Oedipus The King and the Oedipus Complex
by Cynthia Loh

                                                 
Oedipus The King by Sophocles is definitely one of the most disturbing and frightening plays I have ever read. Despite it's creepiness and unsettling plot, this was my favorite play I have read for school.

(Basically my spark notes version of Oedipus the King)
Oedipus is the king of a land who is faced with a plague and the only way to end the disease is to banish or kill the man who murdered the former king. Oedipus calls for the blind oracle Teiresias to figure out who the killer is to make an end to plague in his land. Refusing to answer Oedipus' question of who the killer is, claiming how it will only cause Oedipus grief and pain, Oedipus becomes enraged. Initiating an argument with Teiresias, Oedipus learns from the blind oracle that he is the slayer of the former king. After lots of insults and assumptions, Teiresias leaves Oedipus believing that Teiresias lied to him and that the oracle is working with Creon, Oedipus' brother-in-law, in order to take the throne. However, this is false. In a conversation with Jocasta, it is made known to the readers that in the past, Oedipus learns that he is fated to kill his father and sleep with his mother. After hearing of his horrible destiny, Oedipus runs away from Corinth, his home country, and ends up in Thebes. He does admit when he arrived he was attacked by a group of people and killed them all but he is doubtful that it was the former king. After a series of meetings and interrogations, Oedipus finds out that he is adopted and that the people who raised him are not his birth parents. Oedipus was given away when he was a baby and was given to a herdsman who was instructed to kill him. The herdsman then continues to say that he received the baby from Jocasta. Oedipus learns that Jocasta and her former husband who was the former king is his parents. Jocasta overhears the conversation and kills herself. When Oedipus finds her body he gauges out his eyeballs with his bare hands. He says goodbye to the four children he created with his own mother and banishes himself away to live in solitude.

This book proposes the Oedipus Complex, also known as the Electra Complex, which state that a child unconsciously has sexual desires toward their parent of the opposite sex. As ridiculous as this sounds, many psychologists believe this to be true. After searching the web, I have found forums where people with this complex can post about their situations. Once I finished laughing my head off, I noticed that so many more people actually have and admit to having the Oedipus complex. Although the psychologists call for very young children to go through this, many people in a range of ages has this complex. I found people from their teens all the way to people in their sixties having the Oedipus Complex. There are many different scenarios and feelings each person has. One teenage girl ranted about how much she hated her mother because she loved her father. Another person in their forties talked about how she recently in an affair with her godfather who is about 20 years older than her and married. Many talked about how they gained romantic feelings for an absentee parent or when their parents were divorced. However, they all were very grossly disturbing.