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The Law or: The affliction (Das Gesetz oder: Die Heimsuchung)
Hans-Joachim Behrendt
Affiliation: Criminal Law Department, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany
Keywords: The Law of laws, Oedipus-Myth, Sophokles, Mother-Son-Incest, Psychoanalysis; Das Gesetz der Gesetze, Oedipus-Mythos, Sophokles, Mutter-Sohn-Inzest, Psychoanalyse
Categories: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law
DOI: 10.17160/josha.4.2.291
Languages: German
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.