The prototypes of the Oedipus story: the sacrifice cult and myth about twins

This article is an attempt to unearth the prototypes of the Oedipus story. The author argues that the roots of the prototypes or basic forms (ur-form), which provide the foundation for the Oedipus myth, lie in the ancient sacrifice cult and myth about twins. The article describes a semantic similarity between the sacrifice cult and the riddle of the Sphinx, both based on the camouflaged motif of pregnancy, and - between the myth about twins and the story of Oedipus, both pervaded by the motif of murder (infanticide and patricide). The author comes to the conclusion that Oedipus symbolically is a «split personality», dissociating into two virtual (imaginary) twins, which illuminates the deep, hidden connection between the story of Oedipus and the myth about twins.