It was one of my intentions in writing this paper to think through a more contemporary conceptualization of the Oedipus complex—one not rooted in the more hegemonically normative distinctions between paternal and maternal identifications, positive and negative oedipus, heterosexual and homosexual object choice. In conceptualizing the move from oedipal to postoedipal sexual functioning as encompassing a movement from omnipotent romantic idealization to the realm of actual, experienced erotic agency in both the subjective and objective positions, I had hoped to offer an alternative vision of oedipal issues that operated independent of gender identifications and sexual object choices. Given a patient, with an erotic transference, who was actively bisexual throughout most of his analysis, I believed that I had a rare