How the Ancient Greeks Interpreted Their Dreams

Dream interpretation in ancient Greece, as demonstrated by the early example of Penelope's dream in Homer's The Odyssey, laid the groundwork for a tradition that would influence scholars for centuries. Classicist Mirjam Kotwick argues that a shared method of dream interpretation—reading by resemblance or the logic of likeness—was employed by a long line of Greek thinkers, including Homer, Aeschylus, Herodotus, Plato, and Aristotle.

This method, known as the "hermeneutics of similarity," involved four steps: assuming the surface meaning of a dream isn't the true meaning, identifying specific words or characters, recognizing thematic and formal similarities between the surface and underlying meanings, and concluding that one thing signifies the other. Kotwick emphasizes that while Penelope's dream may not be the absolute starting point for dream interpretation, it serves as a crucial starting point for our understanding, as it showcases the development of a shared method that would continue to shape the study of language and meaning.