Before the advent of psychoanalysis, the early period of sex life had been overlooked, just as had the unconscious background of conscious soul life. If you should now suspect that both belong together, you have guessed correctly. There is abundant material, of the greatest interest as to contents, manifestations, and performances of this early period of sex life,—material, as a matter of fact, that would prove most astonishing. For example: It will amaze you, no doubt, when I tell you that the baby boy is frequently afraid of being devoured by his father. (Does it not surprise you that I list this fear among the manifestations of sex?) Let me remind you here of the mythological character of the god Cronus, who eats his own children. How this myth must have astounded you, when it was related to you for the first time! Most probably, you, like the rest of us, did not pause to ponder over it. Today, we frequently recognize, in such fairytale characters as the carnivorous wolf in Little Red Riding Hood, the child-devouring father in disguise. Let me assure you that mythology, as well as the world of fairytales, can be understood only on the basis of the sex life of the child. It may also surprise you to learn that the male child is beset with fears of having his father rob him of his sex organ, and that this fear of being castrated is of the greatest influence, in connection with the general development of a male child’s character and his sexual tendencies, in later life. Here is another case where psychoanalysis may draw upon mythology for support. Remember that the same Cronus who devoured his own children, also emasculated his own father Uranos, to be castrated, in revenge, by his son Zeus, who had been saved through the perspicacity of his mother. In case you are inclined to believe that all that which has been said about the early sexuality of children is just a phantasmagoria of the wild fancies of a psychoanalyst, you must nevertheless admit that these wild fancies are very similar to those ideas which permeated the phantasy of primitive man, of which myths and fairytales are the tangible record. Does it not seem more acceptable and more probable that in the soul life of present-day children, the same archaic moments still prevail, which generally prevailed at the time of primitive civilization? To all appearances, the child, in the development of his soul, simply recapitulates the evolution of his species, analogous to the recapitulation of his physical development, which has long since been accepted by embryology. Another characteristic of the early sexual life of the male child is that the female sex organ as such does not play any part in it; it has not been discovered for him yet. All interest is directed to the male organ, all attention concentrated on the question of whether this organ is really existent.