The Iliad: Agamemnon's Dream

Agamemnon's dream in Book II of The Iliad has not been subjected to psychoanalytic investigation. It is, in fact, remarkable how little either The Iliad or The Odyssey has attracted the psychoanalytic critics. Homer's directness, openness and apparent simplicity account for this, and Agamemnon's dream is no exception.1 Described as an “evil” dream, it is presented as having come from Zeus and is designed to induce Agamemnon to lead the Greek army in an all-out attack against the Trojans—an assault which, in the absence of Achilleus and his troops, would lead to full retaliation by the Trojans and destruction of the Greek army. Zeus has sent this lying dream to Agamemnon in fulfillment of his promise to Thetis, Achilleus' mother, that he grant the Trojans success in battle because of the insult he—Achilleus—had received from Agamemnon in the quarrel which opens the epic. The following is Zeus'plan: