The Motif of Confrontation between Father and Son in Western and Eastern Literature

In myths and epics, and later in fiction, there is often present a motif of confrontation between father and son, which can take extreme forms, up to the murder of a close relative. In the real social life of the vast majority of the peoples of the world, this type of conflict is assessed as particularly dangerous for society, one that undermines its very foundations. However, probably its very extremity draws special attention to this dramatic situation. Reducing all the various variants of treatment of the theme only to the Oedipus complex seems to greatly simplify the picture. In our opinion, in different texts, this plot scheme interacts with different mytho-religious and social contexts. In particular, it is possible to single out such of them as: 1) the change of generations of gods associated with the stages of Cosmogenesis; 2) sacrificing a child for the supposed good of the whole society; 3) the transfer of “royal charisma” to the new ruler. In addition, the motive of the conflict between father and son (or two brothers) can be treated in a fundamentally different way when it comes to the mutual non-recognition of opponents. The theme of a certain “rightfulness” of the transition of power to the younger generation is absent here, and instead, to the fore comes the inexorable fate, which forces people to unconsciously commit a serious crime. From a moral and evaluative point of view, three basic types can be distinguished: 1) A father who persecutes/kills his innocent son is a cruel tyrant who must be punished by people or higher powers (Tsar Maximilian); 2) The father is a hero-defender of his country, who wins in a fair duel and kills his son, who came as a foreigner-enemy (Ilya Muromets); 3) There is an ambivalent, confusing situation, connected either with the presence of “two truths” or with the action of fate, in particular, in the form of tragic non-recognition. The typology of endings is as follows: 1) The father kills the son (Cuchulainn); 2) The son, miraculously saved from persecution, kills his father (Oedipus); 3) Father and son destroy each other (King Arthur and Mordred); 4) Reconciliation takes place (“Ou, seventy-seven twice-told were they”)

Aesthetics · Art · Genealogy · Geography · History · Themes in Literature Analysis

• The golden bough

  James George Frazer, Robert Fraser•Golden Bough•2009

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