From Epiphany to Episode: A Revolution in the Description of Dreams

• Epiphany or Messenger Dreams
• Definition and Origin of the Epiphany Dream
• Varieties of the Epiphany Dream
• Distinguishing the Epiphany Dream from the Modern Dream
• Other Kinds of Greek and Roman Dream Reports
• The Force of Convention
• Actual Epiphany Dreams?
• The Epiphany Dream in DangerGalen and Aelius Aristides
• Late-antique Stimuli
• Epiphany Dreams in the Middle Ages
• The Early-Modern Demise
• Explaining the Change

Greek and Roman Dreams That Were Really Dreamt

• Is this Tale Tall?
• An Essential Question
• The Matter of Authenticity
• The Problem of Memory
• Dream-like Dreams
• Mendacious Historians and Biographers
• Some Strong Candidates
• Perpetua
• Artemidorus
• Constantine
• Augustine
• Aelius Aristides
• Writing Good Stories

Greek and Roman Opinions about the Truthfulness of Dreams

• What They Believed and What We Believe
• Truth
• Belief
• The Interpreters
• Metaphors
• The Greeks before the Sophists
• Fifth-century Athens
• Ordinary and Extraordinary Athenians in the Fourth Century
• Plato and Aristotle
• Hellenistic Impressions
• Predictive Dreams in the Context of Greek Divination
• The Roman Republic down to Sulla
• Lucretius, Cicero and the Late Republic
• Incubation and the Doctors
• Augustus to the Flavians
• A Victory for Religion?100–250 AD
• What Dreams Were Good for under the Roman Empire
• Late Antiquity
• A Conclusion

Naturalistic Explanations

• Introduction
• The Origins of Naturalistic Thinking about Dreams
• The Preplatonic Philosophers
• 'Hippocratic' Doctors
• Back to Plato
• Aristotle Uncertain
• The Epicureans
• Other Hellenistic Voices
• The Reasons for a Failure
• A Note on Galen
• What Does a Swallow Mean?
• A Complete Halt