# Electra : Oedipus :: David : **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2010, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401 "2010-03-30T23:57:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/21 "2010-03-31T18:19:05Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > The thing about multiple choice tests is that they are made by humans. And it turns out that whenever humans make multiple choice tests, the most common correct answer is “B”. After that there’s C, then A, then D. “BCAD” Surely professionally written tests randomize answer order? ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/22 "2010-03-31T20:50:35Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Surely professionally written tests randomize answer order? Professionals are human. The computers they use are designed and programed by humans. There is something about B-C-A-D that shows how all us hairless apes think. Statistical studies and, to a lesser extent, psychological studies will bear me out. The lowest I’ve ever scored on a standardized test is in the 98 percentile, yet my I.Q. is only above average. I’m smart, but I’m not _that_ smart. I just know how to guess in certain situations because I’ve learned some tricks. “BCAD” is simply playing the odds. You do _not_ want to play me in poker. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/23 "2010-04-01T00:13:10Z")
Yes, but have you ever killed either parent? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/24 "2010-04-01T01:25:31Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > Professionals are human. The computers they use are designed and programed by humans. There is something about B-C-A-D that shows how all us hairless apes think. Statistical studies and, to a lesser extent, psychological studies will bear me out. It’d be trivial to write a programme that randomised the answers without any bias due to human psychology. Hell, use a fair 20-sided die and see if it favours 6-10 more than 1-5, 11-15 or 16-20. I’ll take your word that most tests don’t employ randomisation, but surely you can see the flaw in your apparent line of reasoning. Just because a computer is programmed by a human doesn’t mean its output will be biased by psychological factors. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/25 "2010-04-01T04:44:07Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > You do _not_ want to play me in poker. 🙂 I do. Join us on Thursdays? ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/26 "2010-04-01T06:40:52Z")
I vote for Saul. Oedipus killed a parent, Electra wanted a parent dead. David bore some responsibility for the death of his son (Absalom), Saul wanted his protégé (David, as it happens, who becomes his effective heir) dead. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/27 "2010-04-01T09:19:09Z")
Could be as simple as “had sex with”… I don’t actually know the Electra story, but assuming Freud choice her as a parallel to Oedipus for good reason, did she have sex with her father? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/28 "2010-04-01T09:19:44Z")
I’m going with Bathsheba. Oedipus and Electra committed similar moral transgressions, as did David and Bathsheba. Don’t be distracted by the fact that Oedipus and Electra are separate stories. (Trivia: I once went on a picnic in [Bathsheba](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathsheba,_Barbados), Barbados.) ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/29 "2010-04-01T13:26:44Z")
David had Bathsheba’s husband killed by sending him to the front lines, hoping to cover up their infidelity - does that help with the analogy at all? Probably not. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/30 "2010-04-01T15:01:03Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > I vote for Saul. > > Oedipus killed a parent, Electra wanted a parent dead. > > David bore some responsibility for the death of his son (Absalom), Saul wanted his protégé (David, as it happens, who becomes his effective heir) dead. That’s a pretty big stretch, but it makes as much sense (or more) as anything else. The problem is of course the Oedipus and Electra have no relationshiop to each other, while David has some relationship to any of the possible answers. Also, how much familiarity is the student expected to have with Old Testament history? Or Greek mythology for that matter? I mean, they don’t exactly teach the story of David and Saul in most non-religious high schools. Oedipus and Elektra are both used to name psychological disorders… is there something similar that uses the name David? A David complex? I just think the question maker screwed up. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/31 "2010-04-01T15:31:18Z")
There is a whole spectrum of difficulty on these tests. Some answers should be answerable by almost everyone who takes them. But many questions are not designed to be answerable by average or typical students. They are intended to recognize above-average knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/32 "2010-04-03T19:06:13Z")
I think the answer is Goliath, because he’s the only one NOT related to David. Electra has no relationship whatsoever to Oedipus. David is related by blood or marriage to Saul, Absalom, and Bathsheba. He’s not related to Goliath. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/33 "2010-04-04T01:09:17Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I think the answer is Goliath, because he’s the only one NOT related to David. > > Electra has no relationship whatsoever to Oedipus. David is related by blood or marriage to Saul, Absalom, and Bathsheba. He’s not related to Goliath. And none of them have been in Cliff Clavin’s kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/34 "2010-04-04T01:58:06Z")
Isn’t the Electra complex a woman’s unhealthy attraction towards her father, the way Oedipus complex is a man towards his mother? (That’s what I’ve always seen in pop culture, at least.) So doesn’t that mean the answer would be a gender flip itself? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/35 "2010-04-04T02:26:38Z")
Depends on whether the analogy is about the similarities or the differences, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/36 "2010-04-05T09:26:02Z")
I gotta go with Bathsheba, because she is a total hotty (hottie? I forget proper spelling), and it balances out the gender ratio. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2010, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/37 "2010-04-05T09:52:35Z")
The distance in the alphabet between E and O is 10 letters. Thus the answer to the David question is the name that begins with N. No. OK, how about: Sophocles wrote both Electra and Oedipus the King… Who wrote the book of Samuel? ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/38 "2010-04-06T14:31:09Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > The distance in the alphabet between E and O is 10 letters. Thus the answer to the David question is the name that begins with N. > > No. > > OK, how about: Sophocles wrote both Electra and Oedipus the King… Who wrote the book of Samuel? Scholars believe that Samuel, Nathan, and Gad wrote the BOOKS of Samuel… [http://www.biblecentre.org/commentaries/ar\_09\_ot\_overview\_12samuel.htm](http://www.biblecentre.org/commentaries/ar_09_ot_overview_12samuel.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/39 "2010-04-06T15:00:04Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Oedipus and Elektra are both used to name psychological disorders… is there something similar that uses the name David? A David complex? I’ve heard “King David Complex” used as a term for extreme religiosity, sort of like a Messianic Complex. Googling reveals some pretty obscure uses of “Absalom Complex” and “Bathsheba Complex”, but its not really clear if they’re just internet writers attempt to coin a term. Even if they’re real things, they seem way to obscure for an AP test. David killed his child, while Oedipus/Elektra killed their parents. Absalom killed his brother. I don’t recall Goliath or Bathsheba killing any family members (or Goliath having any backstory whatsoever, he basically shows up in the Bible purely to get killed a couple minutes later). ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401/40 "2010-04-06T15:35:10Z")
Alright, here’s the best answer I got. Oedipus was raised by Shepards and later became a king, Elektra was married to a commoner, but later married royalty. David was raised as a shepard and later became a king. Bathsheba was married to a commoner, and later married a king. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electra-oedipus-david/534401.md?page=3)