Tuesday, August 18, 2015
King David and Oedipus Rex
I've just published a piece on the website TheTorah.com. I argue that the so-called Succession Narrative of King David, from his affair with Bathsheba to the succssion of Solomon, is a rather late composition dated to the 5th or 4th centuries BCE, during the time of Persian rule in second-temple Judea. One way to demonstrate this is to show thematic connection between the Succession Narrative and classcal Greek tragedy of 5th century BCE Athens. Check it out at King David and Oedipus Rex
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I as a Funamentalsit agree that the Overall narrative of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles is Anti-Monarchy.
ReplyDeleteI also like to look for parallels between Biblical stories and Greek myths, since Via the Phoenicians I think there was a lot of Semitic influence on Greek Mythology.
Your parallels here are pretty much just observing the most basics similarities. And yo made one mistake, only 3 of David's sons died before he did, Adonijah might be who you thought was the 4th, but he was kept alive by Solomon till after David died.
I could make a better David=Oedipus argument for you. It involves view Saul as a Father Figure to David, and how David didn't kill Saul but does get blamed for Saul demise by many Benjamites. As well as the theory that both Ahinoams are the same woman.
But ultimately I'm more inclined to Endymion as a Greek version of David, and Avital as Selene. Also Salmoneus as Solomon and Tyro as Taphath.