Oedipus/ Electra Complex

Freud based his name for these complexes on the characters in Greek mythology. The oracle of Delphi, to kill his father and marry his mother destined King Oedipus. In male children, it is referred to the Oedipal Complex. The female counter is referred to the Electra Complex derived from the Greek character Electra, daughter of Agamemnon who was said to have induced her brothers to kill their mother. This behavior can be found in various works such as Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Alfred Hitchcocks’s film Psycho, ancient myths, classic fairy tales, as well as most contemporary art, film and literature. Freud saw this as an opportunity to study this unusual behavior.
Sigmund Freud began to study the inherent urge in all children to engage in sexual acts with the parent of the opposite sex and kill the parent of the same sex. Freud’s theory was geared more towards males than females. The Oedipus complex occurs during the phallic stage of psychosexual development at approximately t...