The dream in Homer and Greek tragedy

By William Stuart Messer

Where do dreams belong in the hard light of epic and the dark chambers of tragedy? Dreams shape epic and tragedy. In The Dream in Homer and Greek Tragedy, William Stuart Messer traces how sleeping visions, omens and prophecies move from private experience to public consequence, revealing the emotional and religious life of archaic and classical Greece. First published in the early twentieth century, this classical studies monograph unites fine-grained homeric literature criticism with searching greek tragedy analysis. Messer follows every significant dream scene across the Iliad and Odyssey, asking what dreams in homeric epics disclose about heroic psychology, divine agency and narrative design. He then turns to dreams in greek tragedy, examining how playwrights reshape vision and omen to probe guilt, fate and moral responsibility. Throughout, ancient greek dream symbolism is read against cult, ritual and the daily uncertainties of war, family and politics. Equally valuable for classics students seeking a rigorous academic reference on homer and for general readers drawn to ancient greece literature, the study casts fresh light on classical greek epic poetry and the tragic stage. Out of print for decades and now republished by Alpha Editions, this landmark study of ancient dream interpretation restores a vital strand of scholarship on Aeschylus Sophocles Euripides and their Homeric inheritance. Restored for today's and future generations, it is more than a reprint - a collector's item and a cultural treasure for libraries, scholars and anyone who cares about the deep imaginative world of ancient Greece.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9353608252
• ISBN13: 9789353608255
• Release Date: April 2019
• Publisher: Alpha Edition
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.5" x 8.5"