Oedipus and the Oedipus Complex: A Revision

Dietmar Seel · Burkhard Ullrich · Florian Daniel Zepf · Siegfried Zepf

Oct 2016 · Karnac Books

About this ebook

In contemporary psychoanalytic thought, Freud's concept of the Oedipus complex is inclined to overshadow the interpretation of the myths surrounding Oedipus. The authors counter this situation by reversing it, utilizing the Oedipus myths to interpret the Oedipus complex. In so doing they expose it as a sheer cover story. They unmask the Oedipus complex, revealing it to be a drama staged not by Oedipus but by Jocasta, the mother, and Laius, the father. For neither Sophocles' drama nor the Oedipus myths give any indication that Oedipus is enamoured of Jocasta and born with the intention of killing his father Laius. What the myths do mention are Jocaste's passion for Oedipus whom she loves more than his father and Laius' desire to eliminate Oedipus as his rival from birth. Freud neglected these aspects of the Oedipal myths. In uncovering them the authors come to the conclusion that Oedipus did not have an Oedipus complex. The myths divulge that it is not the son or the daughter who precipitate rivalry with their father or mother but the parents who unconsciously compete with their child for the love of their partner.

About the author

Dietmar Seel is a practising psychoanalyst in Saarbrucken (Germany), and former scientific assistant at the Institute of Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine of the University Clinics of the Saarland. He is also a member of the Saarland Institute for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and of the DGPT.

Burkhard Ullrich is a practising psychoanalyst in Neunkirchen (Germany), and former scientific assistant at the Institute of Clinical Psychology of the University of the Saarland (Germany), as well as at the Research Institute for Psychotherapy in Stuttgart (Germany) and at the Institute of Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine of the University of the Saarland. He is a member of the Saarland Institute of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy and of the DGPT.

Florian Daniel Zepf, MD, is the Chair and Winthrop Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Western Australia in Perth, and Clinical Director/Head of Department of the Specialised Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Western Australia. He is the author of numerous publications in the field of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.

Siegfried Zepf, MD, is a Training analyst (DPG, DGPT) and the former director of the Institute of Psychoanalysis, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, University of Saarland (Germany). He is the author of numerous publications on epistemological, psychosomatic, socio-psychological, and psychoanalytical topics.