Page "belles_lettres" Paragraph 433

It is a mistake to look upon the Oedipus of Oedipus Complex as a literary descendant of Oedipus Rex.

Whatever the psychological truth in the Oedipus myth, an Oedipus who is drawn to his fate by irresistible external forces can carry the symbol of humanity and its archaic crime, and the incest that is unknowing renews the mystery of the eternal dream of childhood and absorbs us in the secret.

But a modern Oedipus who is doomed because he cannot oppose his own childhood is only pathetic, and for renouncing the mystery in favor of psychological truth he gives up the claim on our sympathies.