Normally, an Œdipus Complex should be abandoned or thoroughly changed, simultaneously with the termination of early sex life. The results of this transformation of the Œdipus Complex are destined to bring about great achievements, to play a big part in later soul life. As a rule, this transformation is not thorough enough. Therefore, during the period of puberty, the Œdipus Complex may be revived, in which case it is liable to induce dire results. I am very much surprised that you are still silent. Could this mean agreement? No doubt, if psychoanalysis maintains that the first sexual desires of a child are of incestuous nature, to apply a technical term, there is no question that psychoanalysis has again trodden upon humanity’s holiest feelings, thus once more incurring accusations, disbelief, and opposition. Psychoanalysis always had to face grave incriminations, but nothing has robbed psychoanalysis of a favorable opinion on the part of its contemporaries more than the conception of the Œdipus Complex, as a general human characteristic, decreed by fate. To be sure, Greek mythology must have similarly interpreted the Œdipus situation, but the majority of our contemporaries—be they learned or not—prefer to believe that nature herself has endowed us with an inborn disgust, as a protection against the possibility of an incestuous trend. But here we may refer to history for corroboration. When Cæsar met Egypt’s youthful queen, soon to play such an important part in his life, Cleopatra was married to her younger brother Ptolemy. This was nothing extraordinary in Egyptian dynastic tradition. The Ptolemæëns, originally of Greek extraction, had simply continued a custom practised for thousands of years by their predecessors, the old Pharaohs. Incestuous relationships, a common practice at that time, were after all, only between brother and sister, which even today evokes a comparatively mild judgment. But let us turn to our most important witness—mythology—for conditions, as they prevailed in primitive times. Mythology records that the myths, not only of the Greeks, but of all nations, supply an over-abundance of amorous relations between father and daughter, and even between mother and son; cosmology, as well as genealogy, of royal families was founded on incest. According to your mind, what was the underlying reason for the creation of this lore? Was it to brand gods and kings as criminals, to invite the disgust of mankind upon their heads? It was rather that the gratification of incestuous desires—an ancient, human heritage, never completely overcome—was still permissible for gods and their offspring, although renounced by the majority of common mortals. From this, it would appear, that incestuous desires, in the childhood of the individual, are in complete harmony with the teachings of history and mythology.