Laius complex the complex have been particularly highlighted. One lays stress on the magical thinking behind the complex – the unconscious belief that if one has no successors, one will be effectively immortal. The other emphasises the narcissism in the Laius/Oedipus relationship – the belief that there is only room for a single figure to exist in life, leading inevitably to the destruction of the one or the other competitor, father or son. How far the playing down of the Laius neurosis (in orthodox psychoanalysis) can be linked to what Julia Kristeva called Freud's "paternal vision of childhood", remains for the 21st
The Infernal Machine (play) of the Ghost of King Laius, when the Officer arrives. The Officer questions the two about the ghost sighting and leaves them to their duties. Tiresias and Jocasta enter and question the soldiers about the ghost sighting as well. As Jocasta begins to believe more and more, the ghost of King Laius appears. Despite his calls for his wife, he cannot be seen or heard by anyone else. After the cock crows in the dawn, Tiresias and Jocasta exit. After the two leave stage, the ghost of King Laius becomes audible and visible to the two soldiers. Laius struggles, apparently