Although written a long time ago, Oedipus the King turned out to be more relevant in my life than I thought. For those of you more recent with a psychology class my discovery I'm about to share might not be a discovery at all. But hopefully, some of you will find it as interesting as I did. While doing some research online I came across a psychological term "Oedipus complex" that has been inspired by the famous tragedy. First used by Freud in his theory of psychoanalysis, it represents a child's(usually a boy) unconscious desire for the exclusive love of the parent of the opposite sex. This desire includes jealousy toward the parent of the same sex and the unconscious wish for that parent's death. This complex tends to manifest itself in children between 3 and 5 and is considered to be a part of normal development. Fascinating! All of a sudden, bizarre behavior of my toddler becomes so understandable, thanks to Oedipus.
Submitted by Aksana Norman
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