Explain the Nature of the Oedipus Complex

The Oedipus complex is believed to be a play off of the ancient Greek mythological character Oedipus Rex. According to the myth, Oedipus Rex was a Greek king that killed his father out of envy and rage in order to have his mother. If the ancient Greek myth is viewed in such a way, it would be possible to believe that Oedipus Rex, who had been given a prophecy advising of his fate, was attempting to fulfill such an obligation. From this, it would be possible to say that Oedipus Rex was driven to kill his father in order to live happily with his mother.

Just as Oedipus Rex was compelled to kill his mother due to a prophecy, it can be believed that children develop the same thoughts when addressing their own internal conflicts and desires for their parents. People, including children, are driven by instincts in order to keep themselves pleasured.

When Sigmund Freud (Freud) analyzed the ancient Greek myth, he connected his thoughts surrounding the Oedipus Rex myth, and applied many of the same principles to explain the development of children. As a result, Freud’s idea was simple; children are compelled to love both parents, but attach primarily to one and fear the other. Out of that idea, the Oedipus complex was born.

The Oedipus complex, in its beginning stages described how a child (primarily a male) was just reaching a new stage in their life in which they discovered that there genitals brought them pleasure when touched. At the same time, the child then begins to have thoughts of his mother, which is a person that brings about pleasure through other means, such as food or affection. Out of fear of the thoughts that he is having, the child becomes consumed with the thought that his member, the penis, may be removed by his father due to the thoughts that he had about mom. Out of fear of the consequences, the child begins to connect with the father, in an effort to preserve his pleasurable thoughts about mom, while also keeping his member.

When this concept was first introduced, there was a lot of opposition created by those that felt that Freud’s idea was too sexually explicit. Unfortunately, many do not understand that while the words may be sexual in nature, the concept was based on the basic needs of the child. The Oedipus complex can simply be broken down into the following points:

- A little boy, who is emotionally bonded to his mother, is jealous of dad and the relationship that that is held with his mother

- A little girl, who is emotionally attached to her father, is jealous of the mother and the relationship that is held with dad.

For children, attachment to a person develops almost immediately. This attachment is developed during the pre-genital stage of the psychosexual development. During this time, normally between the ages of 0 to 2 years of age, the child is honing their libidinal energy. The child, from the moment of birth, attaches to the first individual that satisfies the basic instincts; food, affection, warmth and attention. With most, that person is the mother, or simply, mom. The child, whether female or male, develops a bond with the mother primarily through skin to skin contact. Most of this contact is received in the oral phase, and is provided through oral stimulation. Most oral stimulation is given from mother to child through breast to mouth contact while feeding, or by the warmth transferred from mother to child, again, during the feeding process. The child begins to attach to the mother through the breast, and the feeding process. Later, the attachment continues by the pleasure the child obtains from just sucking motion created by the mouth. The sucking motion can either be linked to feeding, or the sucking of items that do not satisfy hunger, such as a toy or the thumb, which brings about oral gratification.

Through development of the oral and anal phases, the child begins to mature and gain control of bodily functions, such as defecation, and must begin coping with the loss of the close attachment with mother. We have now entered the phallic stage. During the phallic stage, the child, now between the ages of 3 to 5 years of age, is now forced to detach themselves from their nurturer, while trying to gain self-identity.

At this period of time, the child begins to explore their genitals. Through the processing of touching themselves, or even while being cleaned by their mothers, the child realizes that pleasure can be brought by their genitals. Because children are not able to understand that what they are doing is wrong, the child does not feel bad about touching their bodies. It is through the interactions with the parents and society, that the child is introduced to guilt and remorse. With guilt, the child is taught to feel bad about