The coming to light of correspondence from Freud's adolescence, spanning the period of his decision to devote himself to natural science, provides students of his life with fresh evidence about some sources and avenues of his creativity. The letters to Emil Fluss confirm that Freud's adolescence was relatively tranquil, best characterized by a capacity for selective but stable identifications with aspects of great men who mirrored some of his talents. Freud's unique psychological acuity is already demonstrated here; it is more surprising to find all the elements that were to characterize his mature writing style. The authors attempt to demonstrate the internalization of some formal stylistic elements based on the prototypes of Horace and Goethe. They hypothesize that in adolescence men destined to greatness require ideal imagines for the expansion of their own capacities to their potential limits.