A Tale of Dreams and

Prophecies
Teng Ming Lin
Professor Reilly
ENG 2800 JMWC

Two of the greatest literatures of ancient times are The Iliad and The Odyssey; both
works of the same author yet different styles are present in these two pieces. I would like to
specifically take the idea of Dreams and Prophecies from these two works and compare how they
are used differently by the author, Homer. The dreams and prophecies in both works of literature
are different and similar in many ways. Dreams that occur in The Iliad come with different
intents to help both the Greeks and the Trojans depending on who the Gods were favoring. The
dreams and prophesies that are often spelled out in The Odyssey are generally more benevolent
towards Odysseus and his journey back home.
Firstly, I would like to take a look at The Iliad and explain the effects of dreams and
prophecies have on the story line. Dreams are not only used as a way to amuse the readers, but
are also a tool that Homer uses to continue the development of his plot. Generally, dreams are
usually received by males in The Iliad and by females in The Odyssey. This may be the case
simply because all of the rulers and leaders of the time were male figures which an example of
how the ancients valued physical strength. Many of the gods are portrayed to be deceptive, and
temperamental; often sneaking behind each others backs to help one side of the war. One of the
first examples of dreams occurs in book two. A false dream was sent to Agamemnon by Zeus
which persuaded him that he would be able to overtake Troy if he launched a full scale attack on
the walls. Agamemnon, not knowing that this was a false dream, gathers his troops the next
morning but decides to test them by telling them that he has given up on the war and to return
home. Athena, who greatly favors Odysseus, uses him to stop the troops from leaving by
shouting words of encouragement to restore their confidence. This dream is a great example of

how gods work individually with their own goals and favoritism. This dream would have been a
great detriment to the war had the soldiers all left Agamemnons side.
Dreams are highly valued for the message that it brings to the bearer. In ancient times,
dreams were often brought to soothsayers to have them interpreted into a message. This message
that is interpreted is often times a prophecy, or a prediction of the future. One of the famous
prophets of the time was Calchas. He was a Greek prophet who would help to interpret messages
from the gods. In book one of The Iliad, Calchas was asked to explain why the gods were
punishing the Greeks to which he responded with the fact that Agamemnon has refused the
random of the priests daughter. This upsets Agamemnon because Calchas has never given him a
good prophecy which is in reference to the earlier prophecy of Agamemnon sacrificing her
daughter for a favorable wind. An argument ensues after Achilles demands that the priests
daughter be returned which resulted in Achilles withdrawing from the war. Prophecies can be
both truthful and hurtful but are essential in the development of the storyline. Without the
withdrawal of Achilles from the war, the Trojans would not be as inclined to overtake the
Greeks.
The book of The Odyssey differs greatly from its predecessor and explains the journey of
Odysseus who is a Greek warrior returning from ten years of fighting in the Trojan War.
Interestingly enough, the journey of Odysseus takes also ten years because of the intervention of
Poseidon. Though there are interventions from gods in the story, it is much different from The
Iliad where gods are taking sides and conspiring against each other. The gods in the story are
much more benevolent and unified in their views on how things would be handled. We see one
of the first examples of a dream when Athena disguises herself as Penelopes (Odysseus wife)
sister, Iphthime. She has come to reassure Penelope that her son, Telemachus was safe and that

the suitors would not bring harm to him. This dream was a great act of compassion from Athena
and is something that you would rarely see in The Iliad. Not only does this dream foreshadow us
as the readers of Odysseus glorious return, but also reassures Penelope that her family is safe.
One of the last dreams of the story is one involving an eagle swooping down to kill
twenty geese feeding by her house. This dream that Penelope experiences is a foretelling of the
future. Although Penelope does not know that Odysseus is already in Ithaca disguised as a
beggar, she is slightly convinced in her heart that her husband is alive. Dreams are a great way to
learn and understand the subconscious mind. Although in this dream, Penelope knows that the
eagle was a representation of her husband and the geese were the suitors, she stills wept and
wailed in her speed (Book 19). Some would wonder why she wouldnt be rejoicing at the
message of the dream, of the fact that her husband is alive and is coming back to reclaim his
throne. Many of the dreams and the actions soon following are very confusing and carry an
indirect message. Dreams and prophecies are often very straight forward in their messages as
shown in The Iliad, but bring out a more interesting side of the story when we see the actions of
Penelope.
During Penelopes encounter with the beggar (his husband), we can clearly see
interestingly enough that she still has no faith in her husbands return. There are two gates for
dreams to drift through, one made of horn and the other of ivory My strange dream, though,
did not come from there (Book 19 618). After her exclamation to the beggar about her thoughts
on the dream, her actions prove to be much more interesting. Penelope then states that she has
decided she will have a contest between the suitors, that whoever can bend that bow and slip the
string on its notch and shoot an arrow through all twelve axes, with him I go. This makes us
question as the reader why she would create such a devious plan which is impossible for the

suitors to perform while can only be done by Odysseus. In just the earlier conversation with the
beggar, Penelope has expressed her sorrow and grief regarding the dream about her husband
which she has believed to be false. Why would she make her suitors try such an impossible task,
and consequently delay her re-marriage? If she truly believed that Odysseus was dead, she would
not have devised this impossible contest. This is impactful on the story as Odysseus then proves
his identity and kills all the suitors in his home, exacting revenge. Not only was this plan one that
was impossible for any of the suitors to execute, but it was also the perfect plan that set up
Odysseus to take revenge on the suitors.
Dreams and Prophecies are two concepts that were highly regarded by the ancient Greeks
as divine messages from gods. We see how these differ in the stories of The Iliad and The
Odyssey. The Dreams from The Iliad were often false and were intended to hard one side of the
battle because of the sides that the gods were taking. They were also received mainly by leaders
(men) who made the impactful decisions. The dreams and prophecies that follow in The Odyssey
told us a lot more about the sub conscious thoughts of the main characters. They were generally
received by women and were a lot more benevolent and compassionate in their intent. Both
stories use these articles of Dreams and Prophecies as a tool to further develop the story.