Who is the healer in oedipus

The transgenerational analysis of Sophocles' master- pieces will refresh our memories. Loyal to the tradition of hermeneutic teachings, his message is invisible to those who are not prepared for it, whilst it could not be more transparent to initiates. This is, moreover, one of the challenges of this transgenerational analysis of the myth: preparing readers to perceive this transgenerational reality, invisible at first glance, but which becomes obvious as we progress.

Fortunately, this work is fa- cilitated by the myth itself which leads us there as it triggers the need to discover its true meaning. Along the way, it forces our intelligence into its final entrenchments, requiring a wid- ening of the field of possibilities. He believed his parents were Polybius and Merope, but they suffered from sterility and had adopted Oedipus who was found abandoned on Mount Cithaeron, without revealing the story to him.

Under these conditions, Oedipus cannot integrate his origins, the story of his ancestor Cadmus, the founder of Thebes or that of the two lines he fa- thered, the Labdacids and the Spartans and their permanent fight for the throne. Unlike modern minds who underestimate the conse- quences of ignoring parentage and family history, Sophocles presents the worst possible scenario with incest and patri- cide.

However, and it is here that we can measure the extent of his wisdom, Sophocles also teaches us how Oedipus will absolve the family debts he has inherited and, in Colonus, be- come the hero who will guarantee prosperity, revered and glorified by his hosts. Thus, becoming aware of what subconsciously inhabited and alienated him appears to be the starting point for integration. He knows what afflicts Oedipus and Pericles and he knows what it will take to remedy it.

Without a doubt, the metamorphosis of Oedipus is at the heart of Sophocles' hidden teaching. And most significantly, he was also a priest of Ascle- pios, which implies that he had been initiated into ancient wisdom.

Little wonder that he learned the causes of transgen- erational alienation and the way to resolve them. That is why he could afford to dramatize the worst tragedies they could cause—like that of Oedipus.

Seen from this angle, his work appears as a major teaching and a great opportunity to nur- ture human intelligence. I repeat, by having Oedipus regain the grace of the gods in Colonus, Sophocles deals with those questions eluded by modernity about what to do with the descendants of transgressional families.

For Sophocles, the only possible response is a therapeutic one: we need to heal the heirs of family curses, especially when, like Pericles, they occupy the most im- portant official functions of the city. With Oedipus at Colo- nus, Sophocles offers its citizens a model to allow them to in- tegrate part of their history, that of Pericles, as well as that of the plague epidemic.

This is a very important message when considering that they would otherwise be condemned to re- live similar disasters4. For the final time, Sophocles is assum- ing the role of guiding the collective conscience that fell to poets and authors of tragic works and was so emblematic of the great Athenian era.

In the healing perspective that belongs to the traditional culture, there is no doubt that Sophocles is referring to the epidemics which devastated Athens when describing the rav- ages of the plague at the beginning of Oedipus Rex. At Colonus, Sophocles completes a journey that refers to successful initiatory trials, the purification of the soul that belongs to many spiritual traditions.

In the course of this journey, from Thebes to Colonus, Sophocles reveals his theory of transgenerational principles. He thus leaves us with a formidable therapeutic model on how Oedipus man- ages to integrate his transgenerational legacies until he is once more deserving of the good graces of the gods. From this perspective, we can appreciate that with his masterpieces on Oedipus, Sophocles provides the healing model to be applied to the unfinished stories of Pericles and Athens.

Although he could not, at the time, save Pericles and Athens, and it took him twenty years to produce this ultimate play; the problem remained an open wound and it was im- perative for him to remedy this before bowing out. As with mythology, the poet is inspired by another reality, independ- ent of any chronology.

He abandons himself to invisible paths, to this knowledge which operates in him since he had made the paths his own, but which he could hardly have ex- plained in advance and which only appear in the aftermath of the creation. A Transgenerational Analysis The transgenerational analysis of the myth that I will present in the following pages will finally provide access be- hind the scene of Sophocles' plays and entrance to the gener- ally inaccessible backstage area.

The ensuing reinterpretation of the myth radically changes all prior interpretations. It prompts us to reconsider the entire history of Oedipus in a new light.

This revelation of the invisible parts of the myth shows us how Sophocles shared with the ancients a true science of the transgenerational. He recounts the possible conse- quences of certain transgenerational alienations as well as the benefits of integration work, synonymous with healing and prosperity. This perspective explains the tragic events in Oedipus Rex every bit as much as the glorious end of the hero in Oedipus at Colonus.

The analysis of this transgenerational dimension in the work of Sophocles will be presented in several stages. In the second chapter, I will return to the consciousness of the transgenerational at the time of Sophocles. Whilst the legacy of a family curse was accepted, the issue of acquitting it was not resolved.

With this model, Sophocles explains the nature and stages of the work of integrating transgenerational legacies. In the third and fourth chapters, we will turn to the ori- gins and history of Thebes.

We will recall the events that marked the city, and which were never integrated by its in- habitants. As they did not enter history, these hidden legacies accumulated through the generations, producing ever more dramatic symptomatic effects.

In the fifth and sixth chapters we will see how, besides being alienated from his family legacy, Oedipus has also taken on the transgenerational deficiencies of all the The- bans. Those who had chosen him as their king finally con- demned him to exile.

In the seventh chapter, we will see how Oedipus man- ages to transform his destiny. With the help of Theseus, he will succeed in integrating his transgenerational legacy. This apotheosis in Colonus completes the process of trans- forming plague into prosperity. In conclusion, I will discuss some of the inherent corol- laries of this new interpretation of the myth. It challenges the way we relate to the origins and Mother Earth that charac- terizes our modern civilization.

Instead of a conflicting and alienating relationship, the perspective of an integration of the world from which we come could preserve harmony with the unwritten laws of the living, a guarantee of prosperity.

Creon also speaks a line that sounds like consolation, but given the events of the play can easily be read as dark irony: "Time is the great healer, you will see" l. The play ends with the Chorus addressing the audience directly. The final passage carries more weight not only because it is the last one spoken, but because it is the only time in the play the audience is directly addressed. Sophocles 2. Corinth 3. Swollen Foot 5.

Place where the 3 roads meet. Royal House, Thebes. What walks on four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three in the afternoon? Apollo 5. Plague Bonus: Athena Round 3: 1.

Mount Citheron 2. He is the murderer that they are searching for. Bonus: 5th century B. C Round 4: 1. Jocasta 2. Creon 3. By thieves 4. Shepherd 5. Laius was the father of Oedipus. Which Oedipus had not known. No he is dead. Oedipus killed him. Log in. Oedipus Rex. Study now. See Answer. Best Answer. Study guides. Q: Who is the healer in 'Oedipus Rex'? Write your answer Related questions.

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