Thierry Gaillard

Oedipus Reborn, Ancient Traditions and Transgenerational Perspectives Thierry Gaillard

The masterpieces which have triumphed over time contain secret wisdom. In their work, the authors include timeless messages addressed to History and to all mankind. So it is with the plays which Sophocles devoted to Oedipus more than 2400 years ago, which are still performed today. A new form of analysis, called transgenerational, enables us to penetrate behind the scenes, backstage in Sophocles' theatre. The discovery of a transgenerational structure underpinning Sophocles' work changes everything. This discovery invites us to reconsider the entire story of Oedipus in a different light. By bringing out the unseen aspects of his work, we come to understand that Sophocles shared with the Ancients a veritable science of the "transgenerational." Through his Oedipus Rex and Oedipus at Colonus, he passes on this knowledge to use in the manner of the great tragedians, philosophers before their time, who played an important role as guides of the collective awareness of their time.