Oedipus complex
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GC: n 

S: EBSCO (last access: 17 January 2026); NIH (last access: 17 January 2026).

N: 1. Eponym, named by Sigmund Freud after the Greek mythological figure Oedipus from Sophocles’ play Oedipus Rex.

– Oedipus (pn): son of Laius and Jocasta, the king and queen of Thebes, from Greek Oidipous, literally “swollen-foot,” from oidan “to swell” (from PIE *oid-; see edema) + pous (genitive podos) “foot,” from PIE root *ped- “foot.” Shelley titled his play based on Sophocles’ work “Swellfoot the Tyrant.” Oedipus complex (1910) was coined by Freud. In Latin, figurative references to Oedipus generally referred to solving riddles. Oedipus effect (1957) is Karl Popper’s term for “the self-fulfilling nature of prophecies or predictions.”

– 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. Oedipus complex, in psychoanalytic theory, a desire for sexual involvement with the parent of the opposite sex and a concomitant sense of rivalry with the parent of the same sex; a crucial stage in the normal developmental process. Sigmund Freud introduced the concept in his Interpretation of Dreams (1899). The term derives from the Theban hero Oedipus of Greek legend, who unknowingly slew his father and married his mother; its female analogue, the Electra complex, is named for another mythological figure, who helped slay her mother.

3. Freud attributed the Oedipus complex to children of about the ages three to five. He said the stage usually ended when the child identified with the parent of the same sex and repressed its sexual instincts. If previous relationships with the parents were relatively loving and nontraumatic, and if parental attitudes were neither excessively prohibitive nor excessively stimulating, the stage is passed through harmoniously. In the presence of trauma, however, there occurs an “infantile neurosis” that is an important forerunner of similar reactions during the child’s adult life. The superego, the moral factor that dominates the conscious adult mind, also has its origin in the process of overcoming the Oedipus complex. Freud considered the reactions against the Oedipus complex the most important social achievements of the human mind.

4. Clinical Psychology: Oedipus complex, oedipus complex.

  • … attraction and attachment of the child to the parent of the opposite sex, accompanied by feelings of envy and hostility toward the parent of the child’s sex, whose displeasure and punishment the child so fears that he represses his feelings.

6. Cultural Interrelation:  We can mention, among many others, the book My Oedipus Complex (1950) by Frank O’Connor (1881-1959), and the Italian movie Edipo Re (1967) (Oedipus Rex, in English) directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975).

S: 1. Etymonline (last access: 17 January 2026). 2 & 3. EncBrit (last access: 17 January 2026). 4. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 17 January 2026). 5. GR (last access: 17 January 2026); IMDb (last access: 17 January 2026).

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CR: castration, diagnosis, Electra complex, narcissistic personality disorder.