Freud’s Theory of Psychosexual Development

Oedipus complex. Freud was inspired to coin this term from his familiarity with the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex (i.e., ―Oedipus, the King‖) written by the dramatist Sophocles around 400 B.C. In the play, Oedipus

inadvertently kills his own father and unknowingly marries his own mother. Writing in German in Austria, Freud used the term Oedipus complex to refer to either males or females. Later authors, writing in the United States, sometimes use the term Oedipus complex to refer to males and Electra complex to refer to females. (Electra is also a Greek play. Written by the dramatist Euripides, also around 400 B.C., it bears some resemblance to Oedipus Rex.)

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