Rex And Antigone And Oedipus

Oedipus Rex, an ancient Greek tragedy authored by the playwright Sophocles, includes many types of psychological phenomena. Most prominently, the myth is the source of the well-known term Oedipal complex, coined by psychologist Sigmund Freud in the late 1800s. In psychology, “complex” refers to a developmental stage. In this case the stage involves the desire of males, usually ages three to five, to sexually or romantically posses their mother, and the consequential resentment of their fathers. In the play, a prince named Oedipus tries to escape a prophecy that says he will kill his father and marry his mother, and coincidentally saves the Thebes from a monster known as the Sphinx. Having unknowingly killed his true father Laius during his

Throughout the years, there have been many interpretations of Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus. However, one of the most interesting interpretations of the play would have to be one that uses the theories of Sigmund Freud to analyze the actions of the characters. The use of various aspects of Freudian theory such as the id, ego, superego, and the Oedipus Complex reveals Oedipus and his behaviors throughout the course of the play.

Freud primarily subscribed to the idea that there are two energies that drive human behavior. These two energies are sex – the pleasure principle and aggression. The human mind is comprised of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious. Within the realms of the mind, the human personality is controlled by the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is driven by the pleasure principle. The superego is the instinctual moral good, which aims to please the ego ideal, or the magnified moral values. The ego interacts with both the id and the superego and aims to please both components (Connors).

The unconscious contains the instincts, those driving force for all human behavior. In Freud’s later writing he revised the conscious- unconscious distinction and came up with the id, ego and superego. The id is the unconscious, the least accessible part of the personality. The id includes the sex and aggressive instincts. Freud wrote, “We call it…a cauldron full of seething excitations. [The id] knows no judgments of value, no good and evil, no morality” (Freud, 1933, p 74). The id seeks immediate satisfaction without regard for the circumstances of reality. The id operates under the pleasure-seeking principal. For example, a newborn’s mind consists only of the id, which is responsible for the satisfaction of physical desires. The id, represents a human being’s most primitive desires, and a person ruled only by the id would do everything strictly for his or her own pleasure, breaking societal norms in the process and risking punishment. (SparkNotes, 2007)

Freud strategized that the personality was composed of three elements; the id, ego, and superego. The id is the component of personality that is present from birth, and is exclusively unconscious. “According to Freud, the id is the source of all psychic energy, making it the primary component of personality” (Cherry,1). On the other hand, the ego is the element of the personality that is responsible with reality. “According to Freud, the ego develops from the id and ensures that the impulses of the id can be expressed in a manner acceptable in the real world” (Cherry, 1). It

Daniel Nierenberg Comparative Essay 11-20-01 "Oedipus Rex" & "Antigone" It is only natural that an author use similar vessels of literature, such as figurative language, literary devices, and elements in his/her work. It is even more apparent between works that are connected by character, time, and theme. Sophocles did this when he wrote "Oedipus Rex" and "Antigone". When comparing the two pieces, it becomes evident that very similar vessels connected these very different plays.

One major portion of Sigmund Freud’s perspective on psychology involves the personality structure of the id, ego, and

Freud attempted to explain how the unconscious functions by dividing it into three structures, the id, ego, and superego. The id holds our primitive instincts that demand immediate gratification, because it operates on the pleasure principle (McLeod, 2010). Similarly, the ego also seeks pleasure. However, instead of seeking immediate gratification, the ego acts realistically in order to avoid potentially negative consequences that may arise. On the other hand, our superego represents our conscious. It encompasses the morals and values we learn by society and our parents as we go through the stages of

In chapter two, it is discussed that "Freud believed that lingering conflicts rooted in childhood experiences cause most personality disturbances." (Weiten 34-37) It goes on to say these battles happen in the unconscious mind and that most people are unaware that this is all going on in their minds. From this comes the anxiety that comes tumbling to the forefront. Per Freud, the anxiety is the ego worrying about the id becoming uncontrollable and doing terrible things. We must remember what the ego and the id represent. Now, the id, according to Freud, is the part of you that works based on what he referred to as the "pleasure principle" which means you sleep because your body craves and needs it, you have intimate relations with your boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife because your body craves the intensely good feelings it brings.

Freud’s structural and topographical model of personality, revolves around the id, ego and superego (McLeod, 2008). As a newborn, I was born with my id which allowed me to get my basic needs met. As an infant, I would cry if I was hungry or tired or just wanted to be held, I did not think of anyone else. The second part of my personality started around when I was three years old, and according to Freud this is when I began to develop my ego. An example of this would be if I was hungry I would want to satisfy my id, but at the

In Sophocles’ 5th century Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, Oedipus Rex infamously murders his father and weds his mother in a bout of dramatic irony. This engenders the predicament of whether these crimes are justifiable or not. Those who are procrustean in regards to Oedipus’ crimes may insularly claim that they cannot be rationalized. However, further acknowledgement of this quandary brings forth the idea that Oedipus’ crimes of patricide and incest are clearly justified by how his lack of phronesis is inherited, his unawareness influences his actions, and his fate is ultimately under the gods’ control.

Freud’s structural model illustrates that within every individual there is tripartite structure consisting of the Id, Ego and Super Ego.

“You are your own enemy” (Guthrie, Oedipus Rex, 22:43). In the film adaptation of Sophocles’ “Oedipus Rex” (1957), Sir Tyrone Guthrie portrays the characters as truth seekers that are ignorant when trying to find King Laius’ murderer. On the other hand, Sigmund Freud’s hypothesis of Sophocles’ work introduces us to “The Oedipus Complex” (1899) which states that as we’re young we grow infatuated with our opposite sex parent and feel resentment towards our same-sex parent. These two pieces have adapted mirror like meanings of Sophocles’ tragic play. Sir Tyrone Guthrie and Sigmund Freud explore this through the use of ethos, irony, social distance, and the visualization of state of mind in order to show the manifestation Oedipus undergoes

The three Ancient Greek dramas: Oedipus Rex, Antigone, and Medea, were written by Sophocles and Euripides; these three plays all have significant motifs which include: determination, suffering, and suicide. The presence of these motifs set the tone that the writer wants the readers to feel throughout the plays.

The answer to the question of whether personal desires affect people’s actions more than the influence of others may seem like a one sided answer. However, upon closer inspection, it is acceptable to say that although some would argue that people’s own desires dictate their actions, the influences of others play a more prominent role in how an individual acts. The Greek tragedies “Medea” and “Oedipus Rex” are both stories that explore this controversial topic. “Oedipus Rex” follows the story of a king named Oedipus. His land is plagued, and the only way to get rid of this plague is to exile the one who killed the previous ruler of Thebes. Oedipus begins his search, along the way communicating with people that help him learn