Jocasta
Jocasta is a figure from Greek mythology, the queen of Thebes who unknowingly married her own son Oedipus after he killed her husband.
When she discovered the truth, she hanged herself.
In psychology, a Jocasta complex describes a mother's excessive or incestuous attachment to her son—the counterpart to the Oedipus complex.
Ancient city, two locations
- OedipusTragic Greek king
- SophoclesClassical Athenian playwright
- sphinxMysterious, unreadable person
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
Delphi · prophecy · Greek · queen · dynasty · Antigone · Creon · Eurydice
Relations between kin
- forbiddenNot allowed
- unspeakableBeyond verbal expression
- transgressionViolation of law or code
- shamePainful awareness of failure
revulsion · unknowing · maternal · violation · abomination · stigma · secrecy · illicit
Purification through emotional expression
- downfallSudden loss of power
- pathosPity-evoking quality
- anguishIntense mental suffering
- despairTotal absence of hope
mourning · lamentation · grief · sorrow · dramatic irony · hamartia · suffering · self-blinding
Foretelling of future events
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- doomUnavoidable grim fate
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
- predestinationDivinely predetermined fate
foreordained · curse · foretelling · determinism · inescapable · divination · augury · portent
Thebes
Ancient city, two locations
oracle · Delphi · prophecy · Greek · queen · dynasty · Antigone · Creon · Eurydice · hubris
incest
Relations between kin
- forbiddenNot allowed
- unspeakableBeyond verbal expression
- transgressionViolation of law or code
shame · revulsion · unknowing · maternal · violation · abomination · stigma · secrecy · illicit · unnatural
catharsis
Purification through emotional expression
despair · mourning · lamentation · grief · sorrow · dramatic irony · hamartia · suffering · self-blinding · suicide
prophecy
Foretelling of future events
- oracleAuthoritative wisdom source
- doomUnavoidable grim fate
- inevitabilityQuality of being unavoidable
predestination · foreordained · curse · foretelling · determinism · inescapable · divination · augury · portent · fulfillment
unwitting
Not aware or conscious
- marriageFormal union between partners
- sonsMale offspring collectively
- childbirthInfant's emergence from womb
maternal · bloodline · lineage · progeny · offspring · nurturing · bonding · fertility · conception · pregnancy
JocastaPenelope
Traditional name, Greek origin
Antigone · Eurydice · Athena · Cassandra · Andromache
JocastaVirgin Mary
Mother of Christ
Demeter · Thetis · Penelope · Cornelia · Madonna figure