Paper

Randy Narvaez-Ruiz
February 22, 2010
Intellectual Heritage 852
Tyler Smith
Dreams & Journeys

A dream is often described as a succession of thoughts, images, sounds or emotions which the mindexperiences during sleep (Freud 34). The purpose of dreams is still not completely understood; however people around the world have offered many different explanations throughout history. In epicjourneys dreams are typically used as a catalyst which complicates the plot in a variety of ways. These dreams serve a very important purpose in epic journeys because they often complicate the plot andallow audiences to draw conclusions regarding their purpose. Often inspired by divinities, these dreams are formulated in the minds of men, and typically create some sort of reaction from , these dreamsbring about great changes in the course of the epic in which they are contained. Using these aspects of dreams to examine the concept of the dream among the early Greeks and Romans, we have to relymainly on the literature that has survived to arrive at any conclusions about their dreams. However, reliance on literature, such as epic poetry, presents difficulties.

The importance of dreams isbased on how a person feels about them. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, both Gilgamesh and Enkidu have dreams that are of vast importance to both them and the story. Their dreams are interpreted and we findthat the dreams affect the story greatly. Their dreams were important in the story because the Ancient Mesopotamians believed that dreams came from the gods and had special meaning. In my world, abubble that contains the community surrounding Evansville, Indiana and a few other places I have been, things are different than in Ancient Mesopotamia. In my world, dreams typically do not carry suchimportance because the people of my world do not believe that they are sent by gods, need interpretation, or foretell the future.
The people of my world do not place importance in dreams because...