The Law or: The affliction (Das Gesetz oder: Die Heimsuchung)

The article follows the life story of Oedipus as it is told by Sophocles in “King Oedipus”. The drama shows, that Oedipus´ fate is nearly inescapably determined by marks, that early traumatic incest with his mother has left on his character. Thus the Sophoclean play as a whole is the continuous description of a merciless duel between Oedipus and his mother, who either appears in a preoedipal form as the Sphinx or as an oedipal figure. The method of interpretation here applied apparently is based on psychoanalysis. The article supports the opinion, that modern psychological- psychiatric understanding of the parent – child – incest is hardly ahead of the view taken by Sophocles in ancient times. [Article in German] Picture by Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany.