The Use of Dreams in Epic Form
Present in most epics, dreams are used by Homer and Virgil in the Iliad, Odyssey, and the Aeneid to catalyze action in the plot. These epic dreams serve a vital purpose to the bard in his formulation of the epic and to the audience in their understanding of the epic. Inspired by gods, formulated in the minds of men, and acted upon to further the plot, these dreams bring about great changes in the course of the epic in which they are contained. Using these aspects of dreams to examine the concept of the dream among the early Greeks and Romans, we have to rely mainly on the literature that has survived to arrive at any conclusions about their dreams. However, reliance on literature, such as epic poetry, presents difficulties. Drama and literature are reflections of society, but not exact ones. Using American television as an example, there is very little accuracy in television as a reflection of American society. Keeping this tendency for inaccuracy in mind, the Greek view of dreams that has developed from the study of dreams in ancient literature is that the dreams present information that otherwise would not be know to both the character and the audience, clarify problems, and inspire action (Robbins 3). In addition to dre
An example of this is when the soul of Patroclus appears to Achilles, in Book Twenty-three of the Iliad, asking that his body be buried. In these dreams there is no symbolism, just a direct relation of the future to the character. Further concerning the dream of Penelope many scholars question the validity of her dream at all. As a result, the dream itself must not have been a fabrication and really did occur, making it a perfect example of somnium dreams. Homeric Greeks believed in two different kinds of dreams: ota, the great vision, big meaningful, and of collective importance; and vudota, the ordinary small dream (Jung 4). "(Odyssey vv 633 - 9) This elaborate description again is incorporated by Virgil into the Aeneid as Aeneas exits Hades. Second, these meanings were interpretable, which means the meaning of the dream could be prophetic, giving information about the future. They hold me off at a distance, all the souls,The shades of the burnt-out breathless dead,Never to let me cross the river, mingle with them. And you too,Your fate awaits you too, godlike as you are, Achilles-To die in battle beneath the proud rich Trojans' walls! (Iliad vv 75, 81-97)With this dream the bard reminds the audience of Achilles' primary motive for killing Hector, his murder of Patroclus, reiterates the mortality of Achilles when Patroclus predicts that Achilles will not be long in joining him in the underworld, and makes the reader conscious of the parallel world of the dead as Patroclus wanders in front of the gates of Hades. Used to manipulate, validate, and inspire the actions of the characters, epic dreams have interpretable meanings and can originate from external sources such as the gods and the dead. In the Homeric epics, not all dreams were perceived as valid predictors; some were manifestly false. Zeus uses a dream to manipulate Agamemnon in the Iliad, by the prompting of Thetis in order to avenge her son's dishonor. Nearly all dreams are assumed to be somnium by modern psychologists (Lewis 63).
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