title: INSIGHT AGONISTES: A READING OF SOPHOCLES'S OEDIPUS THE KING.
abstract: In this reading of Sophocles's Oedipus the King, the author suggests that insight can be thought of as the main protagonist of the tragedy. He personifies this depiction of insight, calling it Insight Agonistes, as if it were the sole conflicted character on the stage, albeit masquerading at times as several other characters, including gods, sphinxes, and oracles. This psychoanalytic reading of the text lends itself to an analogy between psychoanalytic process and Sophocles's tragic hero. The author views insight as always transgressing against, always at war with a conservative, societal, or intrapsychic chorus of structured elements. A clinical vignette is presented to illustrate this view of insight.
authors.affiliation: Training and Supervising Analyst at the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research, Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons, and is a member of the New York Freudian Society.
authors.forename: Eugene J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Mahon
mesh_terms: D004324:Drama; D005260:Female; D005619:Freudian Theory; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009229:Mythology; D009813:Oedipus Complex; D011573:Psychoanalytic Interpretation; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy
keywords: Greek drama; Insight; Jocasta; Oedipus the King; Sophocles; anxiety; child development; defenses; oedipal complex; prophecy; psychoanalytic process; repression; truth