Sophocles portrayed Oedipus as incited by the gods through their oracle to commit acts he consciously desired to avoid, parricide and incest. That he

unconsciously wished these acts is indicated by the fact that in Greek 'to consult an oracle' also means 'to crave' or 'to desire'. The drama expresses the 'complete Oedipus complex', for it includes murderous hostility between mother and son (Oedipus and Jocasta). Van Der Sterren finds evidence that Oedipus's killing of the Sphinx is both intercourse with the mother, sadistically conceived, and disguised matricide. He points out how the disguises and distortions of the main theme that occur throughout the drama have the same motive and effect as the defenses we encounter in patients in our analytic work.