Dreamingand the Ideology of Mantics: Homer and Ancient Near Eastern Oneiromancy."

Home , Dorus (Deucalionid), Oneiromancy, Tamia

Prof. Scott B. Noegel Chair, Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization University of Washington

"Dreamingand the Ideology of Mantics: Homer and Ancient Near Eastern Oneiromancy."

First Published in: Ideologies as Intercultural Phenomena: Proceedings of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project Chicago, October 27-31, 2000 (MELAMMU, 3; Helsinki: Neo-Assyrian text Corpus Project), 143-157. ~",."

MELAMMU SYMPOSIA III

IDEOLOGIES AS INTERCULTURAL PHENOMENA

"---" Proceedings of the Third Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project Held in Chicago, USA, October 27-31, 2000

Edited by , A. PANAINO 'G. PETTINATO

With the collaboration of G. P. BASELLO A. PIRAS

UNIVERSIT A DI BOLOGNA & IsIAO ~ MILANO 2002 " ~ . r;JO \ NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ON~CY

SCOTT B. NOEGEL Washington '---' Dreaming and the Ideology of Mantics: Homer and Ancient Near Eastern Oneiromancy*

ear Eastern influence on Greek Raaflaub refers to as "...the precondi- literature has been the subject of tions that made them possible and the N increasing scholarly interest in limits and exact modalities of transmis- the last few decades. The works of W. sion and effect."4 Burkert! and of others2 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 v Literature is Near Eastern literature,"3 only those dreams which we could call encapsulates this approach. While a great "symbolic," Le., 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- .\...J 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; MUnster, 1998), 55-89; University of Washington and at the Third Annual Robert Rollinger, "Altorientalische Motivik in der Meeting of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual frlihgriechischen Literatur am Beispeil der

Heritage Project (MELAMMU)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, Simo Parpola and UberJegungen zur Priisenz altorientalischer Wander- Christopher Faraone for their helpful comments after priester im frtiharchaischen Griechenand)," in these presentations. The abbreviations adopted herein Christoph Ulf (ed.), Wege =ur Genese griechischer follow those of the Journal o/Near Eastern Studies. Identitat: Die Bedeutung der fruharchaischen 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:' Ruckblick 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 Mesopotamia Orientali;;ing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on (Oxford, 1998), 85-106. Greek Cultur,e in the Early Archaic Age (Cambridge, 3M. 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 Assyria: 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 Tviirminne, Finland, Kottsieper (eds.), "Und Mose schrieb dieses Lied October 8-11. 1998 (Melammu Symposia, I; Hel- auf": Studien =um Alten Testament und =um Alten sinki, 2000), 54. ' / Orient: Festchrift fur Oswald Loret= =ur Vollendung A. Panaino & G. Pettinato (eds.) MELAMMUSYMPOSIA111(Milano 2002) ISBN 88-8483-107-5 167 // " NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY ~. 1

I I Greek message dreams, have received My comparison will consist of two i some scholarly attention5 and have been parts: first, the punning interpretation of '-J 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 1. 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 ancient Near East, I re- Idran (JD-ra-an = A-ra-an); he will free examine all extant Mesopotamian dream himself from Ii crime (aran).12 oracles for evidence of what I will call the punning hermeneutic.8 My research If one gives him bird "oil" (t + GIS has turned up dozens of examples, but a MUSEN); they will shout 'Watch out! smaller sampling will suffice to demon- Watch out!' (i-plr i-:jur KA-u).13 strate.9 If (someone) has given him mibru-wood; If a man dreams that he is eating a raven he shall have no rival (mabiru). '--./ (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 (seru): he will have great riches (Saru).IO 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 (DO- . (TUL): he will lose (IJA.A) his pro- ufs] = ibanus).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 10X: x+13 (K.6663 + 8300). Assyrian Dream Book (Transactions of the American 11A play here on lab[mu "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, "Th.e Rise of the Greek Epic," JHS 108 12IX: 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 A == ID in the typology nothwithstanding. On such difficulties see protasis). Scott B. Noegel, "Dreams and Dream Interpreters in 13The play here is on the word "bird" (i.'iiiuru). Mesopotamia and in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testa- 14VII: rev. ii, x+15-16. The apodosis IjA.A = haliiqu ment)," in Kelly Bulkeley (ed.), Dreams and "lose," appears to have been associated with the pro- Dreaming: A Reader in Religion, Anthropology, tasis' TUL = burtu "well, fish pond," via a learned History, and Psychology (Hampshire, 2001), 45-71; pun between its component signs, IjA and A. The Nocturnal Ciphers: The Allusive Language of former sign, when read as KU6 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 mu "water." CAD B 335, s.v. burtu. 9 Oppenheim, The Interpretation of Dreams in the \.J 168 m_. ---- .-.- -

NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERNONEIROMANC

If he goes to Lubda (Lu-ub-daki): im- If a man has a dream in which he uncov- prisonment (me-si-ru) will seize [him].ls ers (kf'w) his derriere (Pbwy). Bad omen. He will come to an end (kf'w If he seizes a fox (KAs.A = selibu), he pbwy). will seize a Lamassu (AN.KAL), but if 1 he seizes a fox in his hand (SU), and it More recently, Mark Geller18 has seen esc~pes, 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 (SU).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 influence. 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 I die in the month of ' Adar and not see r" New Kingdom Egyptian dream oracles Nisan." Rabbi interprets this dream: showed the imprint of Mesopotamian "You will die with honor ('adratiih), and techniques in their format and in some not come into temptation (nisiiy6n)."2~ 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 (baron 'ap) frequently displays the punning herme- has been removed from yoU."21 neutic. Three examples will illustrate. One who sees a reed (qiineh) 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 (PU) in a dream, seized. wonders (pelii 'ot) will be wrought for him.23 - If a man has a dream in which he offers incense (snlr) to the god. Bad omen. The Though some scholars have empha- I:age of the god (n[r) is against him (i.e., sized similarities in format and detail he is incensed!). when demonstrating Mesopotamian in-

15IX: obv. i, y+13 (Sm 29 + 79-7-8, 94). Here it is Whiting (eds.), TheHeirs of Assyria: Proceedings of the LU sign which logographicaIly suggests itself as the Opening Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylo- DAB = kdlu "imprison, hold, contain." Similarly, the nian Intellectual Heritage Project Held in Tvar- DB sign (=KU) represents the verb nadil, 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 Nil 86, s.V.nadu. These equations are bolstered 19For the role of wordplay in Rabbinic exegesis in visually as well by the signs LU and DAB which are general see Isaac Heineman, ;'1'),1\;'1':>" (Jerusalem: identical, and by the DB sign which differs from LV 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- , 16If "fox" is read syllabically as !ie,lib-bu, the same berg, Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study of Folk ~ signs can be read as (A).AN.KAL-u, Le., "Lamassu." - Religion (New York, 1974). For a complete list of Moreover, though SV here means qiitu "hand," one dream puns in the Talmud see Noegel, Nocturnal lexical lists shows us that dLAMMA = dSU. See Ciphers. Scott B. Noegel, "Fox on the Run: Catch a Lamassu 20BT, Berakhot, 56b. by the Pun," NABU (1995), 101-2. 2l BT, Berakhot, 56b. 17See Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers. 22BT, Berakhot, 56b. 18M. J. Geller, "The Survival of Babylonian Wissen- 23BT, Berakhot, 56b-57a. schaft in Later Tradition," in Sanna Arc and R.' M.

169 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

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" (oii!!oS; CE, the Oneirocritica nevertheless repre- OYelQCDV).25Also 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

24 Oppenheim,. The Interpretation. of Dreams in the found in Mesopotamian colophons and god lists, Ancient Near East, 216. e.g., Erie Leichty, "The Colophon," in Studies Pre- 25In 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 26For Notariqon see Artemidorus Daldianus, Oneiro- 'Measures' of Biblical Hermeneutics," HUCA 58 critica. Trans!. 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. . IEl19 (1969), 1l0-l3. Compare this with the gematria

170 ~ ,n --, ,' ,

NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

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" (aAO~

'> '" remind us of Artemidorus' understanding L1C1COL).33Artemidorus similarly asserts: I of dreams as texts, as he notes: "For it "That dreams are not entirely unrelated I I 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 (yaA:ij)that appears in a dream in one's life as they unfolded in the represents a lawsuit (OL'XTj),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- 20 + 8 = 42/) (gematria).30 pherment. As Artemidorus put it: "Whe- A penis (f,ttl°w) in a dream can signify never they (the gods) speak in riddles i~' the making of important plans (f,tll~w)... and do not speak plainly, you must at- (polysemy).3l tempt to solve the riddJes."36 This re- A wolf (M'XOC;) signifies a year mark, of course, reminds us of the Near (A'U'X6:~ac;)because of its name (parono- Eastern view expressed in Num 12:6-8.37 masia).32 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 interpretat.ion 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,

28See, e.g., Frans Dornseiff, Das Alphabet in Mystik 3l Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 39. und Magie (Leipzig, 1925), and also the following 32Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 96, 142. additions to the subject. R. Hallo, "Uber die griechis- 33Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 46. chen Zahlbuchstaben und ihre Verbreitung," ZDMG 34Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 202. 80 (1926), 55-67; "Zusatze zu Franz Dornseiff's Al- 35Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 210. phabet," Archiv fUr Religionswissenschajt 23 (1925), 36Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 214. 166-74; A. Bertholet, Die Macht der Schrift in Glau- 37See 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; Hcal Hermeneutics," 157-225; Tigay, "An Early Berlin, 1950). Each noted in Liebennan, "A Meso- Technique of Aggadic Exegesis," 169-189; Dom- 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- 29Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 196. miah and Its Literary Sigificance," JBQ 24/2-4 30Daldianus, Oneirocritica, 165, 178, n. 11. (1996), 82-9, 160-6,247-50.

171 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY i i I ! i I i 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 punning hermeneutic bolsters the words of S. "If the station (a particular mark on the i 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 IU:j); rejoicing (ullu:j libbi) of the fields represented parts of a larger arm y ."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 Summu Izbu we find: This background informs W. Burkert's "If a ewe gives birth to a lion, and it has matted hair (mali); a reign of mourning comment that these same experts, his (mali); the land will be full of mourning itinerant "craftsmen of the sacred,"45 (maid); attack of the enemy."4\ 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 are "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 aru "be -pregnant" and clearly echo Mesopotamian classics... Just as in the case of liver divination, the aru "eagle." I could cite numerous others '--" 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 of Greece that is the epoch of the orien- from texts via word play.43 Though it certainly was not the only hermeneutic in . tali zing revolutionY .

38See 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 Ku/turen Mesopotamiens; Beitriige =um 3. Gra=er Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Literature (Bethesda, Morgenliindischen Symposium. 23.-27. September, MD, 2000). 1991 (Grazer MorgenUindische Studien, 3; Karl " 39Starr, The Rituals of the Diviner, 10. Franzons Universit1it, Kopernikusgasse 24; Graz, 40Starr, The Rituals of the Diviner, 10. 1993), 52. The emphasis is the author's. It perhaps is 4\ Leichty, The Omen Series: Summa l=bu, 77, V:39. no coincidence that the word c:m "wisdom" appears Noted also in Tigay, "An Early' Technique of Agga- in Genesis only in connection with the mantic profes- ii dic Exegesis," 178, but as an example of Mesopota- sionals of Egypt (Gen 41:.8,41 :33). i mian "parable, allegory, or symboL" This example 45See, Walter Burkert, ."Itinerant Diviners and Magi- more accurately belongs with Tigay's reme= cate- cians: A Neglected Element in Cultural Contacts," in gory. R. H!igg (ed.), The Greek Renaissance of the Eigth 42See 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 i Explanatory Works of Assyrian and Babylonian Swedish Institute in Athens, 1-5 June 1981; Stock- Scholars (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986). holm, 1983), 115-19. 44Parpola, "Mesopotamian Astrology and Astronomy 46Burkert, The Orientali=ing Revolution, 6. as Domains of Mesopotamian 'Wisdom'," in Hannes 47Burkert, The Orientali=ing Revolution, 129. "' / 172

J ,--= ~..' -- .0 -

NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

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 steppe land (ina ~ sics were mantic professionals.48 Indeed, $eri) who will become the strength the author of the Epic of Erra states in (ki$ru) 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 ~ermeneutic 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 ki$ru sa dAnim tamount to demonstrating divinatory in- (I, v,28) or "meteorite," his mother offers fluence. In this regard West's depiction an interpretation that derives from multi- of the Greek bard is striking: . ple readings of the word ki$ru. For example, she states kfma ki$ru sa' dAnim ~' We should probably envisage the IE .~ ...0 dunnuna emuqiisu "like a ki$ru of Anu, ~ poet-besides other functions such as in- '"j voking gods at sacrifices, and reciting so mighty is his strength" (1:iii,4). Here :~.1; magical incantations for various commu- the words dunnuna emuqiisu "mighty is i nity needs-celebrating the noble qualities his' strength," semantically play, on and heroic enterprises of the king and his another meaning of ki:fru, namely ancestors... 49 "strength."sl She also asserts that his v Indeed, we hear of the complementar- dream represents dannu tapJpu musezib ity and'inter-disciplinarity of Greek divi- fibril "a strong commrade who rescues a natory professionals, in the Iliad 1:62-63, friend" (I:vi,l), one who Iii innizebkii where, Achilles equates, as with equal kdsa "will never forsake you" (I:vi,5). power, the soothsayer, omen readers, The verb ka$iiru can be written in Sume- priest, prognosticator, and dream inter- rian in several ways. One' way in par- preter.so In the Mesopotamian world, this ticular is with KAD, a sign that in turn range of interdisciplinary mantic skills can be read ezebu "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: sakan abubi ubla libbasunu In the Old Babylonian version, Gil- iliini rabati "the great gods set their gamesh dreams' that a meteorite (ki:fru) hearts to ubla the deluge" and XI:26: fell from the sky on top (ana $eri) of makkura zerma napiSta bullit "spurn ,him. His mother interprets the dream by property, keep living beings alive." I

48 It is likely that many Israelite and Egyptian divi- fiilhgriechischen Literatur am Beispeil der homeris- natory techniques were inherited from Mesopotamia. chen Epen...," 187-90 See, e.g., Frederick H. Cryer, Divination in Ancient 51CAD K 436, s.v.ld~ru. Israel and its Near Eastern Environment: A Socio- 52CAD E 416, S.v.ezebu. Historical Investigation (JSOTS, 142: Sheffield, 53 Scott B. Noegel, "A Janus Parallelism in the Gil-

1994). ' gamesI1 Flood Story," ASJ 13 (1991), 419-21; "An 49 West, "The Rise of the Greek Epic," 154. Asymmetrical Janus Parallelism in the Gilgamesh 50For a discussion of the similarities here to Greek Flood Story," ASJ16 (1994),10-12. . '---/ epic see Rollinger, "Altorientalische Motivik in der 173 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

noted that the former plays on the poly- of dreams. As Ea tells the divine assem- semy inherent in the word ubla, namely bly: aniiku ul apta piriSti iliini rabuti.

.~ "want, desire, yearn for"54 and also Atra-hasissunata usabrisumma piristi "carry and sweep off (which often is said iliini isme "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-.gasis involves two puns: zerma "spurn," which behold a dream, and he perceived the se- also can be read as serma "construct"; cretofthe gods" (XI:186-187). and makkura "property," which also sug- Examples of the literary portrayal of gests makura "boat" (from Sum. ma- symbolic dreams and the punning here- gurS).56I 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 Ibl, Ill, and In/. 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" (zaniinu) the people with an The materials I have discussed, and the "abundance" (nubsu) of "wheat cakes" parallels between Mesopotamian and (kukki) and "wheat" (kibati). Utna- Greek dream omens, naturally r-aise 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" (nuhsu) With this in mind, I turn to what W. '\ '---" "storm" (zaniinu) of "darkness" (kukku) Arend has defined as the only extant and "heaviness" (kib ittu). 58 symbolic dream in e~rly 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: .e, : "I

54 CAD All 21-22, s.V. abalu. See also the double does not realize that puns need not be grammatically sense of abalu in an apodosis in the VeFlusTablets of "perfect" to be effective. See also my remarks in Ammi~aduqa (= Tablet 63 of the series Enuma Anu "Raining Terror: Another Wordplay Cluster in Enlil): nagbu ippataru dAdad =unndu dEa nagbesu Gilgamesh Tablet XI (Assyrian Version, 11.45-47)," i ubbula sarru ana sarri salima isappar "'springs to NABU 75 (1997), 39-40, regarding M. Malul's ("A i open?,' Adad will bring his rains, Ea his floods, king Possible Janus Parallelism in the Epic of Gilgamesh t..,'i I " will send messages of reconciliation to king." Found XI, 130," ASJ 17 [1995],338-42). Moreover, the text ii'' in Reiner and Pingree, Enuma Anu Enlil, Tablet 63: Millard chooses as a preferable example was dis- '~ I.<. The Venus Tablet of Ammi.<;aduqa,13. cussed already in my dissertation, which has since 55CAD All 16-17, S.v. abalu. been published as Janus Parallelism in the Book of I;; 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- l;~ a!. (eds.), Alter Orient und Altes Testament (Num. 25; cussed above, we do well to note the remark by UlIa 1\ Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1976),244. Jeyes, Old Babylonian Extispicy: Omen Texts in the 57Scott B. Noegel, "Raining Terror: Another Word- British Museum (Istanbul: Nederlands Historisch- play Cluster in Gilgamesh Tablet XI (Assyrian Ver- Archaeologisch Instituut Te Istanbul, 1989), 44, re- sian, 11.45-47)," NABU75 (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 kibati in Gilg. EXI," Z4 36 (1925), 216. For a con- produces an apodosis which predicts a flood." trary opinion see A. R. Millard, "The Sign of the 59See Noegel, Nocturnal Ciphers. ~ Flood," Iraq 49 (1987), 63-9. Here, I think, Millard 60W. Arend, Die typische S=enen bei Homer (Berlin, 174 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

Listen to this dream of mine and inter- Here the expression tOO'UOLVES Mm;os; pret it. I keep a flock of twenty geese "they eat grain from the water" perhaps , (XfjVE~ !-tOL)here. They eat grain from the suggests the name 'OO'UOOE'lJS.65The pun water (:Jt'UQovEOO'UOLVd; uoa'to~) 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 (aY'X'UA.OXELA.T)~)swoop down from the n'UQovor the geese are in the water. 66 mountain (OQEO~)and break their necks Also suggestive of Odysseus is the (auXEva~), killing them (E'X'tavEv).There eagel's curved beak, his ay'X'UAoXELA:Y)S;, they lay heaped (E'XEX1JV'tO)in the great which punfully echoes Odysseus' "cur- hall (!-tEyaQOt~),while he soared up into the clear sky... I grieved piteously be- ved bow" (aY'X'lJAa'to;a) (cf. Odyssey cause the eagle had killed my geese (!-tOt 21 :264). The pun is edified soon after- ai.E'to~ E'X'tavE xiiva~). 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 xftves "geese," with txex'Uv'to "heap up," in Near Eastern literature;62 namely the and £'X'taVEVused for the "killing" of the placement of an omen within an omen,63 geese. These puns are rein.forced by the since birds too were divinatory tools.64 semantic parameters of the verb 'X'tELVW, 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 pencope. . "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 in~erpreta- 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 av:x.evas;

1933),61, n. 3, notes that Penelope's dream does not 63Ludwig Binswanger, Wandlungen in der Auffassung conform structurally to other Homeric dreams which und Deutung des Traumes: van den Griechen bis =ur 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 Beitrage 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 Fernandez-Galiano, and Alfred Heubeck, A Homer, 90, n. 28. Commentary on Homer's Odyssey Vol. 2 (Oxford, 65For 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 61The translation (with minor modification) is that of (1995),34-7. E. V. Rieu, Homer: The Odyssey (New York, 1991). 66Russo, A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey Vol. 2, 62Gudea's dream in Cylinder A:17. E. Jan Wilson, 101-2. . The Cylinders of Gudea: Transliteration, Transla- 67L&S, 1001, s.v. X'tELVOO. . 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.

175

- ~1 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEJROMANCY

for "necks" continues the punning on "The geese are the Suitors, and I, that before was the eagle-omen (atEtO£ ogVt£), xf)v££ and tx£X'lJV'tOand reinforces the ~ am now again (aii'tEn:o£) come back as interpretive connection between the bro- your husband (noat£), 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 (Axmwv) (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 (at£'to£) and what he is now again (au'tE "great halls" (lleyagoL£) also suggests 'tEO£), Le., her husband. The word nOaL£ 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 (XEX'lJV'tO)in the geese in the dream and hints at Odys- "great halls" (Il£YeXgwv) (Odyssey seus' return while the Suitor's carouse. 22:375, 389).70 In addition, the use of After listening to the dream, the dis- tXEX'lJV"COrecalls a previous scene in which maidens feed the Suitors with guised Odysseus perceives Penelope's account as an omen 73 and assures her of bread (like the geese) and pour water the interpretation's accuracy. (EXHJaVvowg) over their hands (1: 146). Note also in the expression IlOLat£"Co~ Lady, in no wise is it possib'le to inter- Ex"Cav£xf)va£ how Penelope's use of IlOL pret (iJJtoxgCvaa8mf4 this dream and give it another meaning... For the Suit- can be understood as a simple possessive ors' destruction is plain to see, for one with xf)va£, but also as a dative of disad- ~ and all; not one of them shall escape vantage with Ex'tan meaning "he killed death and doom (xfiQa£) (Odyssey them for me." Moreover, the reading IlOL 19:555-558). at'to£ as "my eagle" offers an ironic sub- Penelope replies (in a famous passage tlety that suggests to Russo that "Pene- later imitated by Vergii in the Aeneid). lope does not yet know that the eagle is more truly hers than the geese are."7! "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 (xEgaEaatfS and

69The pun also'reminds us of the eagels' actions that Greek Literature, 99. the augur interpreted in book 2. There, however, the 74This verb is commonly used for interpreting omens word for necks was 6€LQa~.The use of aUX"Evac;, and oracles. See Iliad 5:150. . therefore, stands out intertextually. 75 E. L. Highbarger,The Gates of Dreams(Baltimore, 70Russo, A Conimentary 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- 7] The observations on the possessive use of ~OLare 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. Jt6GL~. Crete to sacred horns could weIl derive from this 73 As noted by Kessels, Studies on the Dream in eastern source."

176 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

the other of ivory (tAEepa'VtL).Those that sending two eagles who fly from on high come through the carved ivory (tAeepav- from a mountain peak. 1:0£) gate deceive/harm us (tAEepaLQov- ~ 'tat) bringing unfulfillment (a,xQaav'ta For a time they flew swift as the blasts of epEQO'V'tE£);whereas those that issue from the wind side by side with wings out- the gate of burnished horn (xEQao.>v) spread; but when they reached the middle really fulfill (t'tUfta xQaLvouOL)..."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 U3toxQLvao6m and xf]Qa~. Then they tore with their talons one an- Her remark also equates horn with ful- other's cheeks and necks (OELQC1.£)on ei- ther side, and darted away to the right fillment and ivory with deception, i.e., across the houses and the city of the men xcQawv with xQaLvouOL and £A.£cpav'to£ '" (Odyssey 2:146-154). with £A.ccpaCQoV'tm. Moreover, Penelo- ~ pe's statement .is ambiguous because Amazed at the omen, Telemachus and .i "each verbal phrase describing what each his companions consult one Halitherses. ,11: group of dreams does is open to two in- whom Homer describes as surpassing "all ~ terpretations."77 The verb £A.ccpaLQov'taL men of his day in knowledge of birds and means both "cheat" and "damage," and in uttering words of fate" (Odyssey the expression E'tUI-.ta xQaCvouoL can 2: 157). He interprets the omen as pre- mean "fulfill things that are real" or dicting a great woe upon Penelope's Ij "really have power to fulfill. "78 For Pene- wooers, and the return of Odysseus in the i'll, 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."8! Yet, the omen is more the interpretive strategies of mantics. than a literary d~vice, 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 Telemachus' cultural matrix that treated omens as di- assertion that Odysseus would return by vine messages. Literary allusions are

76Kessels, 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, Jon, 604 use the verb an ivory-handled key to get Odysseus' bow of horn. xQaCvoo"fulfill" in connection with divination. Amory concludes: "The bow and the key are con- 77Russo, 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 78Russo, A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey Vol. 2, the revenge theme..." (49). . 103. 80 It is worthnotingherethat Eustathius' 12thcentury 79Anne 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" (xEQa£)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- 8lRusso, A Commentary on Homer's Odyssey Vol. 1, rator remarks repressed tears as if fixed by iron and p 141.

177 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

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 for all the Suitors (15:174-178). deed, Homer vindicates the augur when after the twentieth year Odysseus returns. Soon afterwards Zeus sends Telemachus 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 Thebclumenos85 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 (~aO'L- the depiction of divinatory activity in the A.EV'tEQOV);you are' supreme forever" Odyssey illustrates this same narrative (15:533-534). This omen shown to Te16- 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- Telemachus observes a similar omen: tures parallel Penelope's dream with the Even as he spoke a bird flew by on the augur and Theoclumenos' predictions in right, an eagle (atELb~), bearing in his books 2 and 15. Both the augur's predic- talons a great, white goose (xii'Va), a tion and Penelope's dream report eagles tame fowl from the yard, and men and that soar from mountains and break the women followed shouting. But the eagle 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 Telemachus can interpret the (X1lv).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 (xiiv) 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

. 82Messer, 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." confinnation of Odysseus' dream-vision through a 84In Hittite bird omens one also finds female inter- verbal utterance and portent in 20:100-1.. preters. See, e.g., Annelies Kammenhuber, Orake/- 83Note also the observation of Oppenheim, The In- praxis. Traume, und Vor=eichenschau be; 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- 8S Odyssey 15:225-56 establishes the seer as a tion "that the oneirop%s likewise sought to establish descendant of a family of reputable diviners.

178 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

dream in book 20:98-119 by way of a 247). As Russo intuitively notes, "This .1 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 L 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: Jci statement about dream interpretation ~ Surely this is a portent (tEQa~)that you demonstrate the Odyssey's familiarity .~'" with the linguistic techniques of mantks; ~ are showing to some man ... May the 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 (l!£yaQoL~) 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 Jtugov 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 dis.cussion of the the return of Odysseus. . numerous similarities between Penelo- . Moreover, this kledon anticipates yet pe's d.ream 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 Telemachus 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- th~ evidence for a shared narrative strat-

86Oppenheim, The Interpretation of Dreams in the Epen..." Ancient Near East, 211, compares this episode with 90Homer as blind poet also fits the topos of mantics that of Gideon in Judges 7. as handicapped in ancient Mediterranean world. Cf. 87Russo, 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- 88See, e.g., G. Steiner, "Die Unterweltsbeschworung 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 frilh- 377-8. .griechischen Literatur am Beispeil der homerischen

179 NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

egy of omen verification and oneiroman- regions, and to reflect synchronically and tic punning, some degree of Near Eastern diachronically upon the relationship be- I influence seems like ly. tween magic (however defined), divina- 1'-../ I Of course, the influence need not have tion, wisdom, and literature. I I Some work in this area already has I been direct. A. Leo Oppenheim suggested 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- arid 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's93 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 95Sarah Isles Johnston, "Songs for the Ghosts: Magi- Dreams in the Ancient Near East, 239. cal Solutions to Deadly Problems," in David R. Jor- 93Fritz 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 (Religions 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. ClHMIoEPror," in Saul Weinberg (ed.), The Aegean 96 Johnston, "Songs for the Ghosts: Magical Solu- //1 and the Near East: Studies Presented to Hetty Gold- tions to Deadly Problems," 89. I man on the Occasion of Her Seventy-Fifth Birthday

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NOEGEL HOMER AND ANCIENT NEAR EASTERN ONEIROMANCY

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 "-..J 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 (OUA.o~OV£LQO~)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

97See, e.g., Brown, "The Mediterranean Seer and Shamanism." ~

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