GC: n
S: HNL (last access: 22 January 2026); NIH (last access: 23 January 2026).
N: 1. Eponym, named by Carl Jung as the female counterpart to Sigmund Freud’s Oedipus complex and named after the Greek myth of Electra, who conspired to kill her mother to avenge her father’s murder.
– Electra (pn): also called Laodice, a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, the accomplice of her brother Orestes in the murder of their mother, from Greek Ēlektra, literally “shining, bright,” related to ēlektōr “the beaming sun” and perhaps to ēlektron “amber.” Especially in psychological Electra complex (1913, Jung) in reference to a daughter who feels attraction toward her father and hostility to her mother. Also the name of a daughter of Atlas, and as such a name of one of the Pleiades.
– complex (n): 1650s, “composed of interconnected parts, formed by a combination of simple things or elements,” from French complexe “complicated, complex, intricate” (17c.), from Latin complexus “surrounding, encompassing,” past participle of complecti “to encircle, embrace,” in transferred use, “to hold fast, master, comprehend,” from com “with, together” (see com-) + plectere “to weave, braid, twine, entwine,” from PIE *plek-to-, suffixed form of root *plek- “to plait.”
The meaning “involved, intricate, complicated, not easily analyzed” is first recorded 1715. Complex sentence, for one containing one or more subordinate clauses in addition to the principal clause, is attested from 1776.
2. Psychoanalysis. The sexual attachment of a female child to her father.
3. The Electra Complex has been lambasted by modern psychology and is widely considered to be an antiquated concept, not least because there is little evidence in support of the concept.
4. Clinical Psychology: electra complex, Electra complex.
- Freud’s term for the female equivalent of the oedipus complex. It is postulated that in the female there are unconscious wishes for sexual union with the father that are coupled with the unconscious wishes to destroy the mother.
5. Cultural Interrelation: Electra is a mythological character who appears in more than one piece. We can mention the two Greek tragedies in which she appears as the protagonist, and named after her.
- Electra by the Greek tragedian Euripides (484 BC – 407 BC).
- Electra by the Greek tragedian Sophocles (495 BC – 406 BC).
Electra also appears in other writings, but not as the main character. Among these, we can mention:
- The Oresteia and The Libation Bearers by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC).
S: 1. Etymonline (last access: 22 January 2026). 2. Collins (last access: 22 January 2026). 3. Symplipsi (last access: 22 January 2026). 4. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 23 January 2026). (last access: 17 January 2026). 5. EBSCO (last access: 23 January 2026); GR (last access: 23 January 2026); Amazon (last access: 23 January 2026).
SYN:
S:
CR: castration, diagnosis, narcissistic personality disorder, Oedipus complex.
