Monday, November 18, 2013

Phaedra Complex- homosexuality in the subject egoist


The complex takes its name from Greek mythology; Phaedra, wife of Theseus, fell in love with Hippolytus (Theseus' son born by either Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons or Antiope her sister).  

I've posted before that I've aligned the post-oedipal father complex with Freud's aim-inhibited sexuality that creates the drive to be a "grown-up", be "adult", or want to be regarded as responsible and fair by others. 

I've also posted that I saw Theseus' labors as reflecting the much more grandiose pre-oedipal labors of Heracles from the angle of Theseus representing the Oedipal acceptance of "castration" and being under his father's name. 

I hypothesized that before the moral father imago was internalized into the drive to 'be adult' that it's possible the father could interfere with it if he, not respecting the difference between the generations, was seductive towards his son. This seduction would form the fixation of adult moral man and boy that could explain why so many priests molest boys. They projectively identify with the father imago and force the trauma (attached to the self-representation) into someone else. 

Since doing work in the other complexes and seeing how Orestes can be read as a part of Electra and Polynices can be a part of Antigone it seems fitting to recognize that Phaedra can be a part of Theseus.     

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