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“Dreaming and the of Mantics: Homer and Ancient Near Eastern Oneiromancy” SCOTT B. NOEGEL

Published in Melammu Symposia 3: A. Panaino and G. Pettinato (eds.), as Intercultural Phenomena. Proceedings of the Third Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project. Held in , USA, October 27-31, 2000 (Milan: Università di Bologna & IsIao 2002), pp. 167-81. Publisher: http://www.mimesisedizioni.it/

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NOEGEL H OMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

SCOTT B. N OEGEL Washington

Dreaming and the Ideology of Mantics: Homer and Ancient Near Eastern Oneiromancy *

ear Eastern influence on Greek Raaflaub refers to as “...the precondi- has been the subject of tions that made them possible and the Nincreasing scholarly interest in limits and exact modalities of transmis- the last few decades. The works of W. sion and effect.” 4 Burkert 1 and of others 2 have done a great In this essay, I shall adopt Raaflaub’s deal to “re-orient” our understanding of direction, at least in part, by examining Greek literature by considering it in the the use of divinatory wordplay in the larger context of the ancient Mediterra- exegesis of dreams in Mesopotamian and nean world. Martin West’s famous re- early Greek literature. I shall restrict my- mark that “Greece is part of Asia; Greek self to discussing the interpretation of Literature is Near Eastern literature,” 3 only those dreams which we could call encapsulates this approach. While a great “symbolic,” i.e., those dreams of unclear deal of prior comparative work in this meaning that require interpretation. They area has consisted primarily of the cata- are the opposite of the so-called “mes- loguing of examples of possible influ- sage,” dreams in which a dream figure ence and exchange, more recently schol- delivers a missive that requires no inter- ars have begun to move toward a more preter. complete understanding of what K. A. Parallels between Near Eastern and

* Previous versions of this paper were delivered at the seines 70. (AOAT, 250; Münster, 1998), 55-89; University of Washington and at the Third Annual Robert Rollinger, “Altorientalische Motivik in der Meeting of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual frühgriechischen Literatur am Beispeil der Heritage Project (M ELAMMU ) in Chicago, on October homerischen Epen. Elemente des Kampfes in der 28, 2000. I would like to thank especially Jim Clauss, Ilias und in der altorientalischen Literatur (nebst Stephen Hinds, Sheila Colwell, and Überlegungen zur Präsenz altorientalischer Wander- Christopher Faraone for their helpful comments after priester im früharchaischen Griechenand),” in these presentations. The abbreviations adopted herein Christoph Ulf (ed.), Wege zur Genese griechischer follow those of the Journal of Near Eastern Studies . Identität: Die Bedeutung der früharchaischen Zeit 1 See, e.g., Walter Burkert, “Homerstudien und Orient,” (Berlin, 1996), 156-311; Stephanie Dalley and A. T. in Joachim Latacz (ed.), Zweihundert Jahre Homer- Reyes, “Mesopotamian Contact and Influence in the Forschung: Rückblick und Ausblick (Colloquium Greek World: 1. To the Persian Conquest,” in Rauricum, 2; Stuttgart and Leipzig), 155-181; The Stephanie Dalley (ed.), The Legacy of Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on (Oxford, 1998), 85-106. Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age (Cambridge, 3 M. L. West, Theogony (Oxford, 1966), 31. 1992). 4 K. A. Raaflaub, “Influence, Adaptation, and Inter- 2 See, e.g., M. C. Astour, Hellenosemitica: An Ethnic action: Near Eastern and Early Greek Political and Cultural Study in West Semitic Impact on Myce- Thought,” in Sanna Aro and R. M. Whiting (eds.), naean Greece (Leiden, 1967), and more recently, The Heirs of : Proceedings of the Opening “RDMN/RHADAMANTHYS and the Motif of Se- Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellec- lective Immortality,” in Manfred Dietrich and Ingo tual Heritage Project Held in Tvärminne, , Kottsieper (eds.), “Und Mose schrieb dieses Lied October 8-11, 1998 (Melammu Symposia, I; Hel- auf”: Studien zum Alten Testament und zum Alten sinki, 2000), 54. Orient: Festchrift für Oswald Loretz zur Vollendung A. Panaino & G. Pettinato (eds.) MELAMMU SYMPOSIA III (Milano 2002) ISBN 88-8483-107-5 167 NOEGEL H OMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

Greek message dreams, have received My comparison will consist of two some scholarly attention 5 and have been parts: first, the punning interpretation of numerous enough for West to assert: “It symbolic dreams in Near Eastern and is not easy to avoid the conclusion that at Greek omen texts; and second, the pun- some stage of its history the Greek epic ning interpretation of symbolic dreams as tradition has been strongly influenced by reflected in Near Eastern and early Greek contacts with the Eastern tradition.” 6 literature. Throughout the paper I shall Therefore, a comparative study of Greek comment on the possible preconditions, and Near Eastern symbolic dreams is a limits, and modalities of transmission for logical next step. 7 the punning hermeneutic.

Part I. The punning interpretation of symbolic dreams in Near Eastern and Greek omen texts.

In a monograph on the exegesis of If a man dreams that he is travelling to dreams in the , I re- Idran ( ID-ra-an = Á-ra-an ); he will free examine all extant Mesopotamian dream himself from a crime ( aran ). 12 oracles for evidence of what I will call the punning hermeneutic. 8 My research If one gives him bird “oil” (Ì + GIŠ has turned up dozens of examples, but a MUŠEN); they will shout ‘ Watch out! b b 13 smaller sampling will suffice to demon- Watch out !’ ( i-s ur i-s ur KA-ú ). strate. 9 If (someone) has given him mi hru -wood ; If a man dreams that he is eating a raven he shall have no rival (mhiru ). (arbu ); he will have income ( irbu ). [If] one gives him the head (SAG) of a If a man dreams he is eating human flesh pick-axe; his head (SAG.DU) [will be (šêru ): he will have great riches ( šarû ). 10 cut off].

If (in a dream) a person goes to Laban [If] he pours his urine into a fish pond (La-ba-an ); he will build a house (DÙ- (TÚL): he will lose ( Ξ! .A) his pro- u[š] = ibanûš ). 11 perty. 14

5 A. Leo Oppenheim, The Interpretation of Dreams Ancient Near East , 269, 272. in the Ancient Near East: With a Translation of the 10 X: x+13 (K.6663 + 8300). Assyrian Dream Book (Transactions of the American 11 A play here on lab nu “make bricks,” was noted Philosophical Society, Volume 46/3 [1956]; Phila- by Oppenheim, The Interpretation of Dreams in the delphia, 1956), 209. Ancient Near East , 268, n. 34. 6 M. L. West, “The Rise of the Greek Epic,” JHS 108 12 IX: rev. ii, x+21 (K.2582). In addition to the paro- (1988), 169. nomasia, note that the pun is also visual and based on 7 The problems posed by the commonly accepted identical signs (with the exception of Á = ID in the typology nothwithstanding. On such difficulties see protasis). Scott B. Noegel, “Dreams and Dream Interpreters in 13 The play here is on the word “bird” ( is bsurub ). Mesopotamia and in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testa- 14 VII: rev. ii, x+15-16. The apodosis Ξ! .A = haal qu ment),” in Kelly Bulkeley (ed.), Dreams and “lose,” appears to have been associated with the pro- Dreaming: A Reader in , Anthropology, tasis’ TÚL = burtu “well, fish pond,” via a learned History, and Psychology (Hampshire, 2001), 45-71; pun between its component signs, Ξ! and A. The Nocturnal Ciphers: The Allusive Language of former sign, when read as KU 6 means nunu “fish,” Dreams in the Ancient Near East (forthcoming). i.e., a creature living in a fish pond. The latter sign A 8 See Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers . also represents mû “water.” CAD B 335, s.v. burtu . 9 Oppenheim, The Interpretation of Dreams in the

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If he goes to Lubda ( Lu-úb-da ki ): im- If a man has a dream in which he uncov- prisonment ( me-si-ru ) will seize [him]. 15 ers ( kf’w ) his derriere ( ph ^wy ). Bad omen. He will come to an end ( kf’w ^ If he seizes a fox (KA 5.A = š libu ), he ph wy ). will seize a Lamassu (AN.KAL), but if 18 he seizes a fox in his hand (ŠU), and it More recently, Mark Geller has seen escapes, he will have seized a Lamassu, similar Mesopotamian oneirocritic influ- but it also will escape from his hand ence in the format and some protases of (ŠU). 16 some Talmudic dream reports. 19 Here again the dream reports reveal the pres- Mesopotamian oneirocritic practices ence of the punning heremeutic. appear to have had a wide-ranging influ- ence. A. Leo Oppenheim, in his seminal Bar Kappara reports a dream to Rabbi in work on the subject, suggested that the which some people told him “You will New Kingdom Egyptian dream oracles die in the month of ’Adar and not see Nisan .” Rabbi interprets this dream: showed the imprint of Mesopotamian “You will die with honor ( ’adrat h), and techniques in their format and in some not come into temptation ( nis yôn ).” 20 details, a remark now supported by addi- tional Egyptological research. 17 Though Bar Kappara reports a dream in which his he does not discuss it in depth, I point nose ( ’ap ) falls off. As Rabbi interprets out that both the Egyptian dream book his dream: “ Heated anger ( h^ar 0n ’ap ) 21 frequently displays the punning herme- has been removed from you.” neutic. Three examples will illustrate. One who sees a reed ( qneh ) in a dream If a man has a dream in which he peels will acqire ( qeneh ) understanding. 22 off his finger nail ( be’ek ). Bad omen. The work ( be’ek ) of his hands will be If one sees an elephant ( p l) in a dream, seized. wonders ( pel ’0t) will be wrought for him. 23 If a man has a dream in which he offers incense ( sn tr) to the god. Bad omen. The Though some scholars have empha- rage of the god ( ntr) is against him (i.e., sized similarities in format and detail he is incensed!). when demonstrating Mesopotamian in-

15 IX: obv. i, y+13 ( Sm 29 + 79-7-8, 94). Here it is Whiting (eds.), The Heirs of Assyria: Proceedings of the LU sign which logographically suggests itself as the Opening Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylo- DAB = kâlu “imprison, hold, contain.” Similarly, the nian Intellectual Heritage Project Held in Tvär- ÚB sign (=KU) represents the verb nadû , one of minne, Finland, October 8-11, 1998 (Melammu whose many meanings is “put in prison, fetter, cage.” Symposia, I; Helsinki, 2000), 1-6. CAD N/1 86, s.v. nadû . These equations are bolstered 19 For the role of wordplay in Rabbinic exegesis in visually as well by the signs LU and DAB which are general see Isaac Heineman, LKJHL QS`K (Jerusalem: identical, and by the ÚB sign which differs from LU Magness Press, 1970), 103-130. See also BT, and DAB only in that it lacks a vertical wedge on its Berakhot 56b, 57a; Baba Kama 55a. For a brief dis- right side. cussion of Talmudic dreams see Joshua Trachten- 16 If “fox” is read syllabically as še 7-líb-bu , the same berg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study of Folk signs can be read as (A).AN.KAL- u, i.e., “Lamassu.” Religion (New York, 1974). For a complete list of Moreover, though ŠU here means qtu “hand,” one dream puns in the Talmud see Noegel, Nocturnal lexical lists shows us that dLAMMA = dŠU. See Ciphers . Scott B. Noegel, “Fox on the Run: Catch a Lamassu 20 BT, Berakhot , 56b. by the Pun,” NABU (1995), 101-2. 21 BT, Berakhot , 56b. 17 See Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers . 22 BT, Berakhot , 56b. 18 M. J. Geller, “The Survival of Babylonian Wissen- 23 BT, Berakhot , 56b-57a. schaft in Later Tradition,” in Sanna Aro and R. M.

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fluence on these other dream collections, cording to classifications that appear I would suggest that the presence of the generally in the earlier Near Eastern punning hermeneutic also should be ta- dream materials. These patterns include ken into consideration. We need not look taking into account the dreamer’s occu- for specific punning parallels, but rather pation, a distinction between the right simply the presence of the punning her- and the left, and a polarity between meneutic itself, since it implies the exis- dreams and their meanings, i.e., if one tence of a learned system of hermeneutic dreams a bad thing, it means a good principles or approaches. Therefore, the thing. As in Near Eastern sources, the Egyptian and Talmudic dream oracles, Greeks use the word “to see” to describe both in format and in their ubiquitous a dream experience, and thus, both peo- employment of the punning hermeneutic, ples equate dreams with visions. With uniquely evidence the chronological and regard to literary “message dreams” we geographic pervasiveness of Mesopota- also find in both sources a likening of mian oneirocritic practices. sleep to wind, 24 and an association of With this background in mind, I turn to dreams with the underworld. The latter what to my knowledge is the only extant appears already in Homer’s Odyssey ancient dream manual in Greek, the 24:11-12 in which the souls of the dead Oneirocritica of Artemidorus of Daldis. are taken by Hermes past the Gates of Though a product of the second century Helios and the “Land of Dreams” ( Ŭ CE, the Oneirocritica nevertheless repre- óġ! ). 25 Also similar is a distinction sents the apex of a long oneirocritic tra- between message dreams and symbolic dition, one which it collects and embod- dreams, a belief in the divine origin of ies. Artemidorus himself cites numerous dreams, the topos of a dream figure dream interpreters and their works by standing by the head of one’s bed, and a name. He also consorted with market- preoccupation with the time in which a place diviners and studied every avail- dream occurs. able work on the subject. Thus, the Onei- Moreoever, like the scholars of the an- rocritica is a fitting text with which to cient Near East, Artemidorus employs compare the Near Eastern dream manu- word plays of all sorts, including no- als. tariqon 26 and gematria , two interpretive The ancient hermeneutic traditions strategies that consider the anagramic which the Oneirocritica represents em- and numerical values of words, respec- ploy various interpretive principles ac- tively. 27 The numerological strategies,

24 Oppenheim, The Interpretation of Dreams in the found in Mesopotamian colophons and god lists, Ancient Near East , 216. e.g., Erle Leichty, “The Colophon,” in Studies Pre- 25 In Iliad 23:65ff. records the appearance of the soul sented to A. Leo Oppenheim, June 7, 1964 (Chicago, of Patrocolus in a dream. In Iliad 16:672 Sleep and 1964), 152-3 and Stephen J. Lieberman, “A Meso- Death are twin brothers. potamian Background for the So-called Aggadic 26 For Notariqon see Artemidorus Daldianus, Oneiro- ‘Measures’ of Biblical Hermeneutics,” HUCA 58 critica . Transl. Robert J. White (Noyes Classical (1987), 174-6. The recent publication by Laurie E. Studies; Park Ridge, NJ., 1975), 196, where a mili- Pearce, “The Number-Syllabary Texts,” JAOS 116 tary commander in the Jewish War in Cyrene dreamt (1996), 453-74, doubtless will help to uncover addi- that the letters iota , kappa , and theta were inscribed tional examples. on his sword. These letters were taken to represent 27 See also, Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 166-7, 178, n. the Jews, Cyrenaens, and death. For rabbinic practice 13, 196, 223, n. 22, 232, 245, n. 7, for a discussion of and the Bible, see Stanley Gevirtz, “Abram’s 318,” the numerical values of words. IEJ 19 (1969), 110-13. Compare this with the gematria

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which Frans Dornseiff long ago sug- since Homer’s Odyssey 4:708 refers to gested were Mesopotamian in origin, 28 ships as “horses of the sea” ( ¸Ģ remind us of Artemidorus’ understanding èRR ). 33 Artemidorus similarly asserts: of dreams as texts, as he notes: “For it “That dreams are not entirely unrelated makes no difference whether one says the to myths can be seen from this example... number itself or a word whose letters in- Heracles burned in a fire, so too a woman dicate the number.” 29 Three examples who dreamt she did the labors of Hera- will demonstrate the diversity of Artemi- cles.” 34 If one quotes a book in a dream, dorus’ punning interpretive strategies. the events of that text will come to pass A weasel ( ϝ ) that appears in a dream in one’s life as they unfolded in the represents a lawsuit ( ġ ), since both text. 35 Thus, as with Near Eastern manu- words, when treated as numbers, equal als, dreams are viewed as texts and sym- forty-two (3 + 1 + 30 + 8 = 42// 4 + 10 + bolic dreams, as texts that require deci- 30 20 + 8 = 42/) ( gematria ). pherment. As Artemidorus put it: “Whe- A penis ( ğ  ) in a dream can signify never they (the gods) speak in riddles the making of important plans ( ğ  )... and do not speak plainly, you must at- (polysemy). 31 tempt to solve the riddles.” 36 This re- A wolf ( ĥ ) signifies a year mark, of course, reminds us of the Near (ě  ) because of its name (parono- Eastern view expressed in Num 12:6-8. 37 32 masia). When a prophet of Yahweh arises among Another feature found in Artemidorus you, I make myself known to him in a vi- and in Near Eastern dream oracles, is the sion, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses; he is trusted use of literary and mythological texts as throughout my household. With him I interpretive templates. For example, Ar- speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in temidorus interprets the appearance of riddles... “horses” in a dream as denoting “ships,”

Part 2. The punning interpretation of symbolic dreams as reflected in Near Eastern and early Greek literature.

The punning hermeneutic in Mesopo- appears originally to have been a mantic tamia was not limited to dream interpre- device, it appears in most of the other tation. On the contrary, since punning methods of Mesopotamian divination,

28 See, e.g., Frans Dornseiff, Das Alphabet in Mystik 31 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 39. und Magie (Leipzig, 1925), and also the following 32 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 96, 142. additions to the subject. R. Hallo, “Über die griechis- 33 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 46. chen Zahlbuchstaben und ihre Verbreitung,” ZDMG 34 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 202. 80 (1926), 55-67; “Zusätze zu Franz Dornseiff’s Al- 35 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 210. phabet,” Archiv für Religionswissenschaft 23 (1925), 36 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 214. 166-74; A. Bertholet, Die Macht der Schrift in Glau- 37 See similarly, Lieberman, “A Mesopotamian Back- ben und Aberglauben (Abhandlungen der Deutschen ground for the So-called Aggadic ‘Measures’ of Bib- Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 1948/1; lical Hermeneutics,” 157-225; Tigay, “An Early Berlin, 1950). Each noted in Lieberman, “A Meso- Technique of Aggadic Exegesis,” 169-189; Dorn- potamian Background for the So-called Aggadic seiff, Franz, Das Alphabet in Mystik und Magie ‘Measures’ of Biblical Hermeneutics,” 167, n. 45. (Leipzig, 1925); Scott B. Noegel, “ Atbash in Jere- 29 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 196. miah and Its Literary Sigificance,” JBQ 24/2-4 30 Daldianus, Oneirocritica , 165, 178, n. 11. (1996), 82-9, 160-6, 247-50.

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from extispicy texts, to birth omens, existence, punning nevertheless served as magic stones, prophecy, astral magic, one of the most pervasive divinatory and the reading of birds. 38 In an extispicy hermeneutics throughout Mesopotamian texts, for example, we read: history. The pervasiveness of this pun- “If the station (a particular mark on the ning hermeneutic bolsters the words of S. liver) is long ( arik ); the days of the ruler Parpola. will be long ( irriku ).” 39 ...the crafts of these scholarly experts “If the ‘reinforcement’ (another well- were to a large extent complementary defined portion of the liver) is thick ( ul- and... their respective disciplines and lus b); rejoicing ( ullus b libbi ) of the fields represented parts of a larger army.” 40 whole, which I, in conformity with the native Mesopotamian terminology, pro- In the series of abnormal birth omens pose to call “wisdom.” 44 known as Šummu Izbu we find: This background informs W. Burkert’s “If a ewe gives birth to a , and it has matted hair ( malî ); a reign of mourning comment that these same experts, his (malî ); the land will be full of mourning itinerant “craftsmen of the sacred,” 45 (malâ ); attack of the enemy.” 41 transmitted their divinitory and purifi- catory skills, as well as elements of their To cite one example from a Neo- mythological “wisdom” to the West, 46 Babylonian magical stone list I refer to where they impacted Greek literature. the aban arê “eagle stone” which was employed as an amulet for pregnant This impact is confirmed by extant pas- women precisely because of the homo- sages of early Greek literature that nymity between arû “be pregnant” and clearly echo Mesopotamian classics... arû “eagle.” I could cite numerous others Just as in the case of liver divination, the literary borrowings seem to belong only from a wide variety of divinatory disci- to the last phase of Greek epic poetry; it plines. 42 Indeed, ancient Mesopotamian is post-Bronze Age works such as Enuma scholarly commentaries also bear witness Elish and Erra which have left their to the derivation of esoteric meanings mark. It is precisely the Homeric epoch from texts via word play. 43 Though it of Greece that is the epoch of the orien- 47 certainly was not the only hermeneutic in talizing revolution.

38 See now the collection of essays in Scott B. Noegel D. Galter, ed., Die Rolle der Astronomie in den (ed.), Puns and Pundits: Wordplay in the Hebrew Kulturen Mesopotamiens; Beiträge zum 3. Grazer Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Literature (Bethesda, Morgenländischen Symposium, 23.-27. September, MD, 2000). 1991 (Grazer Morgenländische Studien, 3; Karl 39 Starr, The Rituals of the Diviner , 10. Franzons Universität, Kopernikusgasse 24; Graz, 40 Starr, The Rituals of the Diviner , 10. 1993), 52. The emphasis is the author’s. It perhaps is 41 Leichty, The Omen Series: Šumma Izbu , 77, V:39. no coincidence that the word USO “wisdom” appears Noted also in Tigay, “An Early Technique of Agga- in Genesis only in connection with the mantic profes- dic Exegesis,” 178, but as an example of Mesopota- sionals of Egypt (Gen 41:8, 41:33). mian “parable, allegory, or symbol.” This example 45 See, Walter Burkert, “Itinerant Diviners and Magi- more accurately belongs with Tigay’s remez cate- cians: A Neglected Element in Cultural Contacts,” in gory. R. Hägg (ed.), The Greek Renaissance of the Eigth 42 See Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers . Century B.C. Tradition and Innovation (Proceedings 43 See, e.g., Livingstone, Mystical and Mythological of the Second International Symposium at the Explanatory Works of Assyrian and Babylonian Swedish Institute in Athens, 1-5 June 1981; Stock- Scholars (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986). holm, 1983), 115-19. 44 Parpola, “Mesopotamian Astrology and Astronomy 46 Burkert, The Orientalizing Revolution , 6. as Domains of Mesopotamian ‘Wisdom’,” in Hannes 47 Burkert, The Orientalizing Revolution , 129.

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Though Burkert does not mention it, way of word play. She asserts that he the authors of these Mesopotamian clas- will meet one born of the steppeland ( ina sics were mantic professionals. 48 Indeed, sberi ) who will become the strength the author of the Epic of Erra states in (kis bru ) of the god Ninurta. Both inter- his opening that he received the entire pretations are confirmed shortly after- text in a dream. The Epic of Gilgamesh wards. was compiled by an exorcist, or perhaps Gilgamesh’s mother also employs a kalu singer. To some degree, therefore, polysemous hermeneutic in the Assyrian demonstrating Mesopotamian literary in- version. After conveying his first dream fluence in early Greek literature is tan- in which he sees the kis bru ša dAnim tamount to demonstrating divinatory in- (I,v,28) or “meteorite,” his mother offers fluence. In this regard West’s depiction an interpretation that derives from multi- of the Greek bard is striking: ple readings of the word kis bru . For ex- d We should probably envisage the IE ample, she states k ma kis bru ša Anim poet-besides other functions such as in- dunnuna emuq šu “like a kis bru of Anu, voking gods at sacrifices, and reciting so mighty is his strength” (I:iii,4). Here magical incantations for various commu- the words dunnuna emuq šu “mighty is nity needs-celebrating the noble qualities his strength,” semantically play on and heroic enterprises of the king and his another meaning of kis bru , namely ancestors... 49 “strength.” 51 She also asserts that his Indeed, we hear of the complementar- dream represents dannu tap]pu mušezib ity and inter-disciplinarity of Greek divi- [ibri] “a strong commrade who rescues a natory professionals, in the Iliad 1:62-63, friend” (I:vi,1), one who l innizebk  where, Achilles equates, as with equal kâša “will never forsake you” (I:vi,5). power, the soothsayer, omen readers, The verb kas bru can be written in Sume- priest, prognosticator, and dream inter- rian in several ways. One way in par- preter. 50 In the Mesopotamian world, this ticular is with KÁD, a sign that in turn range of interdisciplinary mantic skills can be read ez bu “forsake,” 52 the very and their commonalities, explains why verb that we have twice in her interpre- we find the word play hermeneutic por- tation. trayed accurately in Mesopotamian liter- Elsewhere I have discussed two poly- ary portrayals of dream interpretation. I semous messages in Ea’s secret warning offer a few examples to illustrate, each to Utnapishtim. 53 Specifically, I exam- from the Epic of Gilgamesh. ined XI:14: šakan abubi ubla libbašunu In the Old Babylonian version, Gil- il ni rabûti “the great gods set their gamesh dreams that a meteorite ( kis bru ) hearts to ubla the deluge” and XI:26: fell from the sky on top ( ana s beri ) of makkura zerma napišta bulli # “spurn him. His mother interprets the dream by property, keep living beings alive.” I

48 It is likely that many Israelite and Egyptian divi- frühgriechischen Literatur am Beispeil der homeris- natory techniques were inherited from Mesopotamia. chen Epen...,” 187-90 See, e.g., Frederick H. Cryer, Divination in Ancient 51 CAD K 436, s.v. kis bru . Israel and its Near Eastern Environment: A Socio- 52 CAD E 416, s.v. ez bu . Historical Investigation (JSOTS, 142: Sheffield, 53 Scott B. Noegel, “A Janus Parallelism in the Gil- 1994). gamesh Flood Story,” ASJ 13 (1991), 419-21; “An 49 West, “The Rise of the Greek Epic,” 154. Asymmetrical Janus Parallelism in the Gilgamesh 50 For a discussion of the similarities here to Greek Flood Story,” ASJ 16 (1994), 10-12. epic see Rollinger, “Altorientalische Motivik in der

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noted that the former plays on the poly- of dreams. As Ea tells the divine assem- semy inherent in the word ubla , namely bly: an ku ul apta pirišti il ni rabûti. “want, desire, yearn for” 54 and also Atra- hasis šunata ušabrišumma pirišti “carry and sweep off (which often is said il ni išme “It was not I who disclosed the of water),” 55 and that the latter in XI:26 secret of the great gods. I let Atra- Οasis involves two puns: zerma “spurn,” which behold a dream, and he perceived the se- also can be read as sêrma “construct”; cret of the gods” (XI:186-187). and makkura “property,” which also sug- Examples of the literary portrayal of gests makura “boat” (from Sum. má- symbolic dreams and the punning here- 56 gur 8). I shall not detail my observations meneutic could be multiplied many here since they are available elsewhere. times, 59 and I could add to them samples Suffice it to add that in both passage Ea from the biblical record; but I think the also equips his urgent message with a point has been made-since the ancient wealth of alliteration, specifically in the Near Eastern literary texts were the per- repeated consonants /b/, /l/, and /n/. view of mantics, they accurately reflect Later in XI:45-47, 57 Ea issues a poly- the use of the punning hermeneutic also semous warning to Utnapishtim by tell- found in other forms of Near Eastern ing him that the chief god Enlil promises divination. to “provide” ( zan nu ) the people with an The materials I have discussed, and the “abundance” ( nu hšu ) of “wheat cakes” parallels between Mesopotamian and (kukki ) and “wheat” ( kibati ). Utna- Greek dream omens, naturally raise the pishtim, the wise man that he is, is able question whether earlier Greek literary to perceive other meanings in these four texts reflect the punning hermeneutic. words, namely an “excessive” ( nu hšu ) With this in mind, I turn to what W. “storm” ( zan nu ) of “darkness” ( kukkû ) Arend has defined as the only extant and “heaviness” ( kibittu ). 58 symbolic dream in early Greek lite- Each of the polysemous statements I rature, 60 that of Penelope’s dream in the have discussed have in common a context Odyssey 19:536-559:

54 CAD A/1 21-22, s.v. ab lu . See also the double does not realize that puns need not be grammatically sense of ab lu in an apodosis in the Venus Tablets of “perfect” to be effective. See also my remarks in Ammi ϗaduqa (= Tablet 63 of the series Enuma Anu “Raining Terror: Another Wordplay Cluster in Enlil): nagbu ippataru dAdad zunnešu dEa nagbešu Gilgamesh Tablet XI (Assyrian Version, ll. 45-47),” ubbula šarru ana šarri šalima isappar “‘springs to NABU 75 (1997), 39-40, regarding M. Malul’s (“A open ?,’ Adad will bring his rains, Ea his floods, king Possible Janus Parallelism in the Epic of Gilgamesh will send messages of reconciliation to king.” Found XI, 130,” ASJ 17 [1995], 338-42). Moreover, the text in Reiner and Pingree, Enuma Anu Enlil, Tablet 63: Millard chooses as a preferable example was dis- The Venus Tablet of Ammi $aduqa , 13. cussed already in my dissertation, which has since 55 CAD A/1 16-17, s.v. ab lu . been published as Janus Parallelism in the Book of 56 Harry A. Hoffner, “Enki’s Command to Atraha- Job ( JSOTSup , 223; Sheffield, 1996), see especially sis,” in Kramer Anniversary Volume . B. L. Eichler, 160-2. Moreover, in the light of the polysemes dis- al. (eds.), Alter Orient und Altes Testament (Num. 25; cussed above, we do well to note the remark by Ulla Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1976), 244. Jeyes, Old Babylonian Extispicy: Omen Texts in the 57 Scott B. Noegel, “Raining Terror: Another Word- (Istanbul: Nederlands Historisch- play Cluster in Gilgamesh Tablet XI (Assyrian Ver- Archaeologisch Instituut Te Istanbul, 1989), 44, re- sion, ll. 45-47),” NABU 75 (1997), 39-40. garding a liver omen based on the darkness and 58 CAD K 498, s.v. kukki . The first to spot the word- abundant fat of a particular visceral feature: “The play was Carl Frank, “Zu den Wortspeilen kukku und combination of fat = abundance = negativity fittingly kib ti in Gilg. EXI,” ZA 36 (1925), 216. For a con- produces an apodosis which predicts a flood.” trary opinion see A. R. Millard, “The Sign of the 59 See Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers . Flood,” Iraq 49 (1987), 63-9. Here, I think, Millard 60 W. Arend, Die typische Szenen bei Homer (Berlin,

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Listen to this dream of mine and inter- Here the expression Ç B B ă  pret it. I keep a flock of twenty geese “they eat grain from the water” perhaps ( ϝĝB ) here. They eat grain from the suggests the name ù ĥ .65 The pun water ( RĢB Ç B B ă  ) and I delight in watching them. In my dream I is piqued by ambiguous syntax which saw a great eagle with a curved beak forces us to contemplate whether the (·  ġ ) swoop down from the RĢ or the geese are in the water. 66 mountain ( ÷ ) and break their necks Also suggestive of Odysseus is the ( ÿ ĝ  ), killing them ( Ë  ). There eagel’s curved beak, his ·  ġ , they lay heaped ( Çĝ  ) in the great which punfully echoes Odysseus’ “cur- hall (  ě ), while he soared up into the clear sky... I grieved piteously be- ved bow” ( · ĥ B ģ ) (cf. Odyssey cause the eagle had killed my geese (  21:264). The pun is edified soon after- ãĢBË B ϝ  ). 61 wards by Penelope’s decision to test the Suitors with Odysseus’ bow. The inclusion of birds in Penelope’s Word plays also connect the word dream offers a narrative twist found also Ŭĝ “geese,” with Çĝ  “heap up,” in Near Eastern literature; 62 namely the and Ë  used for the “killing” of the placement of an omen within an omen, 63 geese. These puns are reinforced by the since birds too were divinatory tools. 64 semantic parameters of the verb ġ! , Moreover, since the name Penelope itself which Liddell and Scott note only rarely suggests the word “duck,” the attentive appear in reference to animals. In fact, reader cannot help but attribute impor- they cite Penelope’s dream as an excep- tance to birds and their meaning in this tion. 67 Thus, the puns and the verb for pericope. “kill” suggest the slaughter of humans. More important is the presence in Moreover, the number and appetites of Penelope’s dream of word plays that con- the geese also suggest their interpretation stitute riddles to the dream’s interpreta- as the Suitors, for the Suitors frequently tion. The first is Penelope’s reference to appear as twenty feasting men. 68 geese coming from the water to eat grain. Penelope’s use of the word ÿ ĝ 

1933), 61, n. 3, notes that Penelope’s dream does not 63 Ludwig Binswanger, Wandlungen in der Auffassung conform structurally to other Homeric dreams which und Deutung des Traumes: von den Griechen bis zur are message dreams. A. H. M. Kessels, Studies on the Gegenwart (Berlin, 1928); Joachim Hundt, Der Dream in Greek Literature (The Netherlands, 1978), Traumglaube bei Homer (Grieswalder Beiträge zur 150, asserts that all dreams in Homer are message Literatur und Stilforchung, 9; Grieswald, 1935), 2-3. dreams. See also the comment of Joseph Russo, 64 Noted also by Hundt, Der Traumglaube bei Manuel Fernández-Galiano, and Alfred Heubeck, A Homer , 90, n. 28. Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey Vol. 2 (Oxford, 65 For other puns on Odysseus’ name see Louis Philippe 1992), 102, that “of several dreams in Homer, only Rank, Etymologiseering en Verwante Verschijnselen this one resembles a true dream: its message is hid- bij Homerus (Netherlands, 1951), 51-62; B. Louden, den in a symbolic code.” “Categories of Homeric Wordplay,” TAPA 125 61 The translation (with minor modification) is that of (1995), 34-7. E. V. Rieu, Homer: The Odyssey (New York, 1991). 66 Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey Vol. 2, 62 Gudea’s dream in Cylinder A:17. E. Jan Wilson, 101-2. The Cylinders of Gudea: Transliteration, Transla- 67 L&S, 1001, s.v. ġ! . tion, and Index (AOAT, 224; Neukirchener Verlag 68 We also later learn that twenty maidens were re- Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1996), 26-7; and the dreams of quired for the Suitors, presumably one for each Joseph in Gen 40:17-19. Ancient Near Eastern lit- Suitor, Odyssey 20:157; cf. Telemachus’ reference to erature knows of other instances in which omens are the “more than twenty” Suitors in 16:245. Note the placed within other omens, e.g., a Kassite extispicy remark of Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odys- text which is said to have occurred in a dream. See H. sey Vol. 2, 102, that “...the single activity that char- F. Lutz, “A Cassite Liver Omen Text,” JAOS 38 acterizes the geese is eating ...” (italics original). (1918), 77-96.

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for “necks” continues the punning on “The geese are the Suitors, and I, that be- ϝĝ and Çĝ  and reinforces the fore was the eagle-omen ( ãĢB ÷ ), interpretive connection between the bro- am now again ( ĄB Ģ ) come back as your husband ( Rģ ), who will let loose ken necks of the assembly and her Suit- a cruel doom upon all the Suitors” ors who just previously are called the (Odyssey 546-549). best of the Achaeans ( ¿ Ɩ ) ( Odyssey Note how the eagle draws a punning 19:529). 69 connection between his form as an eagle The heaping of dead geese in the ( ãĢ ) and what he is now again ( ÿ D “great halls” (  ě ) also suggests Ģ ), i.e., her husband. The word Rģ the slaying of the Suitors for the great “husband,” also is polysemous and can halls are where the Suitors continually mean “a drinking feast” or “carousal” 72 banquet (17:604). In fact, we later learn (cf. Odyssey 10:176, Iliad 1:469). Its us- that Odysseus’ slaughter of the Suitors age here befits the image of drinking leaves them heaped ( ĝ  ) in the geese in the dream and hints at Odys- “great halls” (  ě! ) ( Odyssey seus’ return while the Suitor’s carouse. 22:375, 389). 70 In addition, the use of After listening to the dream, the dis- Çĝ  recalls a previous scene in guised Odysseus perceives Penelope’s which maidens feed the Suitors with account as an omen 73 and assures her of bread (like the geese) and pour water the interpretation’s accuracy. (Ë  Bă ! ) over their hands (1:146). Note also in the expression B ãĢ Lady, in no wise is it possible to inter- 74 Ë B ϝ  how Penelope’s use of  pret ( ĀRġ   ) this dream and can be understood as a simple possessive give it another meaning... For the Suit- ors’ destruction is plain to see, for one with ϝ  , but also as a dative of disad- and all; not one of them shall escape vantage with Ë  meaning “he killed death and doom ( ϝ  ) ( Odyssey them for me.” Moreover, the reading  19:555-558). ãĢ as “my eagle” offers an ironic sub- Penelope replies (in a famous passage tlety that suggests to Russo that “Pene- later imitated by Vergil in the Aeneid ). lope does not yet know that the eagle is more truly hers than the geese are.” 71 “Dreams, my friend,” said the thoughtful The cumulative impact of these puns Penelope, “are awkward and confusing things: not all that people see in them justifies the words of the eagle in Pene- comes true. For there are two gates thro- lope’s dream who perches on a beam and ugh which these unsubstantial visions interprets: reach us; one is of horn ( ě )75 and

69 The pun also reminds us of the eagels’ actions that Greek Literature , 99. the augur interpreted in book 2. There, however, the 74 This verb is commonly used for interpreting omens word for necks was Ě . The use of ÿ ĝ  , and oracles. See Iliad 5:150. therefore, stands out intertextually. 75 E. L. Highbarger, The Gates of Dreams (Baltimore, 70 Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey Vol. 2, 1940), 38, indentified the gate of horns as the Gate of 102, note that “Homer has sustained a (perhaps un- the Sun known in Mesopotamian and Egyptian my- conscious) connection with the suitors in his choice thology sources, a gate guarded by a bull, but the of the verb.” Gate of Ivory has not permitted a similar identifica- 71 The observations on the possessive use of  are tion. This interpetation has not received general ac- found in Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey ceptance, though Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Vol. 2, p 102. Odyssey Vol. 2, 103, notes “The prominence given in 72 L&S, 1453, s.v. Rģ . Crete to sacred horns could well derive from this 73 As noted by Kessels, Studies on the Dream in eastern source.”

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the other of ivory ( Çĝ  ). Those that sending two eagles who fly from on high come through the carved ivory ( Çĝ W from a mountain peak.  ) gate deceive/harm us ( Ç ġW   ) bringing unfulfillment ( ·ě  For a time they flew swift as the blasts of ĝ ); whereas those that issue from the wind side by side with wings out- the gate of burnished horn ( ě! ) spread; but when they reached the middle really fulfill ( Ç B  ġ )...” 76 of the many-voiced assembly, then they (19:560-565, 571-572). wheeled about, flapping their wings rapidly, and down on the heads of all Penelope’s pessimism plays on Odys- they looked, and death was in their glare. seus’ use of ĀRġ   and ϝ  . Then they tore with their talons one an- Her remark also equates horn with ful- other’s cheeks and necks ( Ě ) on ei- fillment and ivory with deception, i.e., ther side, and darted away to the right across the houses and the city of the men ě! with  ġ and Çĝ  (Odyssey 2:146-154). with Ç ġ  . Moreover, Penelo- pe’s statement is ambiguous because Amazed at the omen, Telémachus and “each verbal phrase describing what each his companions consult one Halithérses group of dreams does is open to two in- whom Homer describes as surpassing “all terpretations.” 77 The verb Ç ġ  men of his day in knowledge of birds and means both “cheat” and “damage,” and in uttering words of fate” ( Odyssey the expression Ç B  ġ can 2:157). He interprets the omen as pre- mean “fulfill things that are real” or dicting a great woe upon Penelope’s “really have power to fulfill.” 78 For Pene- wooers, and the return of Odysseus in the lope the allusive nature of symbolic twentieth year. 80 According to Joseph dreams is readily conveyed through the Russo, the actions of the birds constitute ambiguity of word play. 79 a foreshadowing by producing “a vivid Such punning in the story of Pene- picture, corresponding closely to the tac- lope’s symbolic dream, like the dream tics of Odysseus’ vengeance, an unex- accounts in the epic of Gilgamesh, dem- pected attack by a determined pair on an onstrate the Odyssey ’s familiarity with unarmed crowd.” 81 Yet, the omen is more the interpretive strategies of mantics. than a literary device, it is a reflection of Moreover, Penelope’s dream edifies the poet’s conception of omens, his man- for the audience a previous omen in book tic ideology; for the text derives from a 2 in which Zeus vindicates Telémachus’ cultural matrix that treated omens as di- assertion that Odysseus would return by vine messages. Literary allusions are

76 Kessels, Studies on the Dream in Greek Literature , horn (19:211-12). Moreover, Penelope’s reference to 128, n. 73, notes that the Homeric Hymn hymnus ad ivory anticipates her opening of the storeroom with Mercurium , 559 and Euripides, Ion , 604 use the verb an ivory-handled key to get Odysseus’ bow of horn.  ġ! “fulfill” in connection with divination. Amory concludes: “The bow and the key are con- 77 Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey Vol. 2, nected primarily with the revenge theme... but the 103. gates of the dreams passage is connected also with 78 Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey Vol. 2, the revenge theme...” (49). 103. 80 It is worth noting here that Eustathius’ 12th century 79 Anne Amory, “The Gates of Horn and Ivory,” Yale commentary sees the actions of the eagles in the Classical Studies 30 (1966), 43-9, has observed, omen in Odyssey 2:154 as clawing the necks and Penelope’s mention of “horn” ( ĝ  ) subtly reminds cheeks of the Ithacans. This would provide an even us of Odysseus by way of his bow, which is made of closer parallel between the dream and the omen. horn (21:393-5) and Odysseus’ eyes which the nar- 81 Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey Vol. 1, rator remarks repressed tears as if fixed by iron and p 141.

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thus essentially a means by which the shall take vengeance; or even now he is poet portrays the art of prediction. In- at home, and is sowing the seeds of evil deed, Homer vindicates the augur when for all the Suitors (15:174-178). after the twentieth year Odysseus returns. Soon afterwards Zeus sends Telémachus The verification of one omen with an- another sign of the Suitor’s demise. other is standard Near Eastern practice Even as he spoke a bird flew by upon the and is widely reflected in Near Eastern right, a hawk, the swift messenger of texts. Since dreams and omens were in- Apollo. In his talons he held a dove, and herently uncertain, their interpretations was plucking her and shedding the feath- required the support of other divinatory ers down on the ground...(15:525-534). efforts. While the “combination of dream The seer Theoclúmenos 85 interprets the and omen or a dream and oracle is found omen as meaning “no other descent than nowhere in the Iliad or the Odyssey ,” 82 yours in Ithaca is more kingly ( W the depiction of divinatory activity in the ĥ ); you are supreme forever” Odyssey illustrates this same narrative (15:533-534). This omen shown to Telé- program of omen verification through machus’ serves an allusive function in the dreams and other portents. 83 narrative, anticipating Odysseus’ killing We already have seen how Penelope’s of the Suitors on the day sacred to dream affirms the augur’s prediction in Apollo (20:276-278,21:258-259). book 2, but prior to Penelope’s dream Numerous lexical and thematic fea- Telémachus observes a similar omen: tures parallel Penelope’s dream with the Even as he spoke a bird flew by on the augur and Theoclúmenos’ predictions in right, an eagle ( ãĢX , bearing in his books 2 and 15. Both the augur’s predic- talons a great, white goose ( ϝ ), a tion and Penelope’s dream report eagles tame fowl from the yard, and men and women followed shouting. But the eagle that soar from mountains and break the drew near to them, and darted off to the necks of assembly members, killing right in front of the horses; and they them. Both omens incorporate the num- were glad as they saw it, and the hearts ber twenty. Like Penelope’s dream, the in the breasts of all were cheered omen in book 15 interprets an eagle that (15:160-165). soars from a mountain and kills a goose Before Telémachus can interpret the ( ϝ ). All omens suggest the same inter- omen Helen prophesies: 84 pretation which comes to pass. Again, this is more than sophisticated intratex- Even as this [eagle] came from the tuality, it is a poetic method for demon- mountain, where are his kin, and where strating the veracity of the omens. he was born, and snatched up the goose ( ϝ ) that was bred in the house, even so Just as Penelope’s dream edified three shall Odysseus return to his home after previous bird omens, so too does the Odys- many toils and many wanderings, and sey edify the interpretation of Penelope’s

82 Messer, The Dream in Homer and Greek Tragedy , the meaning of ‘symbolic’ dreams by means of pro- 67. However, Messer did not consider Zeus’ double voked omens.” confirmation of Odysseus’ dream-vision through a 84 In Hittite bird omens one also finds female inter- verbal utterance and portent in 20:100-1. preters. See, e.g., Annelies Kammenhuber, Orakel- 83 Note also the observation of Oppenheim, The In- praxis, Träume, und Vorzeichenschau bei den Hethi- terpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East , tern (Heidelberg, 1976), 46. 222-3 who recognized in Iliad 5:149-51 the implica- 85 Odyssey 15:225-56 establishes the seer as a tion “that the oneiropolos likewise sought to establish descendant of a family of reputable diviners.

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dream in book 20:98-119 by way of a 247). As Russo intuitively notes, “This kledon (20:120), i.e., an omen based on powerful eagle and helpless dove recall an accidental overhearing, another omen the bird symbolism of Penelope’s dream, type found earlier in Mesopotamia. 86 In and point to the destruction of the Suitors book 20 Odysseus prays to Zeus for a by the powerful Odysseus.” 87 sign, and Zeus responds with a peal of The punning connections between thunder from a cloudless sky, to which a Penelope’s symbolic dream and its mea- woman grinding wheat stops and re- ning, and the word plays in Penelope’s marks: statement about dream interpretation Surely this is a portent ( ĝ  ) that you demonstrate the Odyssey ’s familiarity are showing to some man ... May the with the linguistic techniques of mantics; Suitors this day for the last and latest techniques that are grounded in Meso- time hold their glad feast in the halls potamian. The integration of divinatory ( ě ) of Odysseus. They have knowledge into a literary artifice that weakened my limbs with bitter labor, as I verifies one omen by way of another also made them barley meal, may they now sup their last (20:114-119). is standard Near Eastern practice. In a similar vein Gerd Stein has shown that In anticipation of the fated feast, the praxis described in the Odyssey ’s twenty maidens draw water for the Suit- “Book of the Dead,” (book 11) by which ors. Odysseus consults a prophet shares much The portent is another link in the Odys- in common with Hittite and Mesopota- sey ’s chain of omens that predict Odys- mian magic rituals. 88 R. Rollinger also seus’ return. To this end the text again has demonstrated a number of similari- employs lexical and thematic features ties between Homeric and Mesopotamian that remind his audience of Penelope’s mantics. 89 It would appear, therefore, that dream. Both episodes involve RĢ the redactors of the Odyssey were associ- “wheat,” references to the halls of Odys- ated with mantics closely enough also to seus, the gluttony of the Suitors, their portray their oneirocritic activity accu- drinking of water, and the number twenty rately and with legitimacy. 90 (Odyssey 20:157). Both omens predict A comprehensive discussion of the the return of Odysseus. numerous similarities between Penelo- Moreover, this kledon anticipates yet pe’s dream in the Odyssey and the other another bird omen witnessed by the Suit- dreams mentioned in the epic of Gil- ors who ask of Zeus a sign while plotting gamesh is beyond the scope and space the death of Telémachus in the assembly: limitations of this article. Suffice it to “...a bird on their left, an eagle of lofty add, however, that when combined with flight, clutching a timid dove” (20:242- the evidence for a shared narrative strat-

86 Oppenheim, The Interpretation of Dreams in the Epen...” Ancient Near East , 211, compares this episode with 90 Homer as blind poet also fits the topos of mantics that of Gideon in Judges 7. as handicapped in ancient Mediterranean world. Cf. 87 Russo, A Commentary on Homer’s Odyssey Vol. 3, Teiresias the blind seer ( Odyssey 10:493), and the 120. blind Demodokos ( Odyssey 8:36) who though de- 88 See, e.g., G. Steiner, “Die Unterweltsbeschwörung prived of sight was given sweet song. On this see des Odysseus im Lichte Hethitischer Texte,” UF 3 John Pairman Brown, “The Mediterranean Seer and (1971), 265-83. Shamanism,” ZAW 93 (1981), 374-400, especially 89 Rollinger, “Altorientalische Motivik in der früh- 377-8. griechischen Literatur am Beispeil der homerischen

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egy of omen verification and oneiroman- regions, and to reflect synchronically and tic punning, some degree of Near Eastern diachronically upon the relationship be- influence seems likely. tween magic (however defined), divina- Of course, the influence need not have tion, wisdom, and literature. been direct. A. Leo Oppenheim sug- Some work in this area already has gested that Near Eastern influence on been done, especially by Classicists, and Greek divinatory practices derived from with exciting results. Sarah Iles John- Telemessos in Caria, a city famed for the ston, for example, recently has under- invention of all sorts of divinatory tech- taken a comparative study of the Greek niques. 91 Whether this region of South- and Near Eastern use of figurines to rep- west Asia Minor acted as a conduit for resent and control ghosts. 95 Her study the diffusion of Near Eastern oneirocritic sees the borrowing and adaptation of methods, from Mesopotamian and Hittite Near Eastern concepts as a process that centers of learning to Greece, is impossi- “validated or challenged existing Greek ble to demonstrate. Nevertheless, in the cultural values.” 96 light of growing evidence for Near East- Viewing the process of adaptation in ern influence in Homeric texts, it seems a this way allows us to appreciate better plausible scenario. 92 Such a view recalls how this borrowing is negotiated as a W. Burkert and Fritz Graf’s 93 attribution cultural process. With reference to dream of influence to the itinerant seers, both interpretation and the Near Eastern pun- reminiscent of Cyrus Gordon’s earlier ning hermeneutic, such an approach al- suggestion that the demioergoi spread lows us to place the evidence for shared Near Eastern mantic culture throughout mantic practices in a social context and the Homeric West. 94 to see in the similarities and distinctions Regardless of the model of transmis- signs of validation and challenge. sion, a comparison of Near Eastern man- Adopting Johnston’s approach we tic techniques with the Odyssey ’s por- might say that in the light of the Near trayal of the same, suggests that they Eastern materials, the Odyssey ’s treat- were cut from similar cloth. At the very ment of symbolic dreams differs little, least, the comparisons help to elucidate suggesting that the theoretical principles each other. As scholars continue to in- that undergird Mesopotamian oneiro- vestigate Near Eastern and Aegean con- mancy, and other forms of divination, tacts, it will become increasingly more offer little challenge to the existing cul- important to establish with greater clarity tural values of his day. the social contexts of mantics in these Where the Homeric text does appear to

91 Cf. Cicero, De divinatione 1:41. (Locust Valley, NY, 1956), 136-43. 92 Observed by Oppenheim, The Interpretation of 95 Sarah Isles Johnston, “Songs for the Ghosts: Magi- Dreams in the Ancient Near East , 239. cal Solutions to Deadly Problems,” in David R. Jor- 93 Fritz Graf, “Excluding the Charming: The Devel- dan, Hugo Montgomery, and Einar Thomassen (eds.), opment of the Greek Concept of Magic,” in Marvin The World of Ancient Magic. Papers from the First Meyer and Paul Mirecki (eds.), Ancient Magic and International Samson Eitrem Seminar at the Nor- Ritual Power ( in the Graeco-Roman weigian Institute at Athens, 4-8 May 1997 (Papers of World, 129; Leiden, 1995), 29-42. the Norwegian Institute of Athens, 4; Bergen, 1999), 94 Cyrus H. Gordon, “Ugaritic Guilds and Homeric 83-102.   c ,” in Saul Weinberg (ed.), The Aegean 96 Johnston, “Songs for the Ghosts: Magical Solu- and the Near East: Studies Presented to Hetty Gold- tions to Deadly Problems,” 89. man on the Occasion of Her Seventy-Fifth Birthday

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differ is in its use of word play beyond Near Eastern materials, and reflects a the narrative confines of the symbolic certain amount of tension in antiquity dream and its interpretation. Penelope’s with regard to the reliability of dreams, speech about dreams incorporates word especially symbolic ones, as a mode of plays, which, while indexing the tech- divine discourse. However, since the niques of oneiromantics, and thus re- Odyssey anticipates Penelope’s symbolic minding us of the hermeneutical key to dream through mantic acts of augury and understanding her dream, also registers kledomancy, and since it validates both what might be thought of as an expanded them and the dream by allowing Odys- literary use of the device. seus to return in the twentieth year, we Moreover, where the Odyssey also ap- must see its treatment of the symbolic pears to differ is in its marked ambiva- dream as a literary response to this ten- lence concerning the reliability of de- sion, and as a legitimation of the oneiro- coding symbolic dreams with accuracy; critic arts over and against any contrary hence, Penelope’s gates of horn and views of the day. ivory. Agamemnon’s deceitful message Perhaps of greater significance, then, dream ( ÿ DB ÷ ) in the Iliad 2:6 than the source of the Odyssey ’s divina- could be mentioned in support. Such an tory knowledge, is the implication that an ambivalent, if not mistrusting under- awareness of divinatory technique holds standing of dreams accords less with the for ancient conceptions of the poet. 97

97 See, e.g., Brown, “The Mediterranean Seer and Shamanism.”

181