ABSTRACT
Sigmund Freud believed that the superego was the heir to the Oedipus complex. The "tyrannical superego" is a well-accepted concept in psychoanalysis. Since Freud admitted being in error in attributing that function to the superego, we must ascribe it to the ego. The grandiosity is a reward for being obedient to the superego and not questioning the guilt that the superego sends to the patient. The discovery that evolved from speaking to the superego is that doing so can gradually decrease its energy. When its energy is decreased sufficiently, the grandiosity of the particular patient will make its appearance to both analyst and patient. The ego is rational and speaks rationally, unlike the superego: it truly has the patient's interests at heart; it contains the patient's identity; it does not lie to the patient—and, it can reason.
