Reception of the ancient Oedipus myth in Milan Kundera's novel “The unbearable lightness of being”

The author analyzes the reception of the Oedipus myth in Milan Kundera's novel “The Unbearable Lightness of Being”. The images, ideas and ancient values that were in the center of the writer's attention are considered. The conditions for creating a novel, the plot and the images of the characters from the point of view of the possibility of using ancient images to evaluate the surrounding reality in a new way are analyzed. The author analyzes the way Milan Kundera philosophically interpreted the Oedipus myth in modern conditions. Special features of the reception of the ancient Oedipus myth, produced by Milan Kundera, are references to the ancient work throughout the novel. Through the reception of the ancient world, the writer reflects on the pressing issues of the political culture of modern Europe, namely, the problem of admitting guilt and taking responsibility for the actions of the past. Through the reception of the ancient world, the writer analyzes the relations of the sexes in Western culture of the late XX - early XXI centuries.