A Phenomenological Interpretation of the Phaedra Complex

This article addresses the theme 'The Phaedra Complex'. Its scientific relevance lies in the fact that it contributes to the enrichment of scientific annals about the phenomena that affect human beings in their bonds of affection and development of psychosexuality, both in childhood and adulthood. Its social relevance lies in the scope of clarifying to the lay public that the most varied desires are part of human life and can manifest themselves in different directions without there being a loss of the sense of character and virtue, since many of these manifestations are outside the sphere of individual conscious control. This is a bibliographical, descriptive and explanatory research. The objective is to deepen studies on the subject and expand knowledge about the functioning of the human psyche. The Phaedra complex is a subject little studied by the psychoanalytic community, treated as a manifestation of desire of a generally obsessive and neuropathic nature of the stepmother for her stepson. Phaedra's passion for the young Hippolytus is something that goes beyond the limits of erotic desire; it is a cathartic expression of the ego dominated by the Oedipus Complex, in which the barrier of phylogenetic prohibition imposed by incest does not exist, and the path is free to advance on a terrain that proves to be fruitful, because between them a relationship of affection and care precedes. This feeling is the product of the latent mnemonic action that does the work of inverting the latent libidinal desire in relation to the unattained object and when the lines cross at a certain moment in time it erupts with enormous violence, not allowing a conjunctural analysis of the facts, which ends in a neurotic manifestation on the part of those involved, since public opinion and social sanctions will weigh on their shoulders. It is observed that there was a phenomenal inversion of values and expectations: Theseus saw in Phaedra the image of his adolescent passion, Ariadne; but the young woman saw an old man, no longer the young and charming warrior with whom she had fallen in love; However, when she saw Hippolytus, she imagined she was seeing the Love of her memory.