creative arts even in sane people
Theme of endogamy and lameness: a parallel for the Oedipus myth? Herodotus, Histories 5.92:
Labda and Cypselus of Corinth
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The government at Corinth was once an oligarchy - a single clan, called the Bacchiadae, who intermarried only among themselves, held the
management of affairs. Now it happened that Amphion, one of these, had a daughter, named Labda, who was lame, and whom therefore none
of the Bacchiadae would consent to marry; so she was taken to wife by Aetion, son of Echecrates, a man of the township of Petra, who was,
however, by descent of the race of the Lapithae, and of the house of Caeneus. Aetion, as he had no child, either by this wife or by any other,
went to Delphi to consult the oracle concerning the matter. Scarcely had he entered the temple when the Pythoness saluted him in these
words No one honours thee now, Aetion, worthy of honour Labda shall soon be a mother - her offspring a rock, that will one day
Fall on the kingly race, and right the city of Corinth.
By some chance this address of the oracle to Aetion came to the ears of the Bacchiadae, who till then had been unable to perceive the
meaning of another earlier prophecy which likewise bore upon Corinth, and pointed to the same event as Aetion's prediction. It was the
following:When mid the rocks an eagle shall bear a carnivorous lion,
Mighty and fierce, he shall loosen the limbs of many beneath them Brood ye well upon this, all ye Corinthian people,
Ye who dwell by fair Peirene, and beetling Corinth.
The Bacchiadae had possessed this oracle for some time; but they were quite at a loss to know what it meant until they heard the response
given to Aetion; then however they at once perceived its meaning, since the two agreed so well together. Nevertheless, though the bearing of
the first prophecy was now clear to them, they remained quiet, being minded to put to death the child which Aetion was expecting. As soon,
therefore, as his wife was delivered, they sent ten of their number to the township where Aetion lived, with orders to make away with the
baby. So the men came to Petra, and went into Aetion's house, and there asked if they might see the child; and Labda, who knew nothing of
their purpose, but thought their inquiries arose from a kindly feeling towards her husband, brought the child, and laid him in the arms of one of
them. Now they had agreed by the way that whoever first got hold of the child should dash it against the ground. It happened, however, by a
providential chance, that the babe, just as Labda put him into the man's arms, smiled in his face. The man saw the smile, and was touched with
pity, so that he could not kill it; he therefore passed it on to his next neighbour, who gave it to a third; and so it went through all the ten
without any one choosing to be the murderer. The mother received her child back; and the men went out of the house, and stood near the
door, and there blamed and reproached one another; chiefly however accusing the man who had first had the child in his arms, because he
had not done as had been agreed upon. At last, after much time had been thus spent, they resolved to go into the house again and all take part
in the murder. But it was fated that evil should come upon Corinth from the progeny of Aetion; and so it chanced that Labda, as she stood near
the door, heard all that the men said to one another, and fearful of their changing their mind, and returning to destroy her baby, she carried
him off and hid him in what seemed to her the most unlikely place to be suspected, viz., a ‘kypselos' or grain-bin.
Sophocles’ (Athenian playwright, 5th c.) tragedy,
Oedipus the King (Oidipous Tyrannos, Oedipus Rex)
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The most famous telling
Might be the first occurrence of O’s self-blinding
The version that influenced Freud
Compare Sophocles’ later play, Oedipus at Colonus
Subsequent fate of Oedipus
• Oedipus acclaimed as savior of Thebes,
granted kingship and wife of Laios, Iocaste.
• Children Polyneices and Eteocles, Antigone
and Ismene
• Plague afflicts the city, Teiresias the seer
determines Oedipus is the source of pollution
• Oedipus inquires into his past, determines his
real parents were Laios and Iocaste
• Self-blinding and expulsion from the city
The “Mystery” and Oedipus’
detective work
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Teiresias:
“ I tell you: the man whom you have been seeking this long
while, uttering threats and proclaiming a search into the
murder of Laius, is here, ostensibly an alien sojourner, but
soon to be found a native of Thebes; nor will he enjoy his
fortune. A blind man, though now he sees, a beggar,
though now rich, he will make his way to a foreign land,
feeling the ground before him with his staff. And he will be
discovered to be at once brother and father of the children
with whom he consorts; son and husband of the woman
who bore him; heir to his father's bed, shedder of his
father's blood.”
Theme of blindness
Teiresias to Oedipus:
And I tell you, since you have taunted my blindness,
that though you have sight, you do not see what a
state of misery you are in, or where you dwell, or
with whom. Do you know who your parents are?
You have been an unwitting enemy to your own kin,
both in the Underworld and on the earth above,
and the double lash of your mother's and your
father's curse will one day drive you from this land
in dreadful haste, with darkness upon those eyes of
yours which now can see.
Iocasta: Hear me, I implore you: do not do this [inquire
into his birth].
Oedipus: I will not hear of not discovering the whole
truth.
Iocasta: Yet I wish you well--I counsel you for the best.
Oedipus: These best counsels, then, vex my patience.
Iocasta: Oh ill-fated man, may you never know who you
are!
Oedipus: Go, some one, fetch me the herdsman. Leave
this woman to glory in her princely stock.
Iocasta: Alas, alas, miserable man--that word alone can I
say to you--and no other word ever again
As Oedipus enters, blinded:
Chorus: "I dare not see, I am hiding my eyes, I
cannot bear what most I long to see … Too
terrible for eyes to see…”
The chorus then asks Oedipus why he blinded
himself instead of killing himself
Oedipus’ reasons for blinding himself
Oedipus:
If I had sight, I know not with what eyes I could even have
looked on my father, when I came to the house of Hades,
or on my miserable mother… But do you think that the
sight of children, born as mine were, was lovely for me to
look upon? No, no, never lovely to my eyes! No, neither
was this town with its towering walls, nor the sacred
statues of the gods .… After bearing such a stain upon
myself, was I to look with steady eyes on this folk? No
indeed: were there a way to choke the source of hearing,
I would not have hesitated to make a fast prison of this
wretched frame, so that I should have known neither
sight nor sound.
Map of Boeotia and Attica (territory of Athens)
Oedipus at Colonus
• Oedipus comes to the sacred grove of the Semnai Theai (“the
revered goddess”, identified with the Eumenides (chthonic
goddesses of fertility and vengeance) at Colonus, near Athens.
• Theseus allows him to stay despite his pollution
• Oedipus curses sons Polyneices and Eteocles for their refusal to
help him
• Both Creon (temporary Theban ruler) and Polyneices attempt to get
Oedipus back (only the one that possesses Oedipus will win)
without allowing him to enter Thebes
• Oedipus reveals to Theseus that he will help him after death to
repel attacks from Thebes
• Oedipus walks into grove with Theseus as sole witness and is
swallowed up by the earth
• Theseus and Athens as guardians of hero cult of Oedipus at Colonus
Oedipus and his sons.
[This and following quotations all from Sophocles’ play, Oedipus
at Colonus]
Oedipus:
Then may the gods not quench their fated strife, and
may it fall to me to decide this war on which they are
now setting their hands, raising spear against spear!
For then neither would he who now holds the scepter
and the throne survive, nor would the exile ever return;
seeing that when I, their father, was being thrust
without honor from my country, they did not stop or
defend me. No, they saw me sent forth homeless, and
heard the crier proclaim my sentence of exile.”
Theseus
Theseus:
And in all compassion I ask you, ill-fated Oedipus, with what
petition to the city and to me have you taken your place
here, you and the poor maiden at your side? Declare it. Dire
indeed must be the fortune which you tell, for me to stand
aloof from it; since I know that I myself also was reared in
exile, just as you, and that in foreign lands I wrestled with
perils to my life, like no other man. Never, then, would I
turn aside from a stranger, such as you are now, or refuse to
help in his deliverance. For I know well that I am a man, and
that my portion of tomorrow is no greater than yours.
A gift for Athens: possession of body
of Oedipus and hero cult
Oedipus:
I come to offer you my care-worn body as a gift—not one fine
to look on, but the gains from it are better than beauty.
Theseus:
And what gain do you claim to have brought?
Oedipus:
Later you may learn it—but not yet.
Theseus:
At what time, then, will the benefit become clear?
Oedipus:
When I am dead, and you have given me burial
Oedipus’ prophecy to Theseus
Dearest son of Aegeus, to the gods alone old age and death
never come, but everything else sinks into chaos from time
which overpowers all. Earth's strength decays, and so too the
strength of the body; trust dies; distrust is born; and the same
spirit is never steadfast among friends, or between city and city.
For some now, for others tomorrow, sweet feelings turn to bitter,
and then once more to being dear. And if now the sun shines
brightly between Thebes and you, yet time in his course gives
birth to days and nights untold, in which from a small cause they
will scatter with the spear today's pledges of concord. Then one
day my slumbering and buried corpse, cold in death, will drink
their warm blood, if Zeus is still Zeus, and Phoebus [Apollo],
the son of Zeus, speaks clear.
How Oedipus will die
Oedipus (speaking to Theseus):
Immediately, with no hand to guide me, I will lead to the place where I
must die. But as to that place, never reveal it to another man, neither
where it is hidden, nor in what region it lies, so that it may be an
eternal defense for you, better than many shields, better than the
spear of neighbors which brings relief. But as for mysteries which
speech may not profane, you will learn them yourself when you
come to that place alone, since I cannot declare them either to any of
these people, or even to my own children, though I love them.
Reserve them always to yourself, and when you reach the end of life,
reveal them to your eldest son alone, and let him reveal them to his
successor in turn forever. In this way you will keep this city unscathed
by the men born of the Dragon's teeth [i.e. the Thebans].
The messenger’s report
Messenger:
But when we had gone off, very soon we looked back and saw
that Oedipus was nowhere any more and our lord [Theseus] was
alone, holding his hand in front of his face to screen his eyes, as
if he had seen some terrifying sight, one that no one could
endure to behold. And then after a short time, we saw him
adore together the earth and Olympus of the gods in the same
prayer. But by what fate Oedipus perished, no man can tell,
except Theseus alone. It was no fiery thunderbolt of the god
that removed him, nor any rising of whirlwind from the sea; it
was either an escort from the gods, or else the dark world of
the dead kindly split open to receive him.
Seven Against Thebes
• Curse of Oedipus begins to take effect
• Rivalry of Polyneices and Eteocles, exile of Polyneices.
Agreement to take turns in ruling broken when
Polyneices is not allowed to return.
• Support of Adrastos of Argos for Polyneices, formation
of force of seven warriors, “Seven against Thebes”
• Problem of participation of the seer Amphiaraos
• Incident at Nemea: death of child Opheltes by
snakebite, Amphiaraos institutes hero cult for him as
Archemoros (“Beginner of Doom”) and Nemean Games
Seven against Thebes: Eteocles & Polyneices, Athena, Zeus,
Tydeus. Relief from Temple A at Pyrgi, Etruscan, ca. 470 BC
Mutual destruction of Polyneices and Eteocles
Battle at Thebes, Antigone
• Seven Argive heroes battle seven Theban heroes at
seven gates of Thebes
• Final duel of Polyneices and Eteocles
• Defeat of Argive attack (the Seven)
• Amphiaraus out of spite gives head of one the Thebans
to Tydeus (one of the Seven but hated by Amphiaraus),
who opens it and drinks the brains. Denial of glory to
Tydeus by Athena because of this.
• Flight of Amphiaraus, swallowing of chariot by the
earth, subsequent immortalization (god? hero?).
Future site of oracle at Oropus in Boeotia.
Map of Boeotia and Attica (territory of Athens)
Ex voto by grateful patient showing the god/hero
Amphiaraus healing his arm.
What difference does it make? The Roman dispute in the 1st c. BCE
over the tax exempt status of Amphiaraus’ temple and town of Oropus
• Sulla… declared as follows: “For the purpose of fulfilling a vow I
grant to the Temple of Amphiaraus a tract of land 1,000 feet in
length and width, that this land may also be inviolate.”
Likewise he consecrated to the god Amphiaraus all the revenues of
the city, the territory, and the harbors of the Oropus for the games
and sacrifices which the people of Oropus celebrate for the god
Amphiaraus, as well as for those which hereafter they will celebrate
for the victory and supremacy of the Roman people”
• “Then will Amphiaraus and Trophonius count as gods? Taxcollectors in Boetia, when confronted with lands belonging to the
immortal gods which were exempted from tax by regulation of the
censors, used to rule that those who at one time had been human
beings did not qualify as immortals.”
- Cicero, De Natura Deorum, 3.49
Antigone
• Burial of traitor Polyneices by Antigone against
orders of Creon, now ruler of Thebes
• Version in Sophocles: Antigone buried alive in
rock tomb for her defiance, hangs herself
• Conflict of values of the city (polis) and the
family, laws of men and laws of gods?
Antigone at
her brother’s
(Polyneices’)
grave.
Athenian red
figure vase, 4th
c. BCE
From Sophocles’ Antigone
Creon: You, however, tell me--not at length, but briefly--did
you know that an edict had forbidden this?
Antigone: I knew it. How could I not? It was public.
Creon: And even so you dared overstep that law?
Antigone; Yes, since it was not Zeus that published that edict,
and since not of that kind are the laws which Justice who
dwells with the gods below established among men. Nor did I
think that your decrees were of such force, that a mortal
could override the unwritten and unfailing statutes [laws]
given us by the gods. For their life is not of today or yesterday,
but for all time, and no man knows when they were first put
forth.
Aftermath: second, successful assault on Thebes
by the descendants (epigonoi) of the Seven