Oedipus, Hamlet, Moses: Archetypes of the Hero

Texts that provided psychoanalysis with its foundational myths. Oedipus, Moses, and Hamlet as archetypes of the hero related to moments of emerging modernity: from mythos to logos, polytheism to monotheism, and action to thought. The interplay among knowledge, recognition, and desire; the role of sameness and alterity in the constitution of personal, familial, and national identities; violence and the construction of history. Readings include: Exodus, Sophocles, Euripides, Shakespeare, Freud, Cavafy; theoretical essays by Laplanche, Lacan, Certeau, Kofman, Assmann, and Cavell. Taught in English.