What really happened to Oedipus? - Stephen Esposito

[@deuce55-h7p]

"One often meet his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it"

[@Spider-r6d]

Master Oogway?

[@deuce55-h7p]

@@Spider-r6d yes!!!

[@KhoiruunisaRF]

The more people keep thinking about the things they fear of, the more those things creeping out near them.

[@samuelebincoletto637]

This phrase perfectly descrive Oedipus' tragedy.

[@makteko]

@@Spider-r6d Precisely.

[@princesingh2629]

Another Greek legend that traumatizes my mind and relations, yet it is good because who doesn't like drama.

[@oracleofdelphi4533]

In defense of Oedipus, his mom's really attractive.

[@princesingh2629]

@@oracleofdelphi4533 Seems you know her pretty well 🤨 😂.

[@KhoiruunisaRF]

Hey, it's full of morale lesson if look deeper into it. For example, to not abandoned a child just because of an oracle's prophecy,

[@TeodorRv]

Jostein Gaarder adores this myth and even quotes the Sphinx in the first page: "What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs in the evening?"

[@d1p70]

Human

[@practicalpen1990]

I read the first story in university but never knew it had a sequel. It's immensely meaningful that he forgave himself and moved on in peace.

[@dahyunista8468]

The third one in the Oedipus trilogy is the best, Antigone.

[@AaryanFowl-uq1li]

How is Antigone the best? We were forced to read it in class, and was very dull

[@Kestas_X]

​@@AaryanFowl-uq1liIt was written for ancients. And second it is a different opinion.

[@Kestas_X]

Would've given me a Lot of Hope If I knew that as a child.

[@claudio6391]

I always found it very perplexing how Oedipus just casually kills the king, like WTF did the dude just not have any guards???

[@Progamermove_2003]

Oedipus was the prince of Corinth, thus he probably have his own guards as well.

[@Apple-tq3ve]

no he fled Corinth

[@Progamermove_2003]

@@Apple-tq3ve But he wasn't disgraced in Corinth. He has voluntarily left to save his "parents" (the king and queen of Corinth).

[@marijntaal1531]

I believe in the play Oedipus also kills his father's guards.

[@Kestas_X]

Plothole. But it's still on of the Most successful stories ever. How is that possible? Could it be that plotholes are not actually the problem behind Bad stories?

[@awesomehpt8938]

Freud: “hmmmm this makes total sense! I’m sure everyone ends up like this! I’m an amazing scientist!”.

[@starmaker75]

Another scientist: um the story shows that odipues was horrified and the story was more about fighting fate becomes a self fulfilling Prophecy. Freud: but mommy issues!

[@Gaston-Melchiori]

​@@SailaSobriquet everything is a Falus if you try hard enought. xD

[@EnderTender]

Psychoanalysis really is something, that's for sure.

[@Epic_Memer_Man]

Freud was talking about himself

[@SaiRam-fy1wg]

Hmm, nagarjuna

[@SirsasthNigam.]

Sigmund Freud - Freudian slip Oedipus complex " Dude , I neither loved my mother nor knew she was my mother " - Oedipus

[@oracleofdelphi4533]

Sounds like something Trump would say.

[@salsal435]

@@oracleofdelphi4533 Well, considering his obsession with his own daughter....

[@anilkashyap1388]

That's how I also relate with Sigmund now

[@milascave2]

A FREUDIAN SLIP IS.WHEN YOU SAY one thing but mean your mother.

[@TeodorRv]

@@oracleofdelphi4533 But Trump loves her daughter!

[@lixie_xx]

"Kill Daddy, Marry Mommy" Freud is probably rollin with laughter in his grave right now.

[@EdwinWiles]

Where do you think he got the idea?

[@sor3999]

@@EdwinWiles His own projection?

[@EdwinWiles]

@@sor3999 The Greek classics were well-known at the time. Freud would have been taught them as part of his education. Moving from the Greek classics to using them for a modern interpretation of psychology is a very small step. Granted, someone had to do it first, and Freud was likely the first, but it is still an adaptation of a known classic story.

[@justaman9564]

Freud coined the term Oedipus complex after this very tale.

[@MayaWhitley]

Freud fr a chchchchery bomb

[@PalladiumOfDragons]

What’s crazy to think about is that if the oracle did not tell the king that he would die by his son, none of this would have happened. It’s a self fulfilling prophecy.

[@johnsober]

There's also a bit of hubris on Oedipus's part (he figured himself very clever which wasn't mentioned in the video). He could have simply never married.

[@reddytoplay9188]

​@johnsober hindsight is great but when he first heard the prophecy you would think it pointed to the ones who raised you.

[@johnsober]

@@reddytoplay9188 it's not really hindsight. The one sure way to circumvent the prophecy is to never marry. In Greek tragedy, the hubris of man is a major theme, and thinking one can outsmart the gods (which is also a fairly common plot line in Greek tradgey) is exactly hubris.

[@Bencraft1010]

3:38 NOT THE MEME

[@Jim_96504]

*bemused thinking*

[@joaovictor_of]

Nazaré confusa

[@andieallison6792]

Which one

[@honor9lite1337]

Why😮

[@SkinnyGuyDahn]

😂

[@iam_a_sad_khan]

"Oedipus blinded himself in anguish, expunging his deceitful sense of sight which had kept him from truly seeing so much."

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Oedipus married his own mom, Jocosta, shows that the prophecy takes _"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"_ way too seriously.

[@Rock-Child]

The animation makes this 5000 times creepier

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@Chinag]

2:13 this is the most blursed Ted Ed image I've seen

[@oracleofdelphi4533]

Morally? or Literally?

[@ChurnBlob]

@@oracleofdelphi4533both maybe?

[@KhoiruunisaRF]

Taking aside of the choice of words, that's just the fact of what actually happened in the story.

[@andieallison6792]

​@@KhoiruunisaRFokay?

[@tegathemenace]

​@@KhoiruunisaRFIt sounds like the words of a very troubled 8 year old.😭

[@Queen1001N]

Sophocles: “Oedipus’s story may have ended at Colonus, but his family’s woes aren't over yet. Come see my play, Antigone, to see more family drama unfold.”

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Cool

[@anjiethefree]

A popular Nigerian retelling of this story, “The Gods Are Not To Blame” by Ola Rotimi, tells the story the same way, but with a few differences. Oedipus or Odewale, is raised by farmers. He kills his birth father on a farm, is told the prophesy by a friend, runs away and comes to his home land. He leads the army of Kutuje against invaders and becomes king, marrying his mother in the process. It is a very thrilling drama. I was proud to be cast as Ojuola or Jocasta in the original story. Well done, Ted-Ed!

[@tegathemenace]

I was about to say this. I read it in school and just realized now

[@frankbernard2702]

YES YES YES 😄😄😄

[@fredfishers2656]

Do you have the SuperStory full movie/Series of this story? It was taken off KZbin last year I think

[@Puggalug]

This Greek tragedy was covered in high school English for me. And despite this being an ancient story, it found its way into Hollywood. One of our assignments was to identify films that used the concept of the Oedipus complex, and one example was Back To The Future. Can anyone think of more movies?

[@DistortedShelf0]

Back to the Future doesn't seem all that analogous. In the story, Marty is completely aware who his mother is and has no interest in betrothing her; he HELPS his father, ultimately leading to his parents's marriage and his own birth. No one goes blind, let alone takes their own life. The only real comparison might be Marty's mom having a brief crush on him, but even then, it's not because Marty had saved the city from some formidable peril... it's because he's a cure boy she doesn't recognize, who admittedly seemed a little heroic. All in all, I wouldn't say there's enough to really warrant the comparison. Not that you chose it, I just couldn't help but toy with the concept.

[@mohdshaim9215]

Incendies ?

[@KhoiruunisaRF]

@@DistortedShelf0 No way there would be 100% similarity in other stories.

[@Puggalug]

@@DistortedShelf0 As another poster said, no story necessarily needs to be 100% the same as Oedipus the king but movies can still borrow elements from it. Here’s another movie: Star Wars. The idea of killing one’s father , and while not the same as a mother, Leia kissed his own brother Luke.

[@DistortedShelf0]

@@Puggalug I agree it doesn't need to borrow every element... but a line should be drawn between things that are analogous and those that are not. I mean, imagine saying a blueberry and a basketball are highly comparable because they're both round. Lol.

[@megavbyte]

Believe it or not, this video released 10 minutes after I handed in my reading test of this myth. I will never get a better comedic timing than this one.

[@patiencemugisha19]

Amazing coincidence

[@colbyduhon8382]

The horror movie "Hereditary" and "Oedipus" both have this whisper of "you can't escape your fate"

[@Kestas_X]

Are they both about aristocracy? That would be interesting.

[@InvaderFlasher]

There is a book from French novelist Pierre Bayard called 'Oedipe n'est pas coupable' which argues that Oedipus is not guilty for the murder of its father. It was fascinating, as all of it made sense. Why would the Gods unleash the Sphinx and the plague on Thebes, even though the prophecy is thought to have occurred? Why did the witness from Laios' murder said, right after it, that it was a mass attack? Why was he also the same man who was ordered to kill Oedipus when he was a baby? How could Oedipus kill his father and all his guards, he who is handicapped by its foot bruise? I won't spoil the murderer, but I heavily recommend it. It also debates the effect of the true story on the world of psychology.

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@xeldrine66]

Does anyone have a pdf link so I can read it. French is okay since it's my first language.

[@samvanderplas8970]

Oedipus' ending probably reflected the author's feeling of being on death's door. Cool stuff!

[@vagaryn_]

I think what makes Oedipus one of the greatest tragedies is how people stopped remembering Oedipus as a hero and a king, but a man who killed his father and married his mother.

[@SorenAlba54]

I remember learning about Oedipus Rex as a child in middle school and since then, I never stop being horrified and amazed of how far this tale has gone downhill when Oedipus unwilling fulfilled the prophecy. That’s the tricky thing when it comes to that. No matter how much you may deny it or how hard you try to prevent it, it happens one way or another. It could be set with our very own actions and we wouldn’t have any idea until it has come to pass. While I don’t believe in fate, I do know this: once it has been written, no one and nothing can stop it.

[@yellowstarproductions6743]

Agreed

[@slakmansauce3390]

Oedipus: *finds out he unknowingly killed his dad and married/had kids with his mom, grabs out his eyes and goes into the field to die a long, painful death* Sigmund Freud: "Write that down! Write that down!"

[@olaffrozen2579]

Oh my god I'm so happy Addison Anderson is back❤ I'm so happy to hear your voice narrating these videos 😊 you can't imagine how warm and comfortable you make my brain 🧠 welcome back so glad to hear you again ❤

[@Vocalsonly255]

One often meets their destiny on the path they take to avoid it.

[@ywoulduchoosetousethis]

Change often to always. When u understand gravity is not a force it is a creation, it gets easy to understand.

[@LeftOfToday]

How Freud wasn't committed as a madman for basing his views on psychology on this story... But here we are!

[@BowieTheOctoBear]

And even goes on to committ Princess Alice to an asylum and torture her for years!

[@Boredaf1]

@@BowieTheOctoBearlmao Alice never met Freud. That’s what the show says. You lockdown babies need to read more.

[@Boredaf1]

Name 5 of his views you think are incorrect. I am pretty sure you have not read Freud but watched reels on him .

[@LeftOfToday]

@@Boredaf1 I went to a Freudian analyst for awhile. All he did was reinflict my trauma by providing a lifeless, "blank slate" that mimicked my neglectful home environment. My biggest criticism of Freud is when he knew trauma was bad, he sold his soul and twisted what he'd uncovered to make victims out to be desiring of such things. Then he doubled down and hypothesized that we must be trying to replicate it. The whole seduction theory is so ridiculous. All Freud cared about was one side of human development while dismissing the whole person, and he was so blinded by his own crazy ideas that considering anyone else's was off the table. To this day, his perspective panders to those who would deny a person's experience of abuse/trauma and rather twist it in ludicrous ways, perhaps to make the analyst more comfortable than to actually help the patient. It's also just a cold, uncaring experience. Psychology like to pretend they don't agree with Freud but it's just as broken thanks to a shared dismissal of the effect on trauma and the pharmaceutical industry waving money from the sidelines. I don't know what's worse: cbt and ativan being thrown around as the gold standard and worksheets taking presidence over context, or analysis being used in a way as to twist everything a patient says. When will the healing profession actually be about doing just that and not inflicting the most vulnerable to further insult? Some of them just take it because it's better than the nothing they're so used to.

[@Boredaf1]

@LeftOfToday 1. You had a bad experience with one bad Freudian therapist. Please visit a different psychologist who may help you. 2. Lot of bad therapists are there in the market. Agreed. Ask for credentials. Just because I woke up one day and Freud interesting, doesn't make me Freudian. Was he really a Freudian? What qualification he had? 3. One bad Freudian therapist doesn't mean Psychoanalysts are bad. 4. If Psychoanalyst as an individual makes a mistake, it doesn't not go back to freud. That individual was bad. Freud is a genius who needs to be read.

[@ryanmartinez1703]

Never took the time to look into a summary of this story. Great video!

[@JurassicTheory]

Finding out the truth like Oedipus is like having a movie like “Avengers: Endgame” spoiled for you 😭

[@eaglewolffox6275]

And it hurts

[@asian435chen]

"Ignorance is bliss," Oedipus said, somewhere out there in a different multi verse lol

[@ywoulduchoosetousethis]

Sounds like u r rather intelligent and without empathy. To reduce this morality play to something as trivial as endgame is to be tone deaf.

[@gabor6259]

It's way worse than that.

[@jamdc2000]

@jurassic theory more like spoling who killed Dumbledore

[@Boop-beep-bap]

Watching this whole animation while being high and sleepy is a serene experience 😂

[@ARI3S6999]

Worf cuhh😅

[@felineboy1586]

I have been saying this for years now the animation is still so beautiful a master piece

[@ThrillSeeker3524]

"Aw, man! And I thought I had problems!"

[@andieallison6792]

PLEASE cover the other two plays/stories in the trilogy!

[@asian435chen]

I remember the Spinx's riddle as one of the first memorable riddles i retain as a kid. And then learning it came from Oedipus made me go, "oh." Lol

[@JakeMatthews-OnLo]

So the true family is one you meet along the way.

[@UserT049.]

I love all your mythology videos, it's LOVELY work you guys put out!! kudos, Ted-ed!

[@johanLiebert000]

i didn't notice until halfway that this was posted 3 mins agoo😭😭great video!!

[@pradiptamandal7762]

4:04 "to kill Jocasta" ??

[@fredfishers2656]

I don’t understand why he’d do that… scumbag freak

[@thermalserpent4269]

Technically the sphinx rage quit IRL

[@asankajayaweera7212]

You held my breath for few minutes. Amazing work.

[@anilkashyap1388]

TED Ed videos are always so interesteting and created with so much passion and hard work. kudso to team

[@juliuskwak1263]

It is strange when we think about it. We like to think of mankind as civil, different from the "beasts." But yet in our own journeys and trials to prove such, we find that we are in fact no different than the beasts. That we ourselves are beasts, but of a different kind.

[@Rich.3938]

This story traumatized me in 2nd grade. My cousin told me about it and I was scared because I thought everyone will end up like this.

[@prasoonjha6314]

Why would anyone tell this to a second grader??!!

[@bellaharris9789]

We read Antigone in class and for our unit project, my friend wrote an original song about their story and performed it on ukulele in front of the whole class. The opening verse was “Her brother was married to her mother but it doesn’t matter cus they’re both dead”. I think she’s going places, personally

[@gustavocarvalholoboleite3526]

Please Ted -ed make a video about the Los Angeles ritos of 1992

[@uadios5106]

Woaw

[@WelfareChrist]

I remember writing an essay in junior college about this play and the book of Job. The thesis of the essay was against an understanding of tragedy that saw these works as being 'cathartic' in the sense of their purpose being the purging negative emotions, but were instead meant to serve as a means of confronting suffering in a meaningless universe.

[@scarlettxu]

Great video, as always! I read both Oedipus the King and Antigone (the third play of the Oedipus trilogy, which is set after the events in Oedipus in Colonus) for my 10th grade English class and I enjoyed them immensely! Please do a video on Antigone next, as her story is very intriguing as well!! Also an interesting fact is Antigone was actually written first out of the three plays, despite its events occurring after Oedipus the King and Oedipus in Colonus.

[@actazrath5878]

What a timely video.

[@preppymsme]

How fascinating ! Previously from my psych class , our instructor said that Sigmund's Freud's Theory of Oedipus Complex originated from this Greek Legend, I'm glad to came across and learn from watching thiss

[@robzonefire]

Do Electra Next

[@jamessirot854]

The mother of Harpies?

[@Neo-rm3sy]

@@jamessirot854 No, daredevil's girlfriend...

[@thenovicenovelist]

I know in college they taught that the Electra Complex was supposedly similar to the Oedipus Complex, but the professor never told us there was a myth associated with Electra like there was with Oedipus.

[@thenovicenovelist]

​@@jamessirot854 I thought Echidna was the mother of harpies.

[@jamessirot854]

@@thenovicenovelist Echidna is the mom of a lot of monsters, but not all of them. She didn’t have the harpies.

[@adarshraj7352]

The first book is phenomenal. The sequel.....not so much.

[@eaglewolffox6275]

The sorry tale of Oedipus sums that up.

[@sydhenderson6753]

@@eaglewolffox6275 I prefer the sequel.

[@matthewjohnson9199]

Recently read Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone, and I definitely recommend them.

[@kiddcavalierdjmcandlilgas5331]

I love stories like this. It helps me to forgive myself.

[@BatmanSays]

What's tragic about Oedipus is that he was a good man, someone who tried to do the right thing, and yet fate cruelly led him to the very outcome he tried so hard to avoid.

[@kayamagan]

So interesting fact. There’s a novel written by one of Nigeria’s legendary playwrights, Chinua Achebe, titled either Things Fall Apart or The Gods Are Not To Be Blamed. The story of Oedipus is an almost exacts story of it

[@MrsJudithWright]

They knew how to tell a story in those days. Love the nearly-plausible events and consequences, told with authority and economy. They even retch in Hellenic key motifs! Now I have to find out what became of their four completely normal kids.

[@sydhenderson6753]

Oedipus was forced to wander until he reached Athens, where Theseus allowed him to rest and where Oedipus died, leaving a blessing on the city. Also, Antigone accompanied him to Athens since he was blind.

[@ria_riaaa]

“Kill daddy, marry mommy” is crazy…

[@RyanEmmett]

Beautiful animation!

[@scroogemcduckrich9705]

amazing story

[@michikomanalang6733]

the Sphynx here is an ICON

[@Becky_Cooling]

This is why you should tell your adopted child that they're adopted.

[@annies7602]

I had heard something about Electra as well..no explanation on that part?

[@kmbehrens14]

Electra is traditionally the sister of Orestes, both children of Agamemnon. There might be a different character named Electra in an Oedipus myth, but not in Sophocles’ version, which is what is presented in this video.

[@solaria9]

She’s part of a different story involving her brother Orestes avenging their father Agamemnon

[@sydhenderson6753]

The female children in the Oedipus myth are Antigone, who accompanied Oedipus in his exile, then had her own Sophoclean tragedy to deal with, and Ismene. The two sons killed each other in a succession struggle.

[@trishadey2267]

1:41 the prophecy in the book Kafka on the shore was inspired by this?

[@sophiaisabelle027]

Oedipus Rex is a tragedy. Little did he know that his fate is forever destined to be one with the servants in the depths of the hellish prison like place he will never escape from.

[@RakeshDas-ie1ym]

Even though the story is 2500yrs old, it still has the same impact on the listeners😢

[@andieallison6792]

1:25, 4:11 - I've never heard the words "burrowed" and "booch" pronounced like that-

[@epuresoul]

the design in this video 100/10

[@Orangeesus]

Oh wow this vid came out right after my class learned about the story

[@KafshakTashtak]

You guys should cover Epics of Shahnameh. That's like 10 episodes for you.

[@mosestekper7659]

I seem to be always fascinated with this story. I've read the West African adaptation "The Gods Are Not To Blame" and watched the play live. A sad but intriguing story.

[@Michael-hw5wk]

There's more to the story than that. It was one of his daughters who led him as he was sightless, and the story continues with Antigone, the best of the existing trilogy.

[@digitalstories2179]

Sweet home Greece.

[@michaelv2297]

Wow the animation was both funny in pacing and nailed the disturbing mood of the whole story.👏🏼

[@ilovecandies_lollies]

the animation was top-tier like wtf happened to the sphinx at 2:20 😂

[@USDiploMike]

2:15 died LOL at “kill daddy” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👏🏼

[@williamtheartist1066]

Im a simple man I see greek mythology ted ed I click

[@janesullivan692]

I love that the sphinx meows

[@ThomasWeaver1992]

We’re really telling this story after Father’s Day?

[@ewuraamaetruwaasam7084]

There is a similar story: The gods are not to blame by Ola Rotimi. It's a good read. I recommend it.

[@mosestekper7659]

It is a good read. It was based on Oedipus.

[@frankbernard2702]

YEP YEP

[@PLScypion]

Zeus: Arguably worst of Greek gods doing or causing the most twisted and vile events and experiences in mythology. Apollo (or at least his oracle) in Oedipus myth: Hold my chariot.

[@wilburn5881]

Apollo didn't cause the events, he simply revealed them

[@stardoge9518]

what music was used at 5:14 ?

[@sky.2310]

Freud is so happy for this video.

[@mobink980]

What happened to the oracle of Delphi? Did people lose interest in knowing the "future" or does this position still exist?

[@thenovicenovelist]

The official position doesn't exist anymore to my knowledge. Supposedly, they stopped the practice in the 4th century CE because Emperor Theodosius banned the practice of many paganistic traditions including the Oracle of Delphi. Some modern day Pagans do their own Oracle work in other ways.

[@marniejones331]

Omg so this is where Freud's infamous "Oedipus Complex" comes from!!

[@johannabonana5306]

What a intense and twisted story

[@MerePasser-by-7482]

I am not well-exposed to Greek myths, but Apollo appears to be the actual villain pulling most of the strings here 😢

[@jessicajayes8326]

🎼There once was a man named Oedipus Rex, you may have heard about his odd complex. His name shows up in Freud's index 'cause he LOVED his mother!

[@borntogazeintonightskies]

"A fancy carriage threatened to run Oedipus off the road and a lethal fight ensued." *Early 2000s jock rock intensifies*

[@baristasimmer]

This would have came in handy last week for World Lit.

[@moradtabbicca9204]

Reminds me of "the Gods are not to be blamed."

[@prekpaoml]

Ted Ed and Greek mythology ❤

[@sglornk4971]

Bro the ending is so much better than shown here basically oedipus walks into a Forrest to talk to Zeus or smth and tells Theseus, to follow shortly after him, then when Theseus returns to oedipus’ daughters alone he isn’t allowed to tell them what he saw. It’s inferred (imo) that oedipus just got zapped into the underworld or smth

[@AyubuKK]

I love the music in this

[@Dr.Pinto98]

The Children of Jocasta - by Natalie Haynes is a great book for a re-telling of Oedipus & Jocasta.

[@Hassanmirza90]

A legend initiated by determinism led by free will and ended at determinism.

[@samym1694]

"There are many tales in my Homeland being fulfilled by attempting it to avoid it" Kratos:God of War Ragnarok

[@michaleandmore5111]

Man the animation is sick af

[@MwizeraUwizera]

Is there any movie based on this story?

[@ursatzotschew7541]

Apollo just treats humanity like a Soap Opera!

[@smcandycg]

Hello TED-Ed, Quesion can do some documentaries or animations based on fairies AKa Fae FairFolk there are many documentaries that can be put under the mythologies playlist on this account but so far nobody has bothered to do such videos yet.