With his text "Oedipus Complex and Oedipal Myth," Erich Fromm decides to confront what is still largely considered the "cornerstone" of Freudian psychoanalysis, the Oedipus complex and the "incestuous" relationship between son and mother.
Examining the relationship of the Freudian complex with the ancient Greek myth of Oedipus, specifically with the Sophoclean "trilogy" - Oedipus Tyrannus, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone - Fromm directly asks: "Did Freud have the right to conclude that this myth confirms his view that unconscious incestuous drives and the resulting hatred of the rival father can be detected in every male child?"
Instead of a definitive answer, he puts forward a theoretical hypothesis with psychoanalytic, but also political implications, as through examining the social change from a matriarchal model to a patriarchal one, he focuses not on the mother-son relationship but on the son's relationship with the father.
(From the presentation on the back cover of the book)
"[...] the myth can be understood as a symbol not of the incestuous love between mother and son, but of the son's rebellion against the father's authority, within the framework of the patriarchal family. The marriage of Oedipus and Jocasta is only a secondary element, merely one of the symbols of the son's victory in taking his father's place and, along with it, all of his privileges." (Erich Fromm)
