Oedipus and the Sphinx
The Threshold Myth from Sophocles through Freud to Cocteau
Translation by Duncan Alexander Smart and David Rice, with John T. Hamilton
136 pages
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4 halftones, 1 table
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5 1/2 x 8 1/2
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© 2013
- Contents
- Review Quotes
Table of Contents

Contents
Introduction
Part One
Oedipus before the Sphinx in Antiquity: On Sophocles
Chapter 1. The Prince of Thebes and the Monster
“With intelligence, not taught by birds”
Face-to-Face: Oedipus before the Sphinx in the Vase Painting of Antiquity
In the Hero’s Account: The monstrum from Seneca to Corneille
Chapter 2. Thresholds: Zone, Transformation, Transition
“Betwixt and Between”: The Threshold Theories of Arnold van Gennep and Victor Turner
A “Double-Formed Monster” (δίμορφον θηρίον): The Sphinx as Threshold Figure in Antiquity
“Œdipe est double”: Hero and Monster in Jean-Pierre Vernant
Coda I: One Monster Confronts Another: Oedipus before the Sphinx as a Warning against Hubris
Part Two
Oedipus before the Sphinx in Modernity: On Freud and Cocteau
Chapter 3. Freud the Riddle Solver and the “Riddle of the Feminine”
Infantile and Juvenile Wish Fulfillment: Freud as κράτιστος ἀνήρ
Perversion and Hubris: Thoughts on the Anecdote of Freud’s “Turning Pale”
Chapter 4. “The night that concerns me is different”: Cocteau’s Distancing from Freud
Between Finding and Invention: “Archaeology” as a Shared Figure of Thought in Freud and Cocteau
“No-man’s-land between life and death”: Cocteau’s “Zone” between Visible and Invisible Worlds
“Where dream and reality merge”: Mythic Personalities between Dream and Reality
“An Oedipus and the Sphinx”: Cocteau’s Machine infernale
Deprived of Characterization by Basic Principles: “Œdipe et le Sphinx” on the Threshold
Coda II: With Sophocles contra Freud: Cocteau’s Work of Enlightenment
Notes Bibliography
Index
Review Quotes
Jan N. Bremmer, University of Groningen
“The encounter between Oedipus and the Sphinx has always been one of the most intriguing scenes of Greek mythology. Almut-Barbara Renger first subjects the riddle solving of Oedipus in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex to an innovative analysis and then turns to the role of the Sphinx in Freud’s work and the way Jean Cocteau used Sophocles against Freud in his Machine infernale. In her challenging work, she shows how the figure of the Sphinx continues to fascinate modernity, but also portrays the changing fates of this once so threatening female monster in the age of gender uncertainties.”
Choice
“[A] beautifully written and deftly argued book…. Highly recommended.”
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