This is an interesting twist on the classic Oedipus complex created by Sigmund Freud. According to Erich Fromm, the Oedipus complex was not about a son lusting after his mother, but rather it was about his conflict with his father figure.

Supporters of this theory argue that while Freud based his entire argument on one line of text from Oedipus Rex(Jocasta said to Oedipus, "Many a man before you in his dreams has shared his mother's bed."); Fromm looked at the entire trilogy of Oedipus. The trilogy consists of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonius and Antigone. In these three books, the only common theme was a conflict between a father and his son. The mother-son relation associated with the Oedipus complex existed only in Oedipus Rex.

This version of the theory is a "coming of age"-stlye conflict between two different generations, rather than a rivalry between two men over the same woman.

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