Oedipus and the Sphinx
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| Title: | Oedipus and the Sphinx |
| Genus: | Tragedy in three acts |
| Original language: | German |
| Author: | Hugo von Hofmannsthal |
| Publishing year: | 1906 |
| Premiere: | February 2, 1906 |
| Place of premiere: | Deutsches Theater , Berlin |
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Oedipus and the Sphinx is an analytical drama in three acts by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and was published in 1906. Like Elektra , Oedipus and the Sphinx are based on ancient material.
construction
In his treatment of the Oedipus material, Hofmannsthal psychologizes the plot. The protagonist's conflict of conscience is gradually brought to light through an alternation of questions and answers. The processing of dream elements contrasts the oracles of the ancient Oedipus tradition with a second, modern motivation for action: Oedipus does not act rationally and self-determined, but instinctively and unconsciously.
Work context
In Oedipus and the Sphinx , the motif of conscious interference with fate, which Hofmannsthal also addresses in his drama Elektra , is varied. Hofmannsthal's original plan to write an Oedipus trilogy was not realized. A second part entitled King Oedipus was performed in 1910.
Literary historical context
The text is one of the works of Viennese Modernism . The overwhelming demands of people to be able to subjectively deal with the rapid social, technical and scientific developments from the second half of the 19th century are the main theme of the epoch. Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis had a major influence on modern literature .
content
First elevator
Oedipus learned from the priestess in Delphi that he was destined to kill his own father. To avoid this fate, he retired to the mountains. The drama begins when Oedipus meets his servants Phoenix, Ermos and Elatos. They try to change his mind and free him from his self-imposed banishment. A conversation develops in which Oedipus, indignantly and sullenly, demands that the servants return to Corinth. They are to hand over his ring to King Polybos, along with the message that his son, Oedipus, will never return. Phoenix, the messenger's spokesman, stubbornly refuses and demands of Oedipus that he stone him because he cannot carry out the task.
second elevator
The news of the death of the Theban king Laios causes an uproar. The people gather to march to Creon, whom they want to crown the new king. Creon, the brother of the Iokaste, learns about it from a boy who is passionate about Creon's accession to the throne and who ultimately kills himself as proof of his loyalty. Meanwhile Antiope, the mother of Laios, reproaches her daughter-in-law Iokaste for her apparent sterility. She believes that Laios drew the wrath of the gods for taking a sterile woman as his wife. Antiope knows nothing of the existence of Oedipus. From Iokaste she learns the reason why Laios has set out on a journey from which he has not returned. He wanted to conquer the Sphinx , a mysterious, man-murdering creature feared by the Thebans. When Antiope doesn't stop reproaching Iokaste for her childlessness, she tells of Oedipus. His disappearance immediately after birth was officially justified by the fact that he was born dead. In fact, however, a messenger has been assigned to take him to a distant place and kill him there. However, the messenger only left him there to let fate decide his life. He was found and brought to Polybos. But Iokaste knows nothing about that. Meanwhile, in front of the palace, the people loudly demand Creon's coronation. Antiope slanders Creon and turns the people against him, claiming that Creon was to blame for Laios' death. A child brings the blind seer Teiresias. Creon, Antiope and the people urge him to free them from their misery. The seer describes a royal boy who emerges from the forest, lit by the sun. His prophecy comes true. Creon sees his coronation in danger and tries to dissuade the people from believing in a coming demigod. The people, however, do not listen to him, but take the oath from Iokaste to marry the coming ruler, provided that he succeeds in redeeming her from the Sphinx.
third elevator
Oedipus sets off with Creon to kill the Sphinx. When the Sphinx sees him, she says his name, speaks of his oracle dreams and plunges herself into the abyss. Creon is horrified by what has happened and now wants to kill Oedipus himself. When the latter steals the dagger from him, he reveals himself to be the queen's brother. Oedipus lets go of him and tells him to kill him in order to prevent the impending fulfillment of the oracle that the Sphinx reminded him of again. But now Creon no longer dares. Instead, he recognizes him as the victor and king of Thebes. When Oedipus urgently asks Creon to kill him, Creon grabs the dagger again. But a dream paralyzes his arm. Horrified, Kreon throws away the dagger. At that moment, lightning strikes the tree on the cliff and sets it on fire. Creon interprets this as a divine sign of the impending marriage of Oedipus and Iocaste. The people have interpreted the burning tree as a sign of victory and are approaching jubilantly. Iokaste wears the crown as she walks towards him. Oedipus carries Iocaste down the rock, past the Theban people who pay homage to their new king.
interpretation
The focus of the drama is the disintegration of the subject, which is brought about by a neurotic exaggeration of the self. As a result, the subject's perception of himself and his surroundings is disturbed (ego dissociation ). Friedrich Nietzsche called this process a Dionysian impulse, in which the heightening of the subjective leads to complete self-forgetfulness. The desperation with which Oedipus tries to oppose his fate disturbs his personality. Oedipus loses control both over the norms that his social environment brings to him and over his instincts and is increasingly unable to control his actions rationally. In contrast to the previous reception in literary studies, Torsten Zeiß questions Hofmannsthal's victimism, which is expressed in Oedipus and the Sphinx as well as in the poet's non-fictional writings. With reference to the literary scholar and religious philosopher René Girard , he traces how the glorification of self-sacrifice in Oedipus and the Sphinx lead to Hofmannsthal's enthusiasm for the First World War, which, like many intellectuals of his time, promises to have a "cleansing" effect.
Performances
The drama was staged in Berlin in 1906 under the direction of Max Reinhardt . It has been shown twenty-six times. However, the success remained moderate.
swell
- ↑ Cf. Werner Volke: Hofmannsthal. Ed. V. Kurt Kusenberg. Reinbek near Hamburg 1967. Hereafter cited as a people: Hofmannsthal. P. 100 f.
- ↑ Cf. Friedrich Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy. Or: Hellenism and pessimism. Stuttgart 1993
- ↑ See Volke: Hofmannsthal. P. 95
- ↑ See Torsten Zeiß: Priest and Sacrifice. Hofmannsthal's Oedipus from the perspective of René Girard's myth theory. Tectum Verlag 2011
- ↑ See ibid. P. 100 f.
literature
expenditure
- Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Oedipus and the Sphinx. In: Hugo von Hofmannsthal: Collected works. Dramas II. 1892-1905. Ed. V. Bernd Schoeller. Frankfurt am Main 1979. ISBN 3-596-22160-9
Secondary texts
- Friedrich Nietzsche: The Birth of Tragedy. Or: Hellenism and pessimism. Stuttgart 1993 ISBN 3-15-007131-3
- Werner Volke: Hofmannsthal. Ed. V. Kurt Kusenberg. Reinbek near Hamburg 1967. ISBN 3-499-50127-9 '
- Torsten Zeiß: priests and victims. Hofmannsthal's Oedipus from the perspective of René Girard's myth theory. Tectum Verlag 2011. ISBN 978-3-8288-2596-3