Oedipus Rex (upgrade)

Music:
The music I chose was by Arnold Schoenberg, who was an expressionist influenced by Freud's psychoanalysis. One of his musical composition is called the Erwartung Opus 17, which was influenced by Freud's psychoanalytic studies. It is actually quite disturbing and creepy, however it connects to Oedipus Rex because of the tragedy that occurs to Oedipus as he fulfilled the oracle's prophecy unknowingly. In addition, since Freud's theory of psychosexual development (and other theories are still well-known today) includes the phallic stage (age 3-5) in which he named the 'Oedipus' complex after the tragic Greek play 'Oedipus Rex' by Sophocles. Therefore, the music is also indirectly related to 'Oedipus Rex' as well. Another song called "Pierrot Lunaire" is also quite interesting to listen to, in a psychotic way.

Music Video: Here's a website that will show the video for an excerpt of his Erwartung Op. 17.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=iYHHXY2lhe4
The video shows an monodrama concerning the story of a hysterical and mentally ill woman running around the forest at night in search of her lover. In the final act, she found the body of her dead lover and angrily suspected that he has been cheating on her with another woman. Then she spent the rest of the play mourning for him.

Arnold Schoenberg (link): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schoenberg

Contemporary topics:
'The Self-fulfilling Prophecy': In the play, Oedipus Rex, Oedipus fulfilled the oracle's prophecy, in which he will kill his father and marry his mother. So what the prophecy shows actually came true for him, and lead to his tragedy. Now, in the modern day, we still have this 'self-fulfilling prophecy' which mainly occurs in the minorities or lower classes in the United States. Many children and teenagers of the minority groups believe that they are nothing and that it would be impossible to actually rise out of their lower status or improve their socioeconomic status, due to their environment, teachings from their parents or authority figures (teachers, police, etc.), and therefore give up their dreams before they even try to do their best and accomplish their goals. This is why many minority students are doing badly in class, doing crimes, and are not even thinking of attending college or having a degree. Therefore, to improve these children or teen's confidence in themselves and encourage them to rise higher, we need cooperation from authority figures, teachers, and guardians to guide them out of this negative thinking (that they are stupid and unable to go to college), praise them, and tell them that they are important and special, and that they can be anything they want to be.

Fatalism:
This philosophy shows that fate is inevitable and that free will does not exist. This is also a theme in Oedipus Rex, in which Oedipus' fate has already been pre-determined or decided before he has fulfilled his prophecy. This philosophy is still practiced today when we all think about our lives from an objective point of view. We know that in the end there is only death for us, and some of us think that our fate as seen in the 'self-fulfilling prophecy' is already determined and nothing we do can change it. In addition, even though Oedipus has tried to change his fate, his actions committed by himself actually lead to the same fate in the prophecy in the end.

Fatalism generally refers to several of the following ideas:

1. That free will does not exist, meaning therefore that history has progressed in the only manner possible.
2. That actions are free, but nevertheless work toward an inevitable end.
3. That acceptance is appropriate, rather than resistance against inevitability.

Fatalism (Link): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatalism
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Oedipus Rex



Oedipus the King (mythology)
Oedipus was named after his “swollen and mangled” feet that his real parents Laius and Jocasta (king and queen of Thebes) had inflicted on him, before giving him to their servant to kill/abandon him by the mountainside. Since the servant did not have the heart to kill the baby, he gave Oedipus to a shepherd, who gave him to the childless king and queen of Corinth. Later on as a young man, he heard a rumor that he was a “bastard” (non-biological son), so he went to ask the Oracles about the truth. However the Oracles told him that he will slay his father and marry his mother. To avoid this, he left Corinth and went to Thebes to escape or change his fate. As he was journeying to Thebes, he met a man on the crossroad who’s wagon was blocking the way, they both argued and fought about who gets the “right of way,” which resulted in Oedipus killing the older man. Later on the road, he met a sphinx (that is terrorizing Thebes) that asked him a riddle. The riddle: what goes on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening? He answered the correct answer: “men”, so the sphinx killed itself. He was then named a “hero” and became the ruler of Thebes (Laius died) and married Jocasta.The reality of the tragedy occurred a few years after he became king and had children with the queen The country of Thebes was savaged with the plague and bad crops sent by the gods who were angry about of Laius’s death or murder. Oedipus sent Creon (Jocasta’s brother) to the Oracle of Apollo to find a solution to the plague. His brother came back and told him that they need to find Laius’s murderer and banish him from Thebes.
Finding no answers to the murder, the Chorus (counsel of elders) suggested that he consulted with the blind prophet, Teiresias. He asked him to help him find the murderer, however Teiresias refused to tell him who the murderer was and asked him to leave. However, since Oedipus accused him of being involved in the murder since he was keeping silent, which goaded Teiresias to tell him the truth, that Oedipus himself was the murderer of Laius. He was the one who brought ruin to Thebes. Oedipus did not believe him, for Teiresias… “In ear, wit, eye, in everything art blind.” Oedipus then wanted Teiresias to prove himself by his intelligence, and asked the same riddle as the sphinx. However, Teiresias was not able to answer the riddle correctly. Oedipus then left in anger and return to find Creon in the palace.
Back at his palace, Oedipus continued his investigation of Laius’ murder many years ago. Creon and Oedipus had an argument over Creon being the main culprit who wanted to overthrow him and gain the throne. Oedipus did not trust him and believed himself to be wiser than Creon. Jocasta came over to calm Oedipus down and told him what Teiresias said about him was impossible and that the prophecy was false. She told him about Laius’ prophecy, inn which, Laius would be killed by his own son, which was not true, since Laius was killed by a gang of robbers on the road. Curious about Laius, he asked about what Laius looked like and where he was killed. She told him that a serf (survivor) reported that Laius was killed by robbers on the crossroad and that he was riding on a mule cart with 4 attendants. Remembering that he killed a similar man at the same crossroad, he began to believe that Teiresias was correct, and he told her to send the servant over. Later a messenger from Corinth came and reported the death of Oedipus’s father, Polybus. Hearing this, Oedipus believed that the oracles was wrong, for his father died from old age. He then told about his fear of marrying his mother, Merope, and the prophecy he has learned of in the past and his reasons for escaping his home. Hearing this, the messenger told him that his fears are baseless, because Polybus and Merope were not his biological parents. He also told that he was given Oedipus by a herdman of KingLaius when he was a baby. The messenger said that Jocasta should know who his parents are, scared, Jocasta refused to talk about the past for his own good and left.
Later, the herdsman came to Oedipus and confessed that he was the real child of Laius and Jocasta, who wanted him dead due to a prophecy. The prophecy states that he would kill his father and marry his mother. Finding out the truth, he ran screaming inside the palace. Jocasta, knowing the truth, hung herself inside her room, where Oedipus discovered her body and used her broach to gouge his eyes out. He gouged out his eyes so he would not need to see all the ugliness in the world and did not kill himself, because he did not dare face or see his parents in the underworld. He said his goodbyes to his children of sin and left Thebes.

Themes
1) Fate: As seen in the myth, Oedipus and his parents were unable to escape or change their fate as seen in the oracles. He was destined to kill his father, Laius, and marry his mother, Jocasta. Laius and Jocasta tried to prevent the prophecy from coming true by sending a servant to kill their son by the mountainside, however the servant was unable to kill the baby and gave him to the king and queen of Corinth. Oedipus who discovered his prophecy tried to escape his fate, by leaving his country and journeyed to Thebes were he killed an older man on the road (Laius), and became the new king of Thebes and married his mother. So unknowingly, they were all unable to change their fate.
2) Pride: One of the seven sins. Oedipus’s pride has a main role in his unhappiness and mistake which lead to his fate (as seen by the oracle). His pride, which is related to his social standing and intelligence, started the wheel of fate. First, because of the rumor and a man calling him a “bastard” or non-biological son of Polybus and Merope, he went to the oracle and learned of his prophecy, which lead him to exile himself. Next, he fights with an older man on the road because he wanted the “right of way” which leaded to Laius’s death. Later, his pride made him unable to let the mystery of Laius’s murderer go, so he began to investigate deeper and ask Teiresias about Laius’s murderer. When Teiresias confessed that it was him, he did not believe it and claimed that a blind man with low intelligence does not know the truth or prophecy, but is conspiring with Creon to take over his throne. So his pride caused his prophecy to come true and made him unable to see the truth.
3) Sight/Blindness: In the myth, even though Teiresias the great prophet was blind, he knows the truth. Whereas, Oedipus a man with “seeing eyes” was unable to see the truth even though Teiresias told him that he was the murderer that he was looking for. He was the man who brings misfortune and illness to Thebes. In the end, after Oedipus learned the truth, he blinded himself to escape the ugliness of the world, and not see his dead parents and his “children of sin” (his mistakes).


Theories (Freud): Oedipus Complex
Freud’s theory of the Oedipus complex comes from the part in which Jocasta told Oedipus that a male child killing his father and marrying his mother is what all men dreams about. Oedipus complex occurs during a psychosexual stage in which a child (usually the son) has an abnormally intense love or sexual desire for their mother and regards their father as an adversary (wants to kill him).

Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oedipus_the_King
http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/oedipus/
http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/oedipus.html