Oedipus Oedipus Oedipus (, ; "Oidípous" meaning 'swollen foot') was a mythical Greek king of Thebes. A tragic hero in Greek mythology, Oedipus accidentally fulfilled a prophecy that he would end up killing his father and marrying his mother, thereby bringing disaster to his city and family. The story of Oedipus is the subject of Sophocles' tragedy "Oedipus Rex", which was followed by "Oedipus at Colonus" and then "Antigone". Together, these plays make up Sophocles' three Theban plays. Oedipus represents two enduring themes of Greek myth and drama: the flawed nature of humanity and an individual's role in the course of
Castration anxiety of the concepts related to penis envy were among his greatest accomplishments. However, these are also his most criticized theories as well—most famously by Karen Horney. Freud derived this term from the Greek tragedy "Oedipus Rex". In this tragedy, the main character, Oedipus, kills his father and marries a woman whom he does not know is his mother. Given this irony, Freud used the term Oedipus complex to indicate this unconscious desire. According to Freud, the Oedipus complex relates to a universal wish that a boy has, unknowingly, to have his mother all to himself by the removal of his