The Problem of Mother’s Brother in “Oedipus”

Abstract

In this essay I wish to draw attention to the structure and conflicts in Sophocles’s Theban plays.²While each of the three plays can be considered independently and were probably written at different times, it is worthwhile examining them together. They form a continuity and a broader and more connected context, which when supplemented with relevant information about Greek history and law, reveal their structural bases in ritual and mythical tricksters. The rituals and tricksters provided the dramatist with the means for illustrating political conflicts and reversals, as well as laws of the ancient family that resulted in insolvable and unnatural dilemmas. For example the famous case of mistaken identity in the play “Oedipus Rex” resulted in patricide and incest. Furthermore, by punishing his mythical personages, Sophocles was also able to confirm traditional values.