144 Aristotle and his school
but not divine.^23 To prove the truth of this conclusion Aristotle argues that
quite common people have vivid and prophetic dreamsK ( !
L>The only explanation for this is that these dreams are
not sent by a god, but it is in the nature (phusis) of garrulous and melancholic
people to see all kinds of images (in their dreams), as these people are subject
to a large number and variety of movements, which cause them to chance
upon ‘images similar to events’ (
)
X ). Their good fortune
in this respect can be compared to that of people who in a game of chance
have a better chance of winning because they just keep trying.
Aristotle speaks here of people with a ‘garrulous and melancholic nature’
(
% @-
),^24 who apparently serve as an example of
the general rule that ‘quite common’ people ( ( ' )
)
have prophetic dreams. This is used to prove that prophetic dreams are not
sent by the gods. Melancholics are therefore implicitly contrasted with the
group of ‘the best and most intelligent’ (see 462 b 21 – 2 ), for these would
typically be expected to be the recipients of divine provision, if any such
thing exists.^25 The ability to foresee the future in sleep is particularly strong
in people whose abilities to apply reason and rational thought are for some
reason weak or impaired. Aristotle explains theeuthuoneiriaof melancholics
( 463 b 18 ff.) here as a combination of their natural (physiological) sensitivity
to a large number and variety of movements or images (phantasmata), and
a kind of statistical probability: the more images one sees, the greater the
chance of seeing an image that resembles a future event.
Later on in the text ( 464 a 32 ff.) there is one further mention of melan-
cholics, this time not in a polemical context but as part of a discussion of
various groups of people with special prophetic powers. This rather obscure
passage is made even more difficult to interpret, as the explanation it gives
for the prophetic dreams of melancholics seems to differ considerably from
the one given in 463 b 17 ff.^26 A determining factor for the divination of
melancholics is said to be not only the number of images that they are
confronted with, but also a certain ability for making connections by asso-
ciation between objects that are far apart. This ability is based on a similarity
(homoiotes ̄) between the objects concerned. A further factor is the strength
and intensity (sphodrotes ̄) of their imagination, which prevents the process
(^23) For a discussion of the numerous difficulties involved in the interpretation of this paragraph see van
der Eijk ( 1994 ) 289 – 301 [see also ch. 6 below]. For other interpretations of this passage see Barra
( 1957 ) 75 – 84 ; Boyanc ́e( 1936 ) 192 ; Croissant ( 1932 ) 36 ;D ́etienne ( 1963 ) 140 – 69 ; Effe ( 1970 ) 82 n. 41 ;
A. Mansion ( 1946 ) 268 n. 46 ; Nolte ( 1940 ) 92 – 3 ; Verdenius ( 1960 ) 61.
(^24) Cf.Pr. 954 a 34 , in which garrulousness (lalia) is considered to be caused by a heating of black bile.
(^25) For the background to this argumentation see ch. 6 , below.
(^26) See Pigeaud ( 1978 ) 28 – 9 and Croissant ( 1932 ) 38 – 40.