In ancient Greece, as in many other early civilizations, dreams held a special fascination and occupied a unique place in how people understood the world. Over time, the perception of dreams evolved – from being seen as divine messages to being increasingly regarded as products of the human mind.
Dreams as divine messages and prophecies
In ancient Greece, dreams were regarded as an important part of human life, with the potential to reveal hidden truths or offer guidance. They were seen as messages from the gods or as prophecies of future events. Greek mythology contains several stories in which dreams serve as a means of communication between gods and humans.
Dreams are sometimes personified as Oneiros or the Oneiroi (oneiro means “dream” in Greek). In Hesiod’s Theogony, the Oneiroi are described as the sons of Nyx (Night) and brothers of Hypnos (Sleep). In the Odyssey, Homer mentions the realm of dreams as a distant place beyond the river Oceanus and the gates of the sun, near the Asphodel Meadows, where the souls of the dead dwell.
It is a borderland in the cosmos – sometimes paraphrased as “where reality ends and the marvelous begins” – where dreams, visions, and spirits have their origin. A dream is described as a daimón, a supernatural being from the underworld, and Homer tells us that deceptive dreams pass through a gate of ivory, while true dreams pass through a gate of horn.
Agamemnon’s and Penelope’s Dreams
Throughout Homer’s works, dreams play a significant role in conveying divine messages and revealing the characters’ inner thoughts. Two prominent examples are Agamemnon’s dream in the Iliad and Penelope’s dream in the Odyssey:
In the second book of the Iliad, Zeus sends a deceptive dream to Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek forces during the Trojan War. In the dream, Zeus takes on the form of Nestor, a respected advisor, and urges Agamemnon to launch an immediate attack on Troy, promising a swift victory. Agamemnon interprets the dream as a favorable sign and gathers his troops for the assault.
But the attack fails – the Greeks suffer heavy losses, and it becomes clear that victory cannot be achieved without Achilles, who still refuses to join the battle. Zeus had deliberately misled Agamemnon in order to demonstrate how crucial Achilles was to the Greeks’ success. This episode illustrates how the gods in Homer’s works actively intervene in human affairs through dreams, influencing both the course of the war and the decisions of the characters.
In the nineteenth book of the Odyssey, Penelope, Odysseus’s faithful wife, recounts a dream in which she sees twenty geese eating grain at her house. In the dream, an eagle appears and kills all the geese, causing Penelope to weep in sorrow. The eagle then returns and speaks with a human voice, revealing that he is her husband, Odysseus, and that the geese represent the suitors who have invaded her home.
This dream serves as a prophetic vision of Odysseus’s return and his revenge on the suitors. However, Penelope expresses skepticism about the dream’s truthfulness. She recalls the ancient belief in two gates for dreams – one of horn for true dreams and one of ivory for false ones – and says she believes her dream came through the latter. Her uncertainty highlights the complex nature of dreams and their interpretations in ancient Greek culture.
Dreams in classical antiquity
During the classical period of ancient Greece, several prominent philosophers explored the nature and significance of dreams. Their perspectives varied greatly, reflecting the multifaceted view of dreams during this time.
Plato
Plato viewed dreams as a reflection of the soul’s state and believed that they could reveal hidden desires suppressed during wakefulness. He linked the nature of dreams to an individual’s moral character and considered them a source of insight into a person’s inner life.
Aristotle
Aristotle, one of Plato’s foremost students, had a more empirical view of dreams. He believed that dreams were the result of sensory impressions and bodily processes that continued during sleep. In his work On Dreams, Aristotle argues that dreams are not divine messages but rather a continuation of the mental activities that occur during wakefulness. He maintained that dreams could provide insight into a person’s physical and psychological condition, but he dismissed the idea that they held prophetic significance.
Epicurus
Epicurus, known for his materialistic philosophy, rejected the idea that dreams had any divine or prophetic significance. He believed that dreams were products of sensory impressions and mental images that lingered in the mind during sleep. According to Epicurus, dreams were a natural process without any supernatural meaning, and he advocated for a rational understanding of them.
In drama
Dreams were used by playwrights in ancient Greece as powerful symbols of guilt, fate, and impending disaster. One of the most famous examples is found in Aeschylus’ trilogy The Oresteia, which depicts Orestes’ revenge on his mother Clytemnestra after the murder of his father Agamemnon. In the second part, The Libation Bearers, Clytemnestra dreams that she gives birth to a serpent that feeds on her blood – a clear omen of Orestes’ return and revenge. The dream drives the plot forward and is interpreted as a sign from the gods of what is to come.
Dreams in medicine
In ancient Greece, dreams played an important role in ideas about health and healing, long before medicine became a scientific discipline. The tradition of seeking cures through dreams dates back to the Mycenaean and Archaic periods. Even then, people traveled to sanctuaries known as oneiromanteia – dream oracles – often located near sacred springs or altars. They would sleep at these sites in the hope of receiving a dream in which the god revealed a cure or offered guidance. This practice was primarily religious and centered on receiving divine messages.
These sacred sites were often dedicated to Asclepius, the god of healing and son of Apollo, and were called Asclepieia. According to myth, Asclepius learned the art of medicine from the centaur Chiron, and he received blood from the Gorgon Medusa, given to him by the goddess Athena – blood that could heal diseases but also bring the dead back to life. His symbol, the staff with a coiled serpent, remains today as an international symbol of medicine.
The Asklepieia temples were spread across the Greek world and served as both hospitals and spiritual retreats. Visitors prepared themselves through purification rituals and offerings before lying down to sleep in special sacred rooms, awaiting a dream with divine guidance. The messages experienced in the dream were then interpreted by temple priests, who prescribed remedies – sometimes herbs, baths, or other treatments.
Hippokrates och Galenos
It was only during the 5th century BCE that a more rational view of dreams began to take shape within the field of medicine. Hippocrates, often called the “father of medicine,” combined observation with theory and believed that dreams could provide insight into a patient’s physical condition. In his writings, he describes how dreams could reveal imbalances in the body, thereby helping the physician understand what was happening beneath the surface. Although he did not emphasize the religious aspect himself, he also practiced at Epidaurus, where the cult of Asclepius was strong.
In the Hippocratic tradition, the concept of egkoimesis (εγκοίμησις) also appears – the practice of sleeping to receive guidance through dreams – but here, dreams were not interpreted as supernatural visions. Instead, they were seen as natural expressions of the state of the body and mind. Thus, dreams became a tool in diagnosis and treatment – a meeting point between the symbolic world of religion and the emerging methods of medicine.
Even during the Roman period, dreams continued to play a role in medicine. The influential physician Galen (c. 129–216 CE) developed Hippocrates’ ideas and suggested that dreams could reflect both physical conditions and psychological conflicts. He regarded them as a diagnostic tool but also connected them to philosophical notions about the nature of the soul. Through Galen, the interpretation of dreams continued to live on in both Western and Arabic medical traditions for many centuries.
From ancient Greece to the present
The ancient Greeks’ view of dreams has had a lasting influence on later cultures and our understanding of dreams today. Their blend of religious, philosophical, and medical perspectives laid the foundation for a multifaceted view of dreams as both personal and universal phenomena. The religious interpretation of dreams as messages from a higher power persists in many cultures, while the philosophical and medical perspectives have evolved into modern psychological theories about dreams and their significance. By studying the ancient Greeks’ approach to dreams, we can better understand how our perceptions of dreams have been shaped and continue to evolve.
In summary, dreams in ancient Greece were a complex and multifaceted phenomenon, integrated into various aspects of life, from religion and philosophy to medicine. This rich tradition has left a lasting legacy that continues to influence our view of dreams and their role in human life.
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