Unconscious Desires In Oedipus The King

Freud’s id represents underlying desires that seek gratification. These desires may be prohibited by society or considered taboo, such as greed, power, sex, or murder. The id, in contrast to the superego, is irrational and will seek the unconscious desires without the thought of consequences (Nolas-Alausa 7). Oedipus of Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex falls victim to the id of his own unconscious which is represented by his immoral and irrational actions and the consequences he suffers because of them.
Oedipus traveled to the place where three roads meet, which is similar to the three roads of id, ego, and superego. A company of strangers come and, in self-defense, Oedipus kills the men (except for the one that ran) thus inadvertently killing his father. In murder, Oedipus took the path of the id, the one that strives for the unacceptable desires. “I killed them all,” Oedipus admits, “in my rage” Oedipus attacked, and was attacked, and he “paid back, and more” (Sophocles 1250). He gave into rage when the charioteer came towards him. Oedipus had a number of opportunities to run down another path, or use the strength it took to kill the men to incapacitate them long enough to get away. Instead, he chooses murder and fulfilled the

As seen through the murder of Oedipus’s father, he gives in to anger and kills the ‘stranger’. As the king of Thebes, he proclaims harsh punishment to the one who killed Laius and does not seem to be able to put two and two together to see his error. In comparison, Aristotle and Sophocles’s ideal hero comes from the superego and is represented by Theseus. While Theseus thrives and accepts the broken Oedipus, Oedipus would have shunned the killer of Laius (and did through asking Kreon to banish him). The id part of Oedipus’s unconscious directed his fate and, as a result, his