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##edragus Rex : The King Of Oedipus The King

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Oedipus of Sophocles and Freud ‘Oedipus the King’, by Sophocles has for years been incorrectly associated with Freud’s Oedipal complex. While at face value it might seem connected, upon closer examination it can be seen that Oedipus does not in fact have an oedipal complex. When the play is looked at through a psychoanalytical lens, many things are unveiled but a sexual desire for his mother and a will to kill his father is not a part of the lot. Sophocles highlights in his play the role of fate and destiny and how one cannot escape from their truth. Oedipus is not a prime example to present Freud’s theory; he is just a pawn in the hands of the Greek gods. ‘Oedipus Rex’ or ‘Oedipus the King’ is a play which presents the story of a man, Oedipus , who’s parents had been warned in an oracle that he would kill his father and sleep with his mother . The parents, Laius and Jocasta then pierce his ankles and send him to die atop a hill before he was three days old. However, Oedipus survives and is given to the king and queen of Corinth. When Oedipus was made aware of the Oracle he flees from Corinth to avoid fulfilling the prophecy. Ironically, in trying to escape his fate, he kills Laius and then solves the riddle of the Sphinx which enables him to marry queen Jocasta. Oedipus is of course unaware that he actualized the prophecy. When he finds out the truth of the murder of Laius and subsequently his own marriage and reproduction with his mother, he is so overcome with emotions

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