ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the Sigmund Freud's theory of Oedipus, suggesting that in his powerful attachment to Sophocles' play Oedipus Rex, he did more than just blur the distinctions between the two different meanings of "theory". It suggests that for Freud, for a variety of reasons, Oedipus Rex was the divine oracle that he consulted and that psychoanalysis has a quality of religious ritual as a result. The chapter focuses on elements of the Oedipus myth missed out by Freud, and contrasts the Sophoclean story with that of the story of the elephant god of Hindu belief, Ganesh, touching on some contentious issues between Freud and Indian psychoanalysts. It also suggests that psychoanalytic work needs both Oedipus and Ganesh, as well as both versions of "theory", for practitioners and for the couples who consult us. Both positions raise feelings of inclusion and exclusion, closeness and distance, attachment and separation, which are touched on in both the Oedipus and Ganesh stories.
