Oedipus' journey from outcast to hero of Colonus
Genesis Editions 2025
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By Tony T. Gaillard
(156 pages , Genesis Editions 2025 , ISBN 9782940540495)
A revolutionary interpretation of Oedipus
The recent consideration of transgenerational legacies in psychotherapy has provided the keys to a new understanding of Sophocles' masterpieces on Oedipus. As Tony Gaillard explains, Sophocles and the Ancients knew how to heal transgenerational burden (or family curses) and we needed to recapture this knowledge to fully understand the meaning of Oedipus' journey as he became the hero of Colonus.
Kindle edition available, Paper publication available from January 2nd 2025
Strange as it may seem, the family curse inherited by Oedipus at his birth has never been analyzed prior to this study. Going back four generations in the lineage of Oedipus, the author deciphers the transgenerational inheritance that alienates Oedipus until his discovery of his adoption and the identity of his biological parents. The crisis Oedipus then suffers appears to be a necessary journey for him to integrate his heritage, to heal and to be reborn. Tiresias explained: "this day will bring your desctruction and your birth."
The author shows why the cataclysmic ending of Oedipus the King, contrary to popular belief, is not a fatal outcome but rather a necessary ordeal which the hero must live through. The tragedy then becomes a catharsis, transforming Oedipus into the guarantor of Colonus’ prosperity. In truth, from the plague at the beginning of Oedipus the King to the glorious epilogue of Oedipus at Colonus, Sophocles' work is based on ancient healing principles. As we recognize the underlying transgenerational dynamics, Oedipus’ healing appears to be a masterful teaching of an extraordinary therapeutic model.
This book challenges some of our deep-seated contemporary prejudices. Instead of cutting our links with the environment that gave birth to us, we discover how to be better ourselves by symbolically integrating our roots. This way of developping our belonging to the world prevents us from accumulating a generational and environmental debt. More than ever, we need such a paradigm to restore a more harmonious relationship with the world.
Previous publication 2024
HEALING FROM FAMILY TREE HERITAGES
How to Recognize and Work on Transgenerational Trauma, Patterns and Other Burdens
More on book's page Genesis Editions
Just as leaves grow on branches and trees have roots, we do not come from nowhere. The DNA, the talents, the values, and the life experiences of our ancestors still live within us, more so than we assume, and they can have both beneficial and detrimental consequences. Indeed, trauma, unfinished grief, family secrets and conflicts reverberate from generation to generation.
Beyond the importance of better understanding where we come from, the author emphasizes that we are not just the product of the past, nor simply the outcome of our family tree. We can integrate our invisible heritages instead of letting them unconsciously drive our lives. For example, we can identify and rewrite the false, unachieved or missing stories in our genealogy. With many illustrations, the author shows how analyzing the lives of our ancestors helps us to resolve current conflicts and heal all kinds of symptoms. Goethe already explained: What we have received from our ancestors, we must assimilate until it becomes a part of ourselves if we want it to be an enrichment instead of a burden.
In this book, the author sums up twenty years of therapeutic practice. His analysis merges traditional and modern transgenerational healing models, and recaptures the meaning of some ancient messages, in line with the Greek precept: Know Thyself.
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