Sophocles and Freud

So, Freud was evidently a fan of Sophocles. In Oedipus Rex, Freud admired Sophocles’ focus on the subconscious. This, as most of you all probably know, led Freud to develop the concept of the Oedipus Complex. However, Freud also apparently found inspiration in Sophocles’ Electra, in which Electra and her brother Orestes conspire against their mother and stepfather for the murder of Agamemnon, their father. From this play, Freud developed the Electra Complex, which could essentially be interpreted as the female-focused version of the Oedipus Complex.

Moreover, Sophocles’ version of Oedipus was an extremely validating and direct portrayal of Freud’s three parts of the psyche: the id, the ego, and the super-ego. In the play, Oedipus struggles with the balance of his psyche, and therefore makes for a fascinating Freudian case study.