The story
Named for the Cretan princess Phaedra who fell in love with her stepson, Hippolytus of Athens in Greek Mythology.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Phaedra complex
Today it means: A designation to the sexual desire of a stepparent for their stepchild; the term has been extended to cover difficult relationships between stepparents and stepchildren in general. Full definition →