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Idealization of the past serves the psychological purpose of helping us weather the anxiety of current crises. Emphasizing the methods used to restore mental health, Ekstein draws analogies between the present and the state of affairs in Greece around 400 B.C. when Athens began to decline. Examples of dream analysis and free association employed by Socrates in Aristophanes's The Clouds are compared to phases in Freud's development of psychoanalytic technique: Socrates saw the goal of his therapeutic interventions as that of helping his 'patient' find new options through catharsis and insight. Greek drama, such as Aeschylus's Orestean trilogy, permitted the audience to identify with and internalize the conflicts of the characters. In this sense, Greek drama anticipated such Freudian concepts as internalization, sublimation, and the change of superego functions in relation to socialization, in contrast to many group therapies of today which encourage acting out of conflict. An open and free society might well reflect upon the ego ideals of the precursors of freedom found in ancient Athens.