Description
Book SynopsisDream interpretation was a prominent feature of the intellectual and imaginative world of late antiquity, for martyrs and magicians, philosophers, polytheists and monotheists alike. This book draws on pagan, Jewish, and Christian sources and modern semiotic theory to demonstrate the integral importance of dreams in late-antique thought and life.
Trade Review"Patricia Cox Miller should be commended for having cast her net wide. Her book, indeed, represents the first sustained effort to present and analyze the place of dreams in the culture of the Roman Empire, from the second to the fifth centuries... By studying together pagan and Christian dreams, Cox Miller hopes to reach a better understanding of some fundamental patterns of late antique culture."--Guy G. Stroumsa, The Journal of Religion "A fluent and discursive text... This is an adventurous exploration of a range of material which deserves to be more widely known."--Gillian Clark, The Classical Review
Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationPt. IImages and Concepts of DreamingCh. 1Figurations of Dream14Ch. 2Theories of Dreams39Ch. 3Interpretation of Dreams74Ch. 4Dreams and Therapy106Pt. IIDreamersCh. 5Hermas and the Shepherd131Ch. 6Perpetua and Her Diary of Dreams148Ch. 7Aelius Aristides and The Sacred Tales184Ch. 8Jerome and His Dreams205Ch. 9The Two Gregorys and Ascetic Dreaming232Bibliography255Index271
