Philo, On Dreams, 1.1
“The first dream proper to this category is the one which appeared to the dreamer on the stairway to heaven.”
ὄναρ δ᾿ ἐστὶ πρῶτον οἰκεῖον εἴδει τῷ σημαινομένῳ τὸ φανὲν ἐπὶ τῆς οὐρανοῦ κλίμακος τόδε. [the dream he discusses is Gen. xxviii. 12–15]
107
“And I, when I am just a little free of my drunkenness, I am so allied with those men that I share the same enemy and friend. And even now I reject and hate the dreamer no less because those people hate him. No one who is reasonable can fault me for this because the opinions and the votes of the majority always prevail.”
ἐγὼ δ᾿ ἐκείνοις, ὅταν μικρὸν ἀνεθῶ τῆς μέθης, οὕτως εἰμὶ ἔνσπονδος, ὡς τὸν αὐτὸν ἐχθρὸν καὶ φίλον εἶναι νομίζειν. καὶ νῦν οὐδὲν ἧττον τὸν ἐνυπνιαστήν, ὅτι γε καὶ ἐκεῖνοι, προβαλοῦμαι καὶ στυγήσω· καὶ οὐδεὶς εὖ φρονῶν ἐπὶ τούτῳ μέμψαιτ᾿ ἄν με τῷ τὰς πλειόνων γνώμας τε καὶ ψήφους ἀεὶνικᾶν.
Some Words
ὕπαρ, τὸ: “day-dream”
ἐνύπιον, τὸ: “dream”
ἐνυπνιαστής: “dreamer”
ὄναρ, τὸ: “dream”
ὄνειρος, ὁ: “dream”
ὀνείρειος: “dreamy”
ὀνειρογενής: “dream-producing”
ὀνειροδάτις: “dream-giving”
ὀνειροκρίτης: “dream-judge”
ὀνειρόπληκτος: “dream-struck” (“frightened by dreams”)
ὀνειροπόλος: “dreamer, dream interpreter”
ὀνειρόσοφος: “wise in dreams”
ὀνειροφαντασία: “dream illusion”
Note ancient Greek does not have:
ὀνειροφόνος: “dream slayer”
ὀνειροκτόνος: “dream killer”
Aelian, Varia Historia 3.1
“The Peripatetics say that at day the soul is a slave encased by the body and it is not able to see the truth clearly. At night, it is freed from its service and, after takes the shape of a sphere in the area around the chest, it becomes somewhat prophetic: this is where dreams come from.”
Οἱ περιπατητικοί φασι μεθ’ ἡμέραν θητεύουσαν τὴν ψυχὴν τῷ σώματι περιπλέκεσθαι καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι καθαρῶς τὴν ἀλήθειαν θεωρεῖν• νύκτωρ δὲ διαλυθεῖσαν τῆς περὶ τοῦτο λειτουργίας καὶ σφαιρωθεῖσαν ἐν τῷ περὶ τὸν θώρακα τόπῳ μαντικωτέραν γίνεσθαι, ἐξ ὧν τὰ ἐνύπνια.
Arsenius, 17.66
“Windblown dreams and shadows of glory”: A proverb applied to those hoping for things in vain.
῾Υπηνέμια ὀνείρατα καὶ ἐπαίνων σκιαί: ἐπὶ τῶν μάτην ἐλπιζόντων.
