Following the thesis in the excellent paper by Stengel,1 Flugel discusses the relation between modern examinations and archaic initiation rites. In the middle ages examinations at universities displayed this connection still more clearly. Flugel shows that the tasks which the hero has to fulfil, especially the riddles to be solved by him, belong in the same realm; the same is true for 'trial by ordeal' procedures. This author is by no means the first to see a connection, not only between earthly court procedures, but also the last judgment, and university examinations: 'As early as the thirteenth century Robert de Sorbon, the founder of the Sorbonne, in a sermon that has come down to us, drew an elaborate parallel between the earthly and the heavenly examinations. In both cases the trial is severe and the possibility of rejection is very serious.'