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A Treatise on the Soul

Tertullian

Chapter 46

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Author: Tertullian

Chapter XLVI.—Diversity of Dreams and Visions. Epicurus Thought Lightly of Them, Though Generally Most Highly Valued. Instances of Dreams.

We now find ourselves constrained to express an opinion about the

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character

of

the

dreams

by

which

the

soul

is

excited

.

And

when

shall

we

arrive

at

the

subject

of

death

?

And

on

such

a

question

I

would

say

,

When

God

shall

permit

:

that

admits

of

no

long

delay

which

must

needs

happen

at

all

events

.

Epicurus

has

given

it

as

his

opinion

that

dreams

are

altogether

vain

things

;

(

but

he

says

this

)

when

liberating

the

Deity

from

all

sort

of

care

,

and

dissolving

the

entire

order

of

the

world

,

and

giving

to

all

things

the

aspect

of

merest

chance

,

casual

in

their

issues

,

fortuitous

in

their

nature

.

Well

,

now

,

if

such

be

the

nature

of

things

,

there

must

be

some

chance

even

for

truth

,

because

it

is

impossible

for

it

to

be

the

only

thing

to

be

exempted

from

the

fortune

which

is

due

to

all

things

.

Homer

has

assigned

two

gates

to

dreams

,

—

the

horny

one

of

truth

,

the

ivory

one

of

error

and

delusion

.

For

,

they

say

,

it

is

possible

to

see

through

horn

,

whereas

ivory

is

untransparent

.

Aristotle

,

while

expressing

his

opinion

that

dreams

are

in

most

cases

untrue

,

yet

acknowledges

that

there

is

some

truth

in

them

.

The

people

of

Telmessus

will

not

admit

that

dreams

are

in

any

case

unmeaning

,

but

they

blame

their

own

weakness

when

unable

to

conjecture

their

signification

.

Now

,

who

is

such

a

stranger

to

human

experience

as

not

sometimes

to

have

perceived

some

truth

in

dreams

?

I

shall

force

a

blush

from

Epicurus

,

if

I

only

glance

at

some

few

of

the

more

remarkable

instances

.

Herodotus

relates

how

that

Astyages

,

king

of

the

Medes

,

saw

in

a

dream

issuing

from

the

womb

of

his

virgin

daughter

a

flood

which

inundated

Asia

;

and

again

,

in

the

year

which

followed

her

marriage

,

he

saw

a

vine

growing

out

from

the

same

part

of

her

person

,

which

overspread

the

whole

of

Asia

.

The

same

story

is

told

prior

to

Herodotus

by

Charon

of

Lampsacus

.

Now

they

who

interpreted

these

visions

did

not

deceive

the

mother

when

they

destined

her

son

for

so

great

an

enterprise

,

for

Cyrus

both

inundated

and

overspread

Asia

.

Philip

of

Macedon

,

before

he

became

a

father

,

had

seen

imprinted

on

the

pudenda

of

his

consort

Olympias

the

form

of

a

small

ring

,

with

a

lion

as

a

seal

.

He

had

concluded

that

an

offspring

from

her

was

out

of

the

question

(

I

suppose

because

the

lion

only

becomes

once

a

father

)

,

when

Aristodemus

or

Aristophon

happened

to

conjecture

that

nothing

of

an

unmeaning

or

empty

import

lay

under

that

seal

,

but

that

a

son

of

very

illustrious

character

was

portended

.

They

who

know

anything

of

Alexander

recognise

in

him

the

lion

of

that

small

ring

.

Ephorus

writes

to

this

effect

.

Again

,

Heraclides

has

told

us

,

that

a

certain

woman

of

Himera

beheld

in

a

dream

Dionysius

’

tyranny

over

Sicily

.

Euphorion

has

publicly

recorded

as

a

fact

,

that

,

giving

birth

to

Seleucus

,

his

mother

Laodice

foresaw

that

he

was

destined

for

the

empire

of

Asia

.

I

find

again

from

Strabo

,

that

it

was

owing

to

a

dream

that

even

Mithridates

took

possession

of

Pontus

;

and

I

further

learn

from

Callisthenes

that

it

was

from

the

indication

of

a

dream

that

Baraliris

the

Illyrian

stretched

his

dominion

from

the

Molossi

to

the

frontiers

of

Macedon

.

The

Romans

,

too

,

were

acquainted

with

dreams

of

this

kind

.

From

a

dream

Marcus

Tullius

(

Cicero

)

had

learnt

how

that

one

,

who

was

yet

only

a

little

boy

,

and

in

a

private

station

,

who

was

also

plain

Julius

Octavius

,

and

personally

unknown

to

(

Cicero

)

himself

,

was

the

destined

Augustus

,

and

the

suppressor

and

destroyer

of

(

Rome’s

)

civil

discords

.

This

is

recorded

in

the

Commentaries

of

Vitellius

.

But

visions

of

this

prophetic

kind

were

not

confined

to

predictions

of

supreme

power

;

for

they

indicated

perils

also

,

and

catastrophes

:

as

,

for

instance

,

when

Cæsar

was

absent

from

the

battle

of

Philippi

through

illness

,

and

thereby

escaped

the

sword

of

Brutus

and

Cassius

,

and

then

although

he

expected

to

encounter

greater

danger

still

from

the

enemy

in

the

field

,

he

quitted

his

tent

for

it

,

in

obedience

to

a

vision

of

Artorius

,

and

so

escaped

(

the

capture

by

the

enemy

,

who

shortly

after

took

possession

of

the

tent

)

;

as

,

again

,

when

the

daughter

of

Polycrates

of

Samos

foresaw

the

crucifixion

which

awaited

him

from

the

anointing

of

the

sun

and

the

bath

of

Jupiter

.

So

likewise

in

sleep

revelations

are

made

of

high

honours

and

eminent

talents

;

remedies

are

also

discovered

,

thefts

brought

to

light

,

and

treasures

indicated

.

Thus

Cicero’s

eminence

,

whilst

he

was

still

a

little

boy

,

was

foreseen

by

his

nurse

.

The

swan

from

the

breast

of

Socrates

soothing

men

,

is

his

disciple

Plato

.

The

boxer

Leonymus

is

cured

by

Achilles

in

his

dreams

.

Sophocles

the

tragic

poet

discovers

,

as

he

was

dreaming

,

the

golden

crown

,

which

had

been

lost

from

the

citadel

of

Athens

.

Neoptolemus

the

tragic

actor

,

through

intimations

in

his

sleep

from

Ajax

himself

,

saves

from

destruction

the

hero’s

tomb

on

the

Rhoetean

shore

before

Troy

;

and

as

he

removes

the

decayed

stones

,

he

returns

enriched

with

gold

.

How

many

commentators

and

chroniclers

vouch

for

this

phenomenon

?

There

are

Artemon

,

Antiphon

,

Strato

,

Philochorus

,

Epicharmus

,

Serapion

,

Cratippus

,

and

Dionysius

of

Rhodes

,

and

Hermippus

—

the

entire

literature

of

the

age

.

I

shall

only

laugh

at

all

,

if

indeed

I

ought

to

laugh

at

the

man

who

fancied

that

he

was

going

to

persuade

us

that

Saturn

dreamt

before

anybody

else

;

which

we

can

only

believe

if

Aristotle

,

(

who

would

fain

help

us

to

such

an

opinion

,

)

lived

prior

to

any

other

person

.

Pray

forgive

me

for

laughing

.

Epicharmus

,

indeed

,

as

well

as

Philochorus

the

Athenian

,

assigned

the

very

highest

place

among

divinations

to

dreams

.

The

whole

world

is

full

of

oracles

of

this

description

:

there

are

the

oracles

of

Amphiaraus

at

Oropus

,

of

Amphilochus

at

Mallus

,

of

Sarpedon

in

the

Troad

,

of

Trophonius

in

Bœotia

,

of

Mopsus

in

Cilicia

,

of

Hermione

in

Macedon

,

of

Pasiphäe

in

Laconia

.

Then

,

again

,

there

are

others

,

which

with

their

original

foundations

,

rites

,

and

historians

,

together

with

the

entire

literature

of

dreams

,

Hermippus

of

Berytus

in

five

portly

volumes

will

give

you

all

the

account

of

,

even

to

satiety

.

But

the

Stoics

are

very

fond

of

saying

that

God

,

in

His

most

watchful

providence

over

every

institution

,

gave

us

dreams

amongst

other

preservatives

of

the

arts

and

sciences

of

divination

,

as

the

especial

support

of

the

natural

oracle

.

So

much

for

the

dreams

to

which

credit

has

to

be

ascribed

even

by

ourselves

,

although

we

must

interpret

them

in

another

sense

.

As

for

all

other

oracles

,

at

which

no

one

ever

dreams

,

what

else

must

we

declare

concerning

them

,

than

that

they

are

the

diabolical

contrivance

of

those

spirits

who

even

at

that

time

dwelt

in

the

eminent

persons

themselves

,

or

aimed

at

reviving

the

memory

of

them

as

the

mere

stage

of

their

evil

purposes

,

going

so

far

as

to

counterfeit

a

divine

power

under

their

shape

and

form

,

and

,

with

equal

persistence

in

evil

,

deceiving

men

by

their

very

boons

of

remedies

,

warnings

,

and

forecasts

,

—

the

only

effect

of

which

was

to

injure

their

victims

the

more

they

helped

them

;

while

the

means

whereby

they

rendered

the

help

withdrew

them

from

all

search

after

the

true

God

,

by

insinuating

into

their

minds

ideas

of

the

false

one

?

And

of

course

so

pernicious

an

influence

as

this

is

not

shut

up

nor

limited

within

the

boundaries

of

shrines

and

temples

:

it

roams

abroad

,

it

flies

through

the

air

,

and

all

the

while

is

free

and

unchecked

.

So

that

nobody

can

doubt

that

our

very

homes

lie

open

to

these

diabolical

spirits

,

who

beset

their

human

prey

with

their

fantasies

not

only

in

their

chapels

but

also

in

their

chambers

.

Notes

1
See the Odyssey, xix. 562, etc. [Also, Æneid, vi. 894.]
2
See i. 107, etc.
3
See an account of her vision and its interpretation in Herodot. iv. 124.