146 Aristotle and his school
Moreover, a check of all the occurrences ofeuthuoneirosandeuthuoneiria^31
in Greek literature proves Effe’s interpretation to be wrong. The fact that
euthuoneiriaiare opposed to ‘confused and disturbed images’ ( A)
@#
)in 464 b 9 ff. shows thateuthuoneiria
refers to ‘lucid’ and ‘clear’ dreams, which come about because the way
taken by the movement of sensory perception from the sensory organ to
the heart has beenstraight(euthus).^32 Consequently, the relation between
these dreams and reality is immediately clear (this explains the remark in
464 b 10 that anyone can interpret such dreams; cf. 463 a 25 ). For this reason
these dreamscanin fact be right or prophetic, yet this possibilityalsoapplies
to the distorted and blurred images in dreams, for, Aristotle says, assessing
theirrelation to reality clearly is the work of a professional interpreter of
dreams.
Another option is to assume that the confusing effect of air (pneuma)
mentioned inOn Dreamsapparently does not apply in the cases referred
to inOn Divination in Sleep.This is either due to the large number of
images (for, inOn Divination in Sleepimages seen in dreams are a result
of movement, whereasOn Dreamsspeaks about the influence of bodily
movement on images that have already been formed),^33 or because other
psycho-physical processes or states neutralise, as it were, the confusing
effect. If one attempts to solve the problem in this way (supported by
J. Croissant),^34 one has to assume that the contradiction is only apparent,
but it must be admitted that Aristotle did not make an effort to avoid the
impression of contradicting himself. Yet it is very well possible that this is
partly due to the differences in aim and method between the more technical
and programmaticOn Dreamsand the more polemicalOn Divination in
(^31) The noun (
occurs in 463 a 25 and 464 b 7 and 16 , the adjective ( !
in 463 b
16 and 464 a 27 as well as in the passageEth. Eud. 1248 a 39 – 40 , which will be discussed below.
Apart from the Aristotelian Corpus, the word does not occur until in Plutarch (De def. or. 437 d–e, a
passage that does not offer much of an explanation as it clearly refers toDiv. somn. 463 b 16 ff.). As to
the meaning of this word, similar combinations with ( -are to be mentioned, such as ( )
(cf. Geurts ( 1943 ) 108 – 14 ).
(^32) Cf. the use of ( inMem. 453 a 25.
(^33) The ‘many and manifold movements’K
LfromDiv. somn. 463 b
18 are clearly ‘movements that produce images’K
L, whereas the ‘huge move-
ment’K % #
LfromInsomn. 461 a 24 refers to the ‘resistance’K"
Lagainst these
movements, as mentioned in 461 a 11.
(^34) Croissant ( 1932 ) 38 – 9. According to Croissant, the effect of the lack of rational activity in melancholics
is that the movements can reach the central sense organ, despite strong resistance of the air in the
blood. However, this interpretation presupposes the identity of ‘the ecstatic people’K/
L
and the melancholicsK/
L. Although Croissant bases this identity onPr. 953 b 14 – 15
(and probably alsoEth. Nic. 1151 a 1 – 5 ; see below), it does not do justice to the separate discussion of
‘the ecstatics’ inDiv. somn. 464 a 24 – 7 and ‘the melancholics’ in 464 a 32 ff., as well as the differences
between the explanations Aristotle gives for each group.