Über die Ursprünge des Ödipuskomplexes

It is only with amazement that we can understand the boldness with which Freud, with only himself to refer to, and as the very first to attempt a self-analysis, came to discover the oedipus complex which by now has become common knowledge in Western culture. A man like Freud needed extraordinary courage and incorruptibility of view as much as the undiminishing obstinacy of the researcher in order to break through to these contents of the unconscious. However, Freud's description of the oedipus complex must nowadays be regarded incomplete. It stand principally under the sign of the male and father, of castration at the hands of the father, the phallus and the super-ego. The motherly components, the archaic mother-images and the fears of annihilation and retaliation emanating from them, as well as their relationship of the primitive forms of the father-imago were still unknown to Freud. The intensive discussion of this theme as seen by various internationally known authors make up the contents of this volume.