Oedipus, a Greek mythological figure, was prophesied to kill his father and marry his mother. This was used by Freud to describe the Oedipus Complex, but Oedipus himself did not have it. He unknowingly fulfilled the prophecy, killing his father and marrying his mother, leading to tragic consequences. The concept of the Oedipus Complex has been refuted in modern psychology, with the explanation that children can identify with one parent at a time.
Oedipus is the famous Greek mythical figure who was doomed to kill his father and marry his mother. For modern audiences, the Oedipus situation was used by Freud to describe his theory of the Oedipus Complex, the desire of boys and men to surpass their father and be sexually equal to their mothers.
Importantly, psychologically speaking, Oedipus did not have a complex. He absolutely didn’t want to kill his father or marry his mother. Plus, he worked through his complex him by doing just that with tragic results.
According to Greek mythology, when Oedipus was born, an oracle prophesied that Oedipus would eventually destroy his father and marry his mother. This upset his father, Laius, so much that he forced his wife Jocasta to agree to abandon the child to die in the mountains.
A shepherd takes pity on Oedipus and is eventually adopted by the childless king and queen of Corinth. As a young man, Oedipus seeks the oracle at Delphi and hears the miserable truth about himself. He decides never to return to Corinth to avoid his fate.
So he heads to Thebes and meets his birth father on the way. They argue and Oedipus kills him. Often in the myth, the meeting between Laius and Oedipus is described as having occurred at the crossroads of three roads. So one or the other could have technically given way to the other, thus avoiding fate. Both are driven by the certainty that they have outwitted fate, an example of arrogance. Their mutual violence cannot, in their minds, be the fulfillment of the oracle’s prophecy.
Oedipus then proceeds to Thebes and soon marries his mother Jocasta. With Jocasta he has four children. As the tale is carried forward into mythology and Sophocles’ great drama, Oedipus Rex, the kingdom of Thebes appears to be suffering from misfortune, and Oedipus visits the oracle to seek the cause. He doesn’t believe in the oracle, but the news of his adoptive father’s death confirms the truth.
Jocasta discovers the truth and hangs herself. Oedipus blinds himself in what can be read as a symbolic representation of his blindness to fate. The story is sad, reiterating the Greek notion that fate is inevitable. It is a fatalistic concept repeated in many Greek myths, and was perhaps a way to explain tragic events that could not be easily explained in Ancient Greek daily life. Personifying fate, there is at least someone or something to blame for the resulting horror.
While the concept of the Oedipus complex was once widely accepted in psychology, several schools of thought have since refuted it. Instead, many now lead to the explanation that children can specifically identify with one parent at a time. For example, a nursing child may be particularly close to a mother, while a teenage boy may be more interested in spending time with his father. Of course this can lead to some jealousy on the part of the neglected parent. Most recognize that this is a passing phase and ignore it without fear that there is a dangerous psychology behind it.
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