Oedipus and the Sphinx : the threshold myth from Sophocles through Freud to Cocteau /

Renger (Freie Univ. Berlin) offers her readers an alluring interpretation of the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus and the Sphinx. She addresses its reception in Western culture as the experience of transition from ordinary, reasonable life into an unknown and uncertain realm beyond knowledge because its rules and order are impossible to grasp. In both text and vase paintings, the myth focuses on the role of human insight and understanding at the threshold, betwixt and between, as the hero Oedipus confronts the winged figure with a human head and a lion body, with the possibility of self-knowledge and the danger of preservation "against error, hubris, and blindness." Although two modern thinkers, Sigmund Freud and Jean Cocteau, reached opposite conclusions in their analysis of the Oedipus-Sphinx myth, they demonstrated the continuing power of the myth and the crucial role it plays between scientific knowledge and artistic expression. In addition to religious studies scholars, this beautifully written and deftly argued book will appeal to historians, anthropologists, psychologists, and philosophers. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above; general readers. L. J. Alderink emeritus, Concordia College