ABSTRACT
Long considered the ‘classic’ Greek tragedy, Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus holds a special place in the history of Western theatre. In some respects the notoriety of the play helps it work on the contemporary stage, since most audiences know the outline of the story. Compare the lack of familiarity with Aeschylus’ Seven Against Thebes, or Euripides’ Ion, or Sophocles’ own Philoctetes. However, exposure to the Oedipus myth has its drawbacks as well, for much of the modern fascination with the play derives from Freud’s use of the story as the paradigm for his psychoanalytic theory of male infantile desire. There is no denying the importance of the Oedipal complex as a psychological and interpretive model, but it sheds little light on the play Sophocles wrote and, when applied to a production, leads the audience down a theatrical blind-alley.
