Hostility between generations does exist, particularly between father and son and this can have either a constructive or destructive effect. The author cites examples from mythology. In some myths the father eats the son; twenty-three heroes are listed who escaped the father's murderous intent. From earliest biblical times through republican Rome the father had the right to kill the son. The various devices evolved to avoid this included matrilineal descent, hiding the infant, denying the paternity, and even declaring the infant to be of virgin birth. Other devices have been made into legislation by society.

Today with the threat of unlimited wars we might expect or hope for a