Fate, Family, and Oedipus Rex: Crash Course Literature 202

In which John Green teaches you about one of the least family-friendly family dramas in the history of family dramas, Oedipus Rex. Sophocles' most famous play sees its main character, who seems like he's got it all together, find out that he's killed his father, married his mother, had a bunch of incest children, and brought a plague down on his adopted hometown. He doesn't take this news well. John touches on all the classic Oedipus themes, including hamartia, fate, and the wrath of the gods, and even gets into some Freud, although Oedipus was notably not a sufferer of an Oedipus complex. In any case get ready for mystery, incest, bird entrails, and self-inflicted blindness. Very dramatic.
Consider supporting local bookstores by purchasing your books through our Bookshop affiliate link bookshop.org/shop/complexly​ or at your local bookseller.
Crash Course is on Patreon! You can support us directly by signing up at / crashcourse
Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook - / youtubecrashcourse
Twitter - / thecrashcourse
Instagram - / thecrashcourse
CC Kids: / crashcoursekids

[@sarahmccausland7035]

Freud: It's called the Oedipus Complex, every man secretly wants to sleep with his mother Oedipus who just gouged out his own eyes and exiled himself because death was not enough of a punishment for what he had done: IT'S CALLED THE WHAT?!!!??!!

[@genegarland1]

I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE WAS KIDDING HE ACTUALLY WROTE THE FAULT IN OUR STARS

[@hellocatz7482]

+Gene Garland lol

[@Toscalily]

My GOD!! I never realised he was the same John Green. This is like my first John video, I've always been more of a Hank Green fan. I had no bloody clue and now I feel like an idiot!! Also, how did this guy write that? Why do I find it so hard to believe??

[@coltbolt6193]

lol, I've always seen the book but never the author

[@tandi1082]

he's in the film too

[@minamoon01]

wow I was listening to him thinking it would be a shame of someone so enthusiastic about literature didn't write something turns out he wrote a very successful novel I didn't read it though my cousin did she liked it I thought the author must've been a woman cause from what I've gathered it's a young adult romance novel? I don't read young adult novels, they make me wanna kill myself but that's admirable

[@thefaceofawsomeness491]

"They also wrote tragedies!" That was perfect.

[@getvasued]

Came looking all the way for this comment!

[@Talyakmai]

Eska or desna?

[@logansh7898]

I WAS GONNA SAY THE SAME THING THAT WAS HILARIOUS

[@alysaloha]

And so does John

[@sailsaturnssea]

"Father Killer, and a mother ...." This is why I love John Green.

[@a.j.4076]

Everyone said it in their brains. Had to pause the video to laugh a bit in appreciation. Btw, why Father with capital F and mother with normal m?

[@astrusofficial]

A. J. Probably because "father" was the beginning of the sentence

[@andrewrodden3725]

A. J. Btw, why Everyone with a capital F and brains with a normal b?

[@a.j.4076]

Well I guess both of you failed to see the pun. Can't have everything I guess.

[@adityasrinivasulu]

A. J. Nope, I stared at your statement for ages, but I still can't see a pun. Explain?

[@tensequel7818]

he wrote 123 plays, and we got seven of them, I feel bad for the guy who worked hard for them but 116 of them didn't survive

[@humanityyy]

how did we know that Sophocles wrote 123 plays? Was it ever cited? (genuinely asking a question here)

[@TripHazard808]

If I remember correctly, greeks almost never performed a story more than once, shows were almost always brand new under usual circumstances. And on top of that they usually weren't written down, many were expected to be forgotten once the play was done. The fact that any survived to the modern day is the crazy part.

[@the_cosmic_alexolotl2282]

"Ignorance is bliss, but bliss is boring."

[@DANGER10101]

Well you wouldn't know so still a bliss

[@stevethea5250]

@@DANGER10101 stamp

[@DaytakTV]

Does anyone else get extremely angry and sad that the great Library of Alexandria was burned?

[@gigatrooper5098]

ye

[@sharmilairom2102]

It's one of the old myths that Crash Course just repeats. Modern beliefs tend to argue that the Great Library was destroyed the same way all Libraries are destroyed over centuries of lack of government funding and neglect. A journalist did quite a good book investigating ancient sources. But it prolly wasn't one event. Nor was the library just a storage space for books it functioned also like a university or research faciility. But yes it is sad that so many texts were lost.

[@valdemarmark629]

I believe that this story tells us, that you cannot understand the consequences of actions, so if the Great Library wasn't burned, we would likely not exist. At least if a phrophecy of your birth doesn't exists:)

[@jadebabydoll23]

Yes.... yes we do

[@mcglk]

" . . . and they also wrote tragedies." As it turned out, that was well-timed; I had to wipe the water I was drinking off my monitor.

[@anaschon]

or did they write sins?

[@ciara947]

+Ana Schon I approve this reference.

[@blixxsage5775]

They talk comedic tragedy. Where one goes to do something to prevent something and ends up causing what they we're trying to fix to be worse unexpectedly. I think they must reference some kind of devine paradox.

[@redjirachi1]

And that's where we get the term "Oedipus Complex" from Oedipus: Fuck you, I didn't even know she was my mother

[@sirknight4981]

Yah I know right, that always bothered me!

[@TheSH1N1GAM1]

Wait, are you telling me that I wasn't supposed to preform a ritualistic animal sacrifice before voting?

[@sion8]

Yeah, was that not tolled to at the polls?

[@ediesongbird3163]

TheSH1N1GAM1 it’s optional

[@66Roses]

I've always found the mistake of many Greek heroes to be the instinct to run from their fate, rather than confront it. Had Oedipus presented the prophecy and his concerns about it to the king and queen of Corinth, he would have learned the truth of his heritage and might not have ever traveled to Thebes.

[@yoyoeldas]

66 Roses But then many of these Greek heroes' parents try to kill their children to escape from "their" fate. Guess Oedipus just got terrified reading these stories on the news xd

[@zonule_]

that doesn't work. Laios and Jocasta had already tried to thwart the prophecy by trying to kill eddie. so they were due their retribution before he ever made the choice to leave corinth

[@blixxsage5775]

He could have prevented that fate from happening by doing a few things. He was a fool though and decided to kill and marry without thinking.I could have decided. No I will not do this. And then live his life as a hermit or something "

[@FreeSkillsStyle]

What would have been the point of the story? ahahaah

[@spritualelitist665]

The whole point of the story is: There is no escaping fate.....:/

[@DSFARGEG00]

Oedipus Rex, the worst dinosaur.

[@KCMMFB]

Father killer and mother-- *john stops talking* hahahaha

[@childintime6453]

Miguel Fernando Bilan Some guy also says a line like that at the end of the the tragedy if I remember correctly

[@Kolly_er]

Thank you for saying that Oedipus does NOT have an Oedipal complex because I got confused with one of my literature questions. It was asking me how does the Oedipal complex apply to the story and I, having read and fully understood the story, was really confused because as you said, he never *wanted* to kill his father in the first place.

[@AnnaWoods]

I keep getting distracted by that yellow book with red writing next to John cause it looks like a toblerone package

[@thethomass2770]

same! lol

[@victoriamonroe3888]

Same!!!

[@skillerbg]

I got distracked by Titus

[@dinab1957]

the yellow one is "KILLING THE FAITH"

[@allyabernathy4098]

this comment is so old, but it’s the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay by michael chabon!!!! best book ever!!

[@nicolep168]

john: Aristotle me: oh a respected philosopher john: whom i DESPISE me: ew aristotle, icky

[@hackneyedstudios4699]

yeah, kinda tainted by the fact that he was a huge misogynist and racist. Different times though ig

[@nicolep168]

@@hackneyedstudios4699 apperently he supported slavery. Yikes

[@sharmilairom2102]

@@nicolep168 You do know he lived 2.5k years ago. No ancient writer questions the use of slaves. What would you say later generations would accuse us of and be astonished that we never even questioned the practice. Hint there's always something.

[@nicolep168]

@@sharmilairom2102 that's a good point

[@shivimohan]

@@sharmilairom2102 the entire point of being a philosopher is that you're supposed to think hard about stuff and question it. if this "great" philosopher spent all his time thinking so much and came to the conclusion that some people are simply meant to be slaves then he was a fuckwad, even for those times

[@aperson22222]

No Kardashians in Star Wars, but there are Cardassians in Star Trek.

[@derekjohnson2465]

My first thought exactly

[@myralianna5388]

I loved The Theban Plays. It was tragically beautiful. My favorite quote is from when he gouges his eyes out. “Til bloody tests ran down his beard- not drops But in full spate a whole cascade descending In drenching cataracts of scarlet rain”. I got chills when I read that.

[@Doomroar]

We need crash curse philosophy to see you fighting with Aristotle.

[@EmperorTikacuti]

I agree and I want to learn who Aristotle is.

[@whiteowl1415]

DW42536387384 In short.... Student of Plato who was in turn a student of Socrates. Teacher of Alexander the Great Polymath Arguably, the root of the scientific method. While not a direct parallel, Aristotle emphasized the concept of measurable evidence and avoidance of subjective values in examining the world.

[@whiteflagstoo]

DW42536387384 Invented the syllogysm Had a lot to say on nearly every subject and, while Plato did this too, he had a general theory of knowledge, and classified the kinds of information. Mostly known for unifying the thoughts of earlier Greeks, who he thought were concerned with the nature of change, by explaining the four causes.

[@crazyolmaisie]

Ohmanohmanohman that would be the best!

[@aaronsrowe]

DW42536387384 For the most part in Philosophy you either agree with Plato or you agree with Aristotle.

[@Jenny-vw3rt]

I am German and we just read that book in school and can I just thank you for this amazing video? Though it was in English John Green made me understand the story of Ödipus better than 3 weeks of German class. He explained everything in the best way and helped me a lot. Now I just have to convince my teacher to watch this in school as a summary, thank you so much John Green!

[@Waltham1892]

There once was a man named Oedipus Rex; You may have heard about his odd complex; His name appears in Freud's index; Because he LOVED his mother...

[@mimicici13]

Hooray for Tom Lehrer!

[@Waltham1892]

I am but a midget standing on the shoulder of a giant. Sorry if you are a midget, or a giant.

[@drummerreshma]

I love the graphics for the crash course series! The animated characters are so cute!

[@strfiretiger123]

Oh I recognized the green light symbol! (Great Gatsby, I will never forget your lovely symbolism.) Also very subtle advertising of Crash Course Psychology and TFIOS, very subtle indeed.

[@Merugaf]

Did you just make a reference to a certain 20th century book, old sport?

[@MegaKoutsou]

+Pompus Ivictus I salute you sir, even though I must say comparing the Kardashians to Scott Fitzgerald is sacrilege...

[@peanutbuttercracker1]

+Pompus Ivictus I've only seen a few episodes of this series and so far he's referenced said book quite a bit.

[@mansoorzia9155]

Pompus Ivictus which book?

[@wariyoshidirector]

0:19 "Ancient playwrites really specialized in families; you have wives killing husbands, parents killing children, children killing parents, siblings killing each other- Oh, and they also wrote tragedies" Well-played, John, well-played

[@RoScFan]

i don't get the joke

[@wariyoshidirector]

The joke is that you hear all of the horrible things that go on in Greek plays, then John implies that those are some of the lighter topics

[@Redsoxking]

Love the Gatsby reference

[@josephnelson4690]

Perfect opportunity to use "mother Faulkner" wasted! I miss literary curse-word substitutions.

[@NHyt32]

"It is always better to live the truth than to live a lie."

[@AlexPope1668]

There's a reason that's in quotes. :) Here's another one, "Those who would have the truth instead of a comfortable lie have never been uncomfortable enough."

[@MrRemicas]

According to one of my professor, the play was written at a time a law about involuntary homicide was created in Athens, so the debate about fate and free will was vibrant in the city.

[@nadiact-ie5hy]

I love the RPG-style text in the Thought Bubble.

[@colourmegone]

One thing Mr Green forgot to mention is that if you weren't a male citizen and you were caught attending a play you would be tortured to death in public. Athenian society was a great historical culture. It laid the basis for many of the ideas we still pursue, but it was part of the ancient world, which wasn't just another country but a truly different world and completely alien to our modern understanding. It was the beginning of our attempts to understand the world around us but, like all human beginnings, it was steeped in ignorance and delusion.

[@jenefurrrox]

I agree, but to say it was a different world makes it sound like they operated under different moral codes. moral codes are not decided by humans, they exist outside of us. if we accept that morality supersedes human perception, and also accept that everyone has access (particularly the greeks) to the tools of logic, every culture has the capacity to come to the understanding that slavery and the oppression of women is wrong

[@reasonnottheneed]

Jennifer Kellett Why would morality supersede human perception? If we removed all the humans from the world, there would be no morality nor any use or want of it because there wouldn't be any humans to perceive of it. I think moral codes are entirely decided by humans, but not like laws that are created and struck down, but that evolve from society and from culture. We think many things the Greeks did were wrong, but we can only see from our own perspective. Perhaps one day people will look back on us, and think all lot of what we did was wrong. Certainly, if ancient Greeks saw us today, they would have much to say that we are doing wrongly.

[@fabulermo3428]

Jennifer Kellett And to build on what Leo said, let's not forget that it was the Greeks who originally developed our Western ideas of logic.

[@MrDasmaster]

Jennifer Kellett Morality is Wholly and completely a human invention!

[@colourmegone]

Jennifer Kellett Morality is a human invention. There are no absolute moral codes but we are working on improving things to allow us to live together.

[@meghancollins8106]

you should make more of these literature crash course. I think everyone would agreed they are brilliantly made and that it helps us learn more about the stories we are reading. Btw thank you for this video!!

[@Gilboron]

Would you say it's Chewbacca's HAIR-oism that was his undoing?

[@zalf1641]

Damn you Crash Course!!!! That's right, I'm reading about Oedipus at the moment.....READING!!! Damn you Crash Course!!!!

[@zalf1641]

(I'm angry because you made me read, not because of the information you gave or your awesome informative videos)

[@lavifletcher6038]

Boeiend Ookboeie wut

[@zephyrvescent]

Am enjoying the Literature Crash Course, and love your passion for the subject, John. Thank you!

[@puddingball]

THIS SERIES IS AMAZING PLEASE DONT LET IT END I LOVE IT AND YOU AND LITERATURE CAPS MAKE MY STATEMENT TRUE

[@FantashticIdeas]

I studied both Oedipus Rex AND The Odyssey and it's really great to know what John's talking about because I raise those same concerns too with the play/stories. I'm really excited about Hamlet too! :D

[@NickDePanfilis]

Gotta write my Oedipis essay tonight muaahaha perfect timing John!

[@iraismorales9016]

I honestly love the way you talk and the organization of your words and the way you add humor to your teachings thank you! :)

[@beyzagokterim8476]

Thank you John Green and his crew. You made me understand a lot about the play itself.

[@catherinejensen9265]

Your quote on the gods knowing the final football score makes me think of what Gandhi said. "Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it." I love how literature teaches us about life and human nature. Thanks for all your videos. They are awesome.

[@Vicas3]

This episode was fantastic, and I'm really happy you brought up the fact that we, the audience, already know the story. Even back in the day Oedipus was a well known myth, so the entire audience was familiar with the details. Sophocles was able to use that knowledge to ramp up the dramatic tension, and even millennia later you can feel that tension building with every scene you read (or see, but I don't know how many productions of Oedipus Rex are put on these days). It's the ultimate non-twist ending but it's still incredibly compelling. Also! Just curious, but will any of the books/plays in this series be two parters? One thing I really liked about the first lit series was that the two episode format let you focus on different things in each episode and show just how multifaceted all of those works were. Keep up the good work, I'm happy to support all y'all on Subbable

[@bri585]

Thank you for making these videos, & to everyone else as well who play a part.

[@zelographer]

We are currently dissecting this play in my theater experience class and this makes the play really explainable and understandable. A lot of the big questions asked in class are over the other students head and crash course really rounds out everything for the most ignorant people! Love it.

[@ConstantineKrystallis]

Αμαρτία simply means mistake, error or miss. It is the same as sin.

[@BirdRaiserE]

That Chewbacca open letter is 100 times more interesting after episode VII. WAIT HE NEVER SAID HE WAS REFERRING TO THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY DID JOHN GREEN SEE THE FUTURE

[@ryanconnor3480]

The bird entrails never lie my friend.

[@jotarokujoandstarplatinum1280]

Chewbacca was killed in one of the books.

[@BirdRaiserE]

Jonathan Joestar I know. The Yuuzhan vong saga. It sucks that disney axed so much canon, but I think that particular saga crossed the line by killing movie characters. As if they didn't know that ep 7 would be out one day!

[@jacksonmercer260]

EHW2 moon thing

[@mrkoalabearjr]

In Vector Prime of The New Jedi Order series, Chewie dies to save Anakin solo as the Yuuzhan Vong use a dovin basal to pull a moon onto a planet to destroy him. The survivors barely escaped on the Millennium Falcon

[@katieernst4520]

Such a great video!!! This is equivalent to the informative helpful lectures I get from my AP English professor. Now I'll go into class tomorrow one step ahead of him! Thank you for such a detailed and insightful view on the complexity of this play.

[@crystalwaters5]

oh good ol' John Green. never forgets to endorse his own work

[@davidwarren7279]

"... Some were lost in the burning of the Library of Alexandria." #triggered

[@Farfromhere001]

Oh man the way they made the thought bubble look like a video game was awesome!

[@amyschumacher2943]

Can we talk about how perfectly timed this is my English class literally read Oedipus this week CRASH COURSE YOU KNEW, YOU'RE SUCH A DOLL

[@Bordelll]

John's passion for literature is contagious.

[@monu7203]

That green light Gatsby refrence...🔥

[@olivergarsideconeron]

Its just not the same without the weekly electrocutions...

[@AlexPope1668]

Maximilien de Robespierre felt the same about beheadings... until it was his neck beneath the steel. :)

[@elizabethhanantaylor6332]

Just talked about this in theatre class last year, and now we talked about it in English. I found this video very helpful for describing Greek theatre, I shared it with my brother, and the class. It's just so wonderful!

[@DukeEllis]

This is great, made me consider some angles that didn't occur to me when I read Oedipus like 25 years ago. I'd always read the "big mistake" as being made of smaller mistakes & character flaws (the shepherd choosing not to tell Oedipus who his father is for instance, and Oedipus' own short temper & propensity for treating people shabbily as the flaw that led him to kill a stranger who turned out to be his father).

[@glassisland]

Courage, my favourite cowardly dog! A+ to the graphics team for that one.

[@TheAngoulini]

This was a great lesson about theatre in ancient Greece! I am from Greece and here we learn about it in some of our classes and I was really excited when you mentioned ALL the basic information about how the Greek theatre worked (and correctly). Oedipus' daughter who committed suicide wad Antigone and she has her own play, which is amazing. It is a little like reading Romeo and Juliet combined with Othello in ancient Greece (and it was written centuries before them!). Finally, fun fact, if you say 'hamartia' but without the 'h' then you say the exact Greek word. That was all. Thank you!!

[@stellacoul]

Two days of binge-watching +CrashCourse and it's wonderful content. Suprised I didn't find your channel sooner as it is full of everything I love - mythology and literature. this channel has become a fast favourite/addiction +John Green

[@jmicone6895]

The depth and breadth of Oedipus and the play deserve much more than you presented.

[@deemckinney1238]

Well, don't I feel like a stupid history teacher--I HAD NO IDEA this was the same guy who wrote "Fault in Our Stars"!!

[@RianeBane]

+Dee McKinney For half a second I thought you were talking about Sophocles, the one who wrote Oedipus Rex, and I was reeeeeeaaaally confused.

[@BackyardPictures101]

Wait a second. Wait a second. Is this the same John green who wrote the fault in our stars??!?!

[@DesiPanda674]

+Nick Ramirez yes

[@joel.5874]

+Nick Ramirez I know, I've been watching these videos for a while now, and I just realized that.

[@Purplestraw]

Yeah

[@surajbhat5447]

Nick Ramirez yup

[@tensequel7818]

yep, and a bunch of other books

[@Princessamy1010]

I've been watching the guys videos for the longest time AND THEN I FREAKIN LEARNED HE WAS THE AUTHOR TO MY FAVORITE BOOK A COUPLE YEARS AGO LIKEEE MIND BLOWWNNNNN #respect

[@leathalpeaches]

What john green doing a summary on this, I'm excited now and look forward to my assignment on this now THANKS JOHN GREEN!

[@karlseider6237]

Keeping up with the Cardassians! XD

[@alicex1186]

7:13 * throws cup at brother * * flips off other guy * beautiful😂😂

[@ComputerCat777]

I'm learning so hard right now! I think this with every Crash Course!

[@natp14]

I read this recently and it was a very entertaining play. So glad you did an episode on this as you pointed out a lot of great things to think about. Thanks :)

[@crazyolmaisie]

Thought Bubble is tearing it up for crash course literature 202!

[@1973Washu]

Hubris was considered to be a great error in ancient Greece and attempting to defy the fates by trying to avoid a prophecy would be hubris since he would be setting himself above a group of goddesses.

[@The1Helleri]

CrashCourse I clicked on this video when I saw the title because: - I hadn't actually read this story. Only heard the outlines of it, and what Freud had to say about it. . - Given that, I knew you were going to clear up misconceptions I had about it. ...You did not disappoint. Great video (But, I still don't feel the need to actually read it).

[@dazjah14]

Thank you John Green for being so awesome. You give me good books to read and explain the literature I don't understand.

[@pmstack91]

man that final Final Fantasy part was perfect! sure brought me back too

[@emiliastevens3353]

"...and sometimes they wrote tragedies" lol, so true, my favourite of the three Theban plays is Antigone

[@vanvan1018]

I had a class yesterday about tragedy and Oedipus, the teacher said everything said here! This feels like a resume. Thank you!!! :)

[@MustafaKulle]

Never would have heard of Oedipus if it hadn't been for Crash Course. Thank you.

[@izonker]

You mean you passed up a Star Trek reference there? (Cardassians vs Kardashians) ....such a missed reference there..

[@LuxTheSlav]

Obviously a Warsie, not a Trekkie, as evidenced throughout these videos literally all the time.

[@bubblygirl35]

I seriously hope this can help me with my Oedipus exam that I have to do XD thanks so much!!! Writing about Oedipus' hamartia and the way that fate had an interesting play throughout the play will be interesting to try and write about :D

[@RageInfectedSquirrel]

Loved it, like I love just about all the Crash Course's John does. But it still falls short of the great essay on Oedipus, "Planes, Trains, and Plantains."

[@angelaumoren264]

I really love your analysis, it's funny but still educative.

[@ToslowGaming]

Oh this is perfect! Please go into detail about Antigone (sequel to Oedipus) for your next video!

[@Math_with_Mrs.Mautner]

I just realized you wrote The Fault in Our Stars, and my mind exploded haha -AP Literature teacher who has been watching your videos for years

[@theshitygambino3318]

OMG I HAD NO IDEAD. I paused the video and he did wrote it... I still worship u John

[@lifesacardgame6454]

This is a brilliant episode.

[@pringprang21]

The only time I ever had to put a book down to stop and have a think was when Chewie met his tragic end. I'm glad it has been covered by Crash Course Literature now, it is such a powerful and significant book.

[@roguecodes]

We read Antigone in class the other day, I quite enjoyed it.

[@1brooke96]

I just watch the 90 min play on Oedipus and was lost more than once. Thank you so much for clearing a lot of it up for my mythology class!!

[@micahbeckett9768]

So helpful for Antigone, Sophocles revision. Thanks again +CrashCourse!

[@ihathtelekinesis]

What I find so great about this play (and tragedy in general, but especially Sophocles' other two Theban plays) is how many ways it manages to tell us about humanity. On one level there's a big element of Schadenfreude for the Athenian audiences when they see things go so wrong in Thebes: it's as if it's saying "Look how bad things go in all these other cities, but we'd never have anything like that at all in good old democratic Athens!". And in fact, in plays like the Eumenides by Aeschylus, and the Oedipus at Colonus, you do see Athens as a place where everything gets sorted out and Thebes as a place where things go spectactularly horribly. It's a great way of showing how Athens thought of different Greek poleis in the 5th century. But on another level, Oedipus' story says a lot more about the human condition and how ultimately we're all subject to fate and free will, and gets us to feel pity for Oedipus because he didn't have a clear ἁμαρτία. Even though Oedipus would've lived hundreds of years before the play was even written, that distancing of time means that anyone living at any time can appreciate the play for what it is and get something meaningful out of it.

[@morqwal]

i thought Oedipus' tragic flaw was that he wouldnt quit searching for something though everyone knew it would destroy him and those around him. all the characters basically tell him, at some point, abandon this quest, run away. i feel oedipus' represents that "to the bitter end" struggle (spoilers, kinda like the dark tower series by stephen king where the main character is ultimately destroyed because he cant stop until he goes as far as he can along his journey even after putting the main part of his journey to rest and fixing the problem). oedipus is tragic and scary because he's like our own pursuit of curiosity, which bites us in the ass if we take it too far.

[@dandannoodles7070]

Timothy Wood Would his decisive mistake then be staying in the city after he found he killed the king? He needed to know who killed him in order to lift the plague, but finding out the truth about his parents wasn't necessary, at least from where i'm sitting.

[@irshadkhan4033]

great

[@mimimac10]

thank you, John Green, for putting my whole english course into simple videos. ily

[@matildasoderlund566]

Thank you crash course for making this and making me feel just a teensy bit more prepared for my first university exam tomorrow. I'll be back for sure!

[@crashcourse]

John Green talks Fate, Family, and Oedipus Rex on the most recent episode of CrashCourse Literature. Fate, Family, and Oedipus Rex: Crash Course Literature 202

[@indefinitedelay]

Father-killer and a mother, you know. I'm dying...

[@Prophes0r]

Aren't you are judging the character of Oedipus a bit too much by today's standards? He was much closer to the ideal Greek in personality and drive than you seem to give him credit for. One of the things that this play introduced (as far as we know) is the idea that a character's greatest triumph, the action that makes them the hero, can also be their tragic downfall. I would say that this still puts it in the realm of tragedy, though it is much more on the fringe than other plays.

[@emilyschrader23]

Nathan Leung isn't he supposed to say authors names instead of swearing?

[@Animenite97]

John Green got any tips on analyzing literature's deeper meaning. I don't get and I like fully understand what I take part in

[@TheFireflyGrave]

In this story; John is a mostly good character who makes a big mistake; trusting Aristotle. He later has a recognition and a reversal.

[@patdevore]

Kudos to Thought Bubble on the rolling FATE boulder of doom. Nice reference.

[@rossheintzkill4848]

I love John's shoulder shimmy every time he says 'Thanks for watching'.

[@potenvandebizon]

This is deeper than we went at school in classic culture. What we learnt is that it is about truth coming to light and that knowing thyself is more important than ignorance, that it is a subtle criticism on monarchy, about seeing (litterally and figuratively) and that apollo the god of light makes the blind teiresias see as well as Oidipous, but both in different ways, and about the breaking of godly laws (don't kill your father, don't sleep with your mother). Very nice addition to those theories.

[@paulocone1963]

In a future season of Crash Course Literature, could you maybe cover the rest of the Oedipus cycle? We're doing Antigone right now in Theatre and I really like it. (I'm playing Haemon and get to sass the king.)

[@thaliahunter3139]

I love Antigone!

[@hiwayM9]

We have a stray cat (or it has us?) and we named him Oedi (he was infatuated with his mother) and due to the spelling (since we pronounce it like "Eddie") people always ask about it. I want to thank you Mr. Green as now I can just link this video instead of the long, winded, and convoluted explanation I have become accustomed to.

[@LivieLooBellaBoo]

Very well presented. Sophocles work is as complex as life can be.

[@srm4196]

What I admire about you is that u question whatever you feel wrong without d intent of just questioning for the purpose of questioning, without any negative friction in ur mind against questioning popularly accepted thoughts. I too felt Oedipus was wrongly presented as a case of Oedipus Complex but I could never make myself qs.the prevailing concepts like this, even in my isolated thoughts...I think I m more like a trend follower than a trendsetter.