Tayo Akingbe
Dreams are visions that a person experiences that when interpreted canbring order to the waking world. In many instances in the classical era, dreams were believed to be a means of communication to the dreamer from the gods. The message sent to the dreamer may be very apparent as to what the gods are communicating or there may be some underlying meaning that when examined in the situation, may reveal the actual message. Nonetheless, in both cases the interpretation of the dreams attempts to bring order to a situation that is otherwise full of disorder. Examples of dreams as being a means of communication from the gods to bring order are seen in the dream sequences in the Iliad, the Odyssey and The Metamorphoses of Ovid.
In the lliad, the maximum leader of the Greeks, Agamemnon, is sent a
dream from Zeus saying that he should go to war against the Trojans the
next day because it is then that they would "capture Troy"(Iliad, 2.34).
In the classical era, it was known that only the maximum leaders got dreams
from the gods indicating strategies of war. But in this case, Zeus left
Agamemnon "[d]reaming of things that were never to be" (Iliad, 2.41). This
dream is an example of the gods, in this case Zeus, communicating to the
dreamer. Because Zeus sends Agamemnon a false dream, the message here is
not so apparent. Zeus is giving Agamemnon an underlying message. Since
only maximum leaders got dreams from divinity regarding strategic advice,
and Agamemnons was not true, then Zeus is trying to communicate to him
that he is not the true leader. Furthermore, when Agamemnon acts on his
dream and loses against Troy he not only discovers that his dream was false
but he also discovers that it was because Achilles was not fighting that
they lost. So by communicating this to him through the dream, Zeus is attempting
to bring order to this situation by making it known that Agamemnon is unworthy
of being the leader of the Greeks but Achilles is.
In the Odyssey, Penelope, Odysseus wife has a dream about twenty geese
that are feeding on seeds until an eagle comes down and kills them all.
The eagle then says to her "...the geese are the suitors and I, the eagle...am
your own husband, come home, and I shall inflict shameless destruction
on all the suitors." (Odyssey, xix.548-550). Penelope s dream seems to
foretell the return of her husband who had been lost for twenty years.
It also tells that the suitors, who have inhabited her house since her
husband left, will be killed. Similar to Agamemnons dream in the
Iliad, Penelopes dream is also used as a means of communication from the
gods to give her a message and bring order. In this case the message being
communicated to Penelope is that Odysseus will return and he will kill
the suitors to regain his household. By telling her this, the divinity
is letting her know that order will be restored by Odysseus return. Unlike
Agamemnons dream in the Iliad, this dream is true and the message presented
is clear. Nonetheless Penelopes dream was used as a means of communication
from the gods in an attempt to bring order.
In The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Alcyone was lamenting over her long lost
husband and hoping and praying for his return. The goddess Iris did not
want her to pray any longer for a man who was already dead so she sent
a dream to Alcyone. It was sent to her in the form of her husband to tell
her that he is dead and she should not expect his return. This dream along
with Penelopes and Agagmemnons dreams was also used as a means of communication
from the gods to send her an important message. The message here
informed her of "the true state of affairs" (Ovid, pg261) in that her husband
was dead. Because Alcyone did not know whether her husband was dead or
alive, her situation was in a state of disorder. When the goddess Iris
sends Alcyone this dream telling her that her husband is dead, it brings
order to the situation. It does this by providing closure so that Alcyone
no longer wonders when her husband will return.
In conclusion a dream can serve many purposes in many different situations. The gods use the visions that the dreamer experiences as a way to communicate an important message in an attempt to bring order to a situation. For Agamemnon, Zeus sent him a dream to indicate to him that he is not the maximum leader. This was a way to bring order in that it let him know that it is Achilles who deserves to be the leader. For Penelope, the gods sent her a dream to tell her that her long lost husband will return and regain the household from the suitors. Her situation was in a state of disorder with the many suitors who invaded her house but this dream was a way of bringing order with the foretelling of the return of Odysseus. For Alcyone the goddess Iris sent her a dream to tell her that her husband is dead and not to continue to expect his return. This dreams brings order to her life in that it brings closure to her constant lamenting over her long lost husband. So in all of these cases it is clear that dreams are an important form of communication to send a message from the divine to the dreamers in an attempt to bring order to their present situation.