Freud and the Oedipus Complex

One of the cornerstones of psychoanalysis is the Oedipus complex. According to the generally accepted version, during a session of self-analysis Freud unearthed a childhood memory of being sexually aroused by seeing his mother naked*. What Freud wrote about in his discovery to his colleague was that he remembered a long train journey, and because it was so long he deduces that he might have had the opportunity of seeing his mother naked. He then deduced further that he might have been aroused by the scene.
Soon after Freud uncovered these memories from his own childhood he postulated a universal law - the Oedipus complex. Freud believed that in the phallic stage of development (i.e. between the years of 2 and 3) every boy becomes his mother's lover in his dreams. However, the boy's sexual interests are soon met with the threat of castration. The successful resolution involves identification with the father and assuming an active and aggressive social role in a male- dominated so...