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Oedipus is an early one. What, 350-400BCE? Somewhere around there? [spoilers?] Oedipus is prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother, so runs off trying
by handrous 5y ago
Oedipus is an early one. What, 350-400BCE? Somewhere around there? [spoilers?] Oedipus is prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother, so runs off trying to avoid this horrible fate, but makes the rookie mistake of killing some rando old enough to be his dad (surprise! He was!) and then marrying a lady old enough to be his mom (surprise! She was!)
Though that's more of a literal "killing father" than a metaphorical one, I guess.
Then of course there's the story of how the core Greek pantheon comes to be, which features patricide very prominently and probably dates, in something resembling the form we know it, to ~800BCE, and possibly much older in cultures that influenced the Greeks.
[EDIT] I can't recall anything like that in the ~1800-2000BCE Gilgamesh, but there may be something. I remember that one having a lot more mommy issues than daddy issues.
- 0xbadcafebee 5y agoWell each culture has its own quirks which changes how often you see a particular story. Greek culture held that the Gods saw "blood crime" as the worst thing imaginable, so you get a lot of mythic story arcs around it. For later Western European cultures, killing your kin just means you're taking initiative.
- JasonFruit 5y ago> killing your kin just means you're taking initiative Well, that's a lot less true once you get outside the upper classes where succession based on descent was a way to wealth and power.
- agumonkey 5y agoIt's funny how I didn't appreciate the depth of oedipus. Younger I read it like a thriller.. with a big plot twist. Not as an existential metaphor about inner desires, love bonds and family ties.