Guntrip's (1977) vehement rejection of Erikson's (1965) image of man as centaur, particularly when the latter seemed so close to Freud's rider-and-horse metaphor for the ego and id, prompted a review of the appropriateness of these and similar metaphors or images of mankind such as centaur, fallen angel or irredeemable devil. This leads into the consideration of other issues such as whether psychoanalysis is a science or an art; whether it belongs in the rational or romantic tradition; whether it is a science at a pre-scientific metaphorical stage or a new humanism in its own right.