A complex complex. The Oedipus complex is a phychoanalytic theory involving a child having sexual desire for a parent of the opposite gender and a jealousy for the parent of the same gender. Sometimes referred to as the Electra (also a play by Sophocles) complex in the case of women. It was a theory by our favorite phychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. One can only assume that the name of the complex came about by Oedipus' interesting situation of being married to his mother and wanting to be killed by his father. Luckily there aren't too many psychologists who take this theory very seriously anymore. I hope you enjoy this short song about the Oedipus Complex by Tom Lehrer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9BMcA8-4zo
Derek Russell Davis "Oedipus complex" The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Richard L. Gregory. Oxford University Press 1987. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press
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