Sigmund Freud and Sophocles were two intellectuals who dealt with vastly different issues. Freud was the first psychoanalyst, pioneering the subconscious and unconscious mind, while Sophocles was an ancient Greek playwright and tragedian. Living many centuries apart, Freud and Sophocles happened to connect intellectually on one point, this point being the scenario presented in Sopohcles’ Oedipus Rex. Freud was interested in psychosexual development and theorized that, in accordance with his theories of the Id, Ego, and Superego, children would naturally develop a sexual attraction to their mother and want to murder or remove their father, a scenario vaguely similar to the situation presented in Oedipus Rex, where a king unwittingly kills his
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Essentially, the Id is what causes the Complex to develop. The child has no mind for morals at this time, and simply seeks pleasure and satisfaction stemming from sex drive and aggression. These two basic desires for both the sexual desire for the mother, and the aggressive desire to remove the father. Soon, “Such primal desires are… quickly repressed” (Sigmund Freud and “The Oedipus Complex”), which is important to consider in the case of Oedipus Rex. Even if Oedipus had somehow known who his father and mother were despite being three days old before his ejection from Thebes, he would have outgrown the Complex long ago. The Ego sees that the Complex is irrational and rejects it, and the Superego introduces guilt which makes one not even consider it. Oedipus did experience the Superego response of guilt after he learned of his accidental misfortunes, blinding himself “to punish himself for the killing of his father and of incest (sic.)” (Sigmund Freud and “The Oedipus Complex”). In addition, many argue that Oedipus’ Id made him murder Laius, his father, and later strive to retake the throne and sleep with his mother. While it’s clear that Oedipus has an Id, Ego, and Superego just like Freud predicts, this is simple human nature. Freud is still incorrect to call his complex the Oedipus Complex, as the Complex, while aligning with Freud’s theory of the psyche also …show more content…
The Oedipus Complex is most prevalent at an extremely young age to name the first point. The very idea of the Oedipus Complex demonstrates the concept of the Id, Ego, and Superego, three sequentially obtained parts of the psyche. Oedipus, however, is long past the point at which he acts upon morals and feels guilt, a quality seen in the Superego stage. This is known because of his harrowing blinding incident brought on by his guilt, and also because of his older age. The Oedipus Complex, however, is a complex seen in the very early Id stages of psyche development. Oedipus is far past this and would not be able to willingly succumb to the primal desires of the Id, even subconsciously, as his Ego and Superego would not allow it. Furthermore, for the Oedipus Complex to even be relevant, one has to be aware of their parents’ identities. Oedipus was with his parents for three days after birth and never met them. Thus, in killing Laius, Oedipus “killed a group of strangers on the road that made him angry,” and in marrying Jocasta, “married a complete stranger, not the woman who raised him” (Sigmund Freud and “The Oedipus Complex”). Furthermore, Oedipus never felt any sort of emotions associated with the complex towards the people he thought were his
Essentially, the Id is what causes the Complex to develop. The child has no mind for morals at this time, and simply seeks pleasure and satisfaction stemming from sex drive and aggression. These two basic desires for both the sexual desire for the mother, and the aggressive desire to remove the father. Soon, “Such primal desires are… quickly repressed” (Sigmund Freud and “The Oedipus Complex”), which is important to consider in the case of Oedipus Rex. Even if Oedipus had somehow known who his father and mother were despite being three days old before his ejection from Thebes, he would have outgrown the Complex long ago. The Ego sees that the Complex is irrational and rejects it, and the Superego introduces guilt which makes one not even consider it. Oedipus did experience the Superego response of guilt after he learned of his accidental misfortunes, blinding himself “to punish himself for the killing of his father and of incest (sic.)” (Sigmund Freud and “The Oedipus Complex”). In addition, many argue that Oedipus’ Id made him murder Laius, his father, and later strive to retake the throne and sleep with his mother. While it’s clear that Oedipus has an Id, Ego, and Superego just like Freud predicts, this is simple human nature. Freud is still incorrect to call his complex the Oedipus Complex, as the Complex, while aligning with Freud’s theory of the psyche also …show more content…
The Oedipus Complex is most prevalent at an extremely young age to name the first point. The very idea of the Oedipus Complex demonstrates the concept of the Id, Ego, and Superego, three sequentially obtained parts of the psyche. Oedipus, however, is long past the point at which he acts upon morals and feels guilt, a quality seen in the Superego stage. This is known because of his harrowing blinding incident brought on by his guilt, and also because of his older age. The Oedipus Complex, however, is a complex seen in the very early Id stages of psyche development. Oedipus is far past this and would not be able to willingly succumb to the primal desires of the Id, even subconsciously, as his Ego and Superego would not allow it. Furthermore, for the Oedipus Complex to even be relevant, one has to be aware of their parents’ identities. Oedipus was with his parents for three days after birth and never met them. Thus, in killing Laius, Oedipus “killed a group of strangers on the road that made him angry,” and in marrying Jocasta, “married a complete stranger, not the woman who raised him” (Sigmund Freud and “The Oedipus Complex”). Furthermore, Oedipus never felt any sort of emotions associated with the complex towards the people he thought were his