Did Oedipus Suffer from the Oedipal Complex? A Psychological Analysis of Oedipus in Oedipus the King

Grant may be buried in Grant’s Tomb and Easter Island may have been discovered on Easter, but Oedipus did not suffer from the Oedipal Complex; the events that transpire in the play are a result of Oedipus’ failure to know himself and recognize his birth parents. Oedipus the King, written by Sophocles, tells the story of the new king of Thebes who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and having sexual relations with his mother while trying to avoid it (Sophocles). Sigmund Freud developed the Oedipal Complex as part of his Psychosexual Stages of Personality Development in response to these events, concluding that all young boys wish to sleep with their mother during the phallic stage (Freud, Outline 71). However, Oedipus does not suffer from this complex because he does not form an attachment with his mother during the oral stage of personality development.