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Because of its vividness and the interesting problems raised by Freud's discussion, this his last work1 will probably for many years to come be as fruitful in provoking discussion as was Totem and Taboo. Several critical discussions of this book have already appeared.
The first question which I shall raise may seem unrelated to the subject matter of the book; yet perhaps in answering it, light may be shed on the psychological validity of the assumptions made by Freud. The question is simply: why was Freud so much interested in Moses? One concludes that Freud had a feeling of identification with Moses.
To understand this identification, one must go back to the years 1910 to 1913. During these years Freud was involved in a struggle with several of his best pupils—Adler, Jung and Stekel. These men, unable to accept the thorny path of their leader, were bowing down to the false gods of evasion, distortion and half-truths. The final break with the most able of these associates, Jung, came in 1913. In 1914 the article, The Moses of Michelangelo, was published anonymously2.
For many years the Michelangelo statue of Moses apparently had fascinated Freud, but he failed to find a satisfactory explanation of this powerful figure. His sudden understanding and insight into the emotional moment portrayed by Michelangelo came because his own emotional situation was identical.
Moses has come down from the mountain with the Tablets under his arm. Seated, he sees and hears his chosen people bowing down to the golden calf. Turning his head, he starts up in rage from his chair; his right hand lets go of the