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Dream-Book (Assyrian) (Formulae):
If (this dream) is good, may its goodness not pass me by; if evil, may its evil not catch me. … May the wind carry off the evil of the dream I have had. … If it was good, may the good happen to me. Like the lump of earth which I throw in the water before you, may (the evil of the dream) be dissolved and dissipated.
Aeschylus, Persians 215-225:
(Persian elders to their Queen:) ‘Mother, we would neither alarm you unduly by our words nor raise your hopes too high. If, however, it is something inauspicious that you have seen, visit the gods with supplication and entreat them to avert the evil and to bring to pass what will be beneficial to you, your children, the kingdom, and all else that you hold dear. Next, it is appropriate that you should offer libations to Earth and the dead; and use auspicious words to address your husband Darius, whom you say you have seen in the night, and ask him to send into the light of day from beneath the earth blessings for you and your son; ask too that the reverse of this may be held in bondage beneath the earth and fade away in gloom. Such is the advice I, relying on my instincts, offer you with kind intent. According to our interpretation of these portents, the issue will in all respects prove prosperous to you.
Sources (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Aeschylus, Persians 215-225
Dream-Book (Assyrian) (Formulae)
Bibliography
| Oppenheim 1956, 298-307 | Oppenheim, A. Leo. The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East. With Translation of an Assyrian Dream-Book. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society 1956. |
| West 1997, 548 | West, Martin L. The East Face of Helicon. West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1997. |
Amar Annus
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