Dreams in Homer, Heraclitus, and Plato

Abstract

My thesis examines the connection between dreams, knowledge, and perception in the works of Homer, Heraclitus and Plato. Although the perception is not a topic thoroughly discussed in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Homeric view on dreams will serve as a basis for comparison with Heraclitus and Plato. In Homer, dreams are generally messages from a supernatural force imparting some divine knowledge to the sleeper in order to fulfill their own will. As a reaction to the traditionally accepted views of the epics, Heraclitus asserts that dreams, because they are created by specific individuals and are cut off from the shared world fire, are a poor source of the true logos, true knowledge. Furthermore, Plato expands upon Heraclitus’ idea by stating that dreaming is a form of perception that is too unstable to be able to provide true knowledge. By exploring how people perceive dreams while asleep, we can get a better understanding of the sort of knowledge that is obtained in dreams.