Oedipus and the fabrication of the father

by Pietro Pucci

"In Oedipus Tyrannus, the son's "retroactive discovery" of his father reveals a stunning truth and transforms guiltless murder into unbearable patricide. But which father is discovered? As Oedipus looks to several father figures--to Polybus, Teiresias, and Apollo, as well as Laius--he finds different laws and lessons and conflicting clues to his own identity. According to Pietro Pucci, the "truth" Oedipus discovers is in fact shifting fabrication, a son's struggle to answer the question "What is a father?"" "In Oedipus and the Fabrication of the Father Pucci focuses on the plurality of father figures in Oedipus Tyrannus and offers a significantly new understanding of the nature of Oedipus's transgression. He examines the shifting relationship between father and son, along with notions of patricide and incest, destiny and chance, law and truth, and ironic revenge. Throughout, Pucci discusses important readings by other modern interpreters, including Freud, Lacan, and Heidegger as well a