The Role of Oracles and Dreams in Herodotus' the History Essay

Freud believed that dreams provided pivotal entries for the deeper workings of the mind. A dream simply, is a wish that a person has that is either suppressed or repressed (Wollheim). Many instances of dreams happen in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar that can provide insight on decisions made by the characters more specifically Brutus. When dreaming is apparent in the play what the characters are able to remember is considered “manifest” content. This gives the subject of the dream. For the character to understand the dream is must have a deep meaning in this case the content of that that dream is “latent.” These two contents of dreaming coincide with each other balancing each other making the relationship functional. Dreams have four categories in which the work that go condensation, displacement, representation, and lastly secondary revision (Wollheim). Condensation can be simplified in definition. . . the handling of names and words whilst in a dream. Dreams often wear a disguise as Freud suggests. Displacement has two parts in the functionality of a dream. First the dreams are centered away so they do not show importance and the second function of displacement is the actual dreams doing duties for element in dream thoughts (Wolheim). Imagery is strongly correlated with

The significance of the aforementioned dreams changes the overall outcome of future events that will transpire. For example, in Of Mice and Men, George is very cautious with his plans, as seen in “George was on guard immediately. ‘S’pose I do,’ he said. ‘What’s that to you?’ and “George said quickly, ‘Don’t tell nobody about

When an epic hero, like Amari and Odysseus, has the opportunity to face the unknown, or has a crisis, and has something to gain, this starts the beginning of their journey called “The Call.” During this period, the heroes go through things, in their eyes, that is unimaginable or wasn’t expected. Odysseus’s call was more voluntary and exciting than Amari’s call because his “Call” was when he won the Trojan War and could return home after ten years. Amari’s “Call” was when she and a few others from her tribe were captured and taken as slaves after her family was killed and her village destroyed. Odysseus had a choice but Amari did not. Before “The Call”, Amari and Odysseus characteristics affected and predestined their journey. Two epic hero qualities, Noble Birth and Cultural Legend, set up Amari and Odysseus path. Odysseus Noble Birth quality was that he was the son of Laertes, a hero, and his Cultural Legend was being a war hero and the King of Ithaca. Amari’s Noble Birth quality was that her family was considered royalty because her father was an elder of her tribe, Ewe, he was a favored storyteller, and her family was skilled weavers. Her Cultural Legend couldn’t be fulfilled because she was to inherit the family business of weaving. Although Amari didn’t become a Cultural Legend, they both had purpose due to their family’s high-rank in their culture.

In Gilgamesh, dreams are used as a form of communication between the Gods and humans. Major events are seen through these dreams and fantasies are foretold. In the ancient Mesopotamian culture, dreams play a major role. Dreams foretold the coming of Enkidu, the death of Enkidu, the protection of Shamhat during the battle with Humbaba, and much more. The fact that dreams play such an important role in

The structure of The Histories presents a problem. The secondary structure of The Histories almost obscures the primary structure, making the book difficult to follow. We are presented with two possibilities. Either Herodotus is not a good author or The Histories was not meant to be read as a book. Given the oral nature of fifth century Athens the later is far more likely. Books were likely a rarity in Herodotus' time given the difficulty in reproducing them. Given the oral

I remember having dreams and when I have had them they were very interesting, and I wander why. 1 Reading the text book, it says most people dream four to five times a night, but not all people remember their dreams upon awakening in the morning. Non-dreamers are often surprised by their dreams when they first awake. (Dennis Coon, 2016). 1 How meaningful are dreams? Some theorist believe that dreams have deeply hidden meanings. Others regard dreams as nearly meaningless. 2 Yet others hold that dreams reflect our waking thoughts, fantasies and emotions(hartmann,2011). I also looked up on the Dream Bible which I never knew that these sites exist, so it was very interesting reading the different sites. 3 The dream Bible says

They can either make us or break us. Curley’s wife had a dream that she would be in “pitchers”-- movies. This dream brings her down because she knows she had an opportunity to make something of herself. It brings her down and makes her lonely.Every time she talks about her dream, it’s in resentment. She wishes that she could’ve pursued her dream. She know she could’ve, but she didn’t, so every time she thinks about it she gets upset. She knows she could’ve lived a better life than the one she was living. “I tell you I ain’t used to livin’ like this. I coulda made somethin’ of myself,” she states in the book. She also talks about how since she couldn’t live her dream, she married Curley out of spite. “Well I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself…. So I married Curley” Crooks also had a dream that brought him down. He wanted to be a part of something, it didn’t matter what it was. Big or little, like we’ve all felt before, Crooks just wanted to be a part of something and not feel isolated because of his differences. All in all, dreams can either be good or bad for

Fate is unavoidable causing the fall of Oedipus. Oedipus’ parents tried avoiding fate with their son, when they “pierced the baby's ankles And left him to die on a lonely mountainside” (Sophocles 977). Ultimately true fate was for Oedipus to murder his father and impregnate his mother. Oedipus states, “I should lie with my own mother, breed Children from whom all men would turn their eyes; And that I should be my father's murderer” (Sophocles 979). Trying to avoid fate, Oedipus “fled” from Corinth (Sophocles 979). By leaving, Oedipus thinks he will stop this “wretchedness” from happening (Sophocles 979). Due to Oedipus unavoidable fate, “children die unborn, And labor is vain” (Sophocles 960). Oedipus is uncertain why this plague is taking place. Creon emphasizes that “It was murder that brought the plague-wind on the city” (Sophocles 962). Oedipus eagerly wanted to find the king Laios’ killer.

Dreams can be easy to plan, but often impossible to reach. In Of Mice and Men, written by the best-selling author John Steinbeck, the characters used their dreams as a motivation. The role they played in people’s lives was to help them “escape” from the dark times of the Great Depression. However, the dreams seem to affect them. Curley’s wife dreamt of being an actress, but she ended up marrying Curley.

The harshness of the world and the small chance of survival he is facing would perhaps indicate that dreams are a welcomed form of escape. However, the father’s own assessment of these dreams and what he thinks of them is as follows, “The right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and death. He slept little and slept poorly.” To the man, he feels that because life is so terrible, any dreams that were pleasent would be dangerous. Such nice dreams would represent “the call of languor and death.” They would soften him and make him unable to make tough choices that were critical to his own and his son's survival.

Dream interpretations in ancient world comes from the East part of the world both as a practice and as a science. Dram interpretations are divided in to three parts. Dreams of super beings for the protections and guidance, critics against unbelievers, or others that against his law. All this drams are believed o be sent by a high power. Dream interpretation started from Egypt it spread all over the east to the time of Mohammed. It was believed that “dreams are a portion of prophecy”( p132). Mohamed who was a Muslim leader communicated most of the religious things through his dream. This has contributed a great deal in taking for dream interpretation “the earlier announcement of Muhammad’s mission, and the revelation of the first portion of the Koran which was made known to him were in a dream while a similar mode of communication cheered the disheartened partisans of Islam in the expedition to Hudaibiyah , by the promise of their triumphal entry , in the following year to the holy temple of Mecca.” (P132) according to this we can tell dream interpretation in earlier years is used as a source of religion so from this we can conclude that dreams were important part of the people.

In today’s society, people have many different ways that they interpret their dreams. Some people believe that they give us a view into the future while others believe that they tell us more about ourselves. Historically, they were once believed to be symptoms of mental illness. It was through the work of Sigmund Freud, a psychoanalyst, that the value of dreams was shifted; we were able to learn the significance of the information that they gave us (“Dream in History”, para. 9). In Frankenstein, Mary Shelley uses dreams and nightmares to share information with the reader on Victor. These dreams — specifically Victor’s — give us details relating to his desires which affect his character. As the book progresses, we begin to see a shift in his character which parallels with these dreams.

The ancients believed that dreams had the power to predict future events or contained information that communicated the will of the gods. Several dreams occur throughout The Epic of Gilgamesh. The dreams found in The Epic of Gilgamesh help to foreshadow coming

The narrator submits to the fate and does not care how things happen, merely like some children enjoying the magic without knowing the tricks. Dreams like magic, they do not follow the logic; they merely

It may be due to the restraint Herodotus shows in his own writings, that we never seem him speak about the prerequisites to understanding his works directly. His tacit expectation betrayed his own works through an unusual degree of self-security and a consciousness of his readers. Herodotus’ work is in his own time was not only one of the first prose works, but is also the most extensive by a large margin . While the Iliad and Odyssey are of course more extensive, they are part of a poetic tradition. Herodotus' self-confidence in the effect of his work is obvious; however, the limited scope of his life's work gets called into question at the end of the 5th century by