Stufkens reviews the Oedipus myth from a number of perspectives. He stresses preoedipal and narcissistic elements; Oedipus' arrogance, manipulativeness, and impulsivity reflect his need to omnipotently deny generational and sexual boundaries. The author traces such character pathology to Oedipus' abandonment and bodily mutilation as an infant. Oedipus' encounter with the Sphinx represents the male child's struggle to individuate from his primal union with the fantasied bisexual mother, as well as his quest for self-definition and for comprehension of the primal scene. Oedipus' eventual dethronement symbolizes the necessity for the narcissistic "king-boy" to accept his childhood oedipal position—the everyman task that every man must to some extent confront. Stufkens stresses the importance of integrating preoedipal and oedipal developmental issues and conflicts into a common matrix out of which mental life can be understood.