The Ages of the Child

Oedipus was the only one to successfully answer the question posed by the Theban Sphinx. His answer saved his life, but it was also a turning away from the enigma of sexuality by reducing the riddle to a developmental schema. From Oedipus’ response, it is evident that the developmental conception is age-old, not a recent scientific invention. But the child does not permit of any clear definition established by ages and stages.…