Oedipus and The Story of Joseph

This week as we discussed the story of Oedipus the King, I really enjoyed it. I thought hard about things I could connect it too, but I ended up with the same results. Nothing! ... Until I sat with my niece to watch the cartoon version of the bible story of Joseph. While I was watching the movie it hit me, Oedipus and Joseph although very different are so much alike. In the myth, an oracle announces that Oedipus will someday kill his father and marry his mother. Laius and Jocasta decide that the best way to escape this fate is by killing their son. Oedipus escapes his death when he is given away, but he is still exiled from his family. Although Joseph’s departure is different, the results are the same. Due to jealousy, Joseph’s brothers want to kill him, but instead they sell him off to a caravan heading to Egypt. Just like Oedipus, Joseph barely escapes death and he too is exiled from his family.

In both stories, there is a predicament. The way in which these characters solve the problem is very similar. In the Oedipus, he saves the entire city and frees them from the clutches of the Sphinx by solving a riddle. As a reward, the city of Thebes makes Oedipus their king. Some time after, the oracle that Oedipus has tried so hard to escape has come true. Oedipus has killed his father and married his mother. Thebes is stricken with a plague that forces them to get rid of their king, the pollution of the land. In the story of Joseph, he is imprisoned. While in prison, he interprets three dreams, one being the dream of the Pharaoh. Due to the accuracy of his interpretation, the pharaoh rewards Joseph. He gives him a high rank, which allows him to rise up the social ladder, exactly like Oedipus. You can say the gift they both shared of solving riddles helped them immensely to reach their respected positions. Even though these characters experience very different destinies at the end, they share similar facts that connect them.

Oedipus and the Sphinx