Parricide In Oedipus The King

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Explores how "turning a blind eye" operates in the drama of Oedipus and how it can be recognized in clinical work. The story of the play is recounted, and P. Vellacott's (1971) study of Sophocles and Oedipus is used to suggest that both the play and the Oedipus complex need to be understood at 2 levels simultaneously. In the classical view, Oedipus is a victim of fate and bravery. Freud likened this to the course of an analysis where the unconscious is gradually revealed to the patient. It is contended that, at the same time, Sophocles wanted the reader to understand that the chief characters in the play must have been aware of Oedipus' identity, realized that he had committed parricide and incest, and may have, for their own reasons, turned

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