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Latifah Laws
Mosaics
Prof Smith
March 2010
Dreams and Interpretation
From a long time ago until present day, dreams have always been important to people in
society. Some people take the occurrence of a dream as a sign or symbol for some happening in
the near future (almost like a prophesy). They believe that a dream holds a power that can not
only affect the dreamer, but also the people around them. In the case of Andrew George’s
translation of The Epic of Gilgamesh, This theory could be heavily supported. There are many
dreams that occur in the epic to represent the power given to a dream. For example, the death of
Enkidu marks the turning point in the journey. His dream tells him that he will die, but his friend
Gilgamesh will live to reap the sorrow as it states” let Enkidu die but let not Gilgamesh die!”
(George 55). The dream is very powerful because it not only leaves Enkidu to grieve, but
ultimately leaves Gilgamesh to mourn forever as the text says “the dream leaves sorrow for the
one who survives” (George 57 VII 76). It is because of these happenings that people believe the
dream can be looked at as more than just an occurrence in sleep. One could almost assume that
The Epic of Gilgamesh is trying to say that it is the dream that shapes the events of the day, not
the course of events in a day that shapes the dream.
On the other hand, however, there are some beliefs that we are the ones who shape our
dreams based on our actions and desires. In fact, In his book, Introductory Lectures on Psycho-
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Analysis, Sigmund Freud argues that “Dreams are things which get rid of (psychical) stimuli
disturbing the sleep, by the method of hallucinatory satisfaction” (Freud 167).Therefore in
contrast to the beliefs in The Epic of Gilgamesh, based on Freud and his beliefs, one can assume
that when we dream, it is our unconscious mind releasing thoughts that we un-noticeably took in
or is taboo to the external world. It is our thoughts, actions, and desires that shape a dream, not
the other way around.
With the scientific study and experimentation of Freud’s theory, it is easier to show how
the use of dreams represented by The Epic of Gilgamesh fails to stand as a concrete theory. It is
true that the dreams the epic mentions possess symbolism and room for interpretation, like some
of the dreams Freud describes; however, based on detailed evidence, Freud shows how it is
impossible for dreams to hold enough power to manipulate the outcome of people’s lives.
If we take the symbolism of dreams from both theories, we will find that they are
interpreted in different ways. In the case of The Epic of Gilgamesh, symbolism acts as what is to
come. It tells the dreamer either what to look forward to or how an outcome will play out. For
example, Before Enkidu arrives in Gilgamesh’s life, Gilgamesh has a dream of a rock falling
from the sky as the text states, “O mother, this is the dream I had in the night-/The stars of
heavens appeared above me./like a rock from the sky one fell down before me” (George 10 I
146). The rock that fell from the sky represents Enkidu, who was made from a piece of clay
pinched from the goddess, Aruru. The symbolism shows what is to come by having a rock fall
from the heavens (Enkidu was made from the heavens out of clay). It also shows how the
outcome of an event will play out because also in Gilgamesh’s dream he describes to his mother
how he could not move it, but he loved it and it was made into his equal (George 10 I 146-157).
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Low and behold Enkidu came into Gilgamesh’s life and after a fight they became the best of
friends and Enkidu was made equal to Gilgamesh, thus representing how dreams used
symbolism to show the dreamer their fate.
Freud interprets the use of symbolism in dreams far more differently. For starters, It is
not the symbolism in the dream that tries to tell the dreamer their fate, which is pointed out by
Freud when he says “…the events of the previous day, which were the instigators of the dream”
(Freud 186). Also in this case, symbolism does not nearly represent as many things as the
symbolism in Gilgamesh’s dreams. According to Freud, “The range of things which are given
representation is not wide: the human body as a whole, parents, children, brothers and sisters,
birth, death, nakedness, and something else besides” (Freud 188). He goes on to point out how
there is ambiguity between symbolic and allusive representation.
One of the most significant differences between the two theories is the reliance on dream
symbolism. In the theory supported by The Epic of Gilgamesh, interpreting the symbolism in
dreams was very important. For instance, When Gilgamesh and Enkidu go to the cedar forest,
every night they pray to the gods to allow Gilgamesh to dream so he can see what his fate will be.
He needs Enkidu to interpret the dreams for him because there is much symbolism he cannot
understand (George 30-38). In contrast, the worth of symbolism is much less relied in when there
are other more useful methods such as the methods Freud uses. He argues this fact when he says
“Interpretation based on knowledge of symbols is not a technique which can replace or compete
with the associative one’ (Freud 186). By proving that symbolism interpretation is not the best
method, Freud has weakened one of the sole factors of the other theory thus showing that dreams
are not as powerful as they are believed to be.
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One of the greatest reasons that Freud points out which represents why dreams should not
be considered as powerful as they are is because of the taboo thoughts that humans dream about.
He claims “The ego, freed from all ethical bonds, also finds itself at one with all the demands of
sexual desire, even those which been condemned by our aesthetic upbringing and those which
contradict all the requirements of moral restraint” (Freud 175). When we are sleep our
unconscious mind releases thoughts that are undesirable in the external world. He goes on to
claim that the dreams are censored because of this and the parts that are taboo or undesirable are
usually the things that we can’t remember when we wake up. This censorship shows how dreams
are too weak to control our conscious mind. For example, in a study conducted by Freud, a lady
talks about a dream she had. Ultimately, Freud arrives to the conclusion that she was dreaming
about sexual relations with her son, but the dream distorted the parts where the actual
implications were made (Freud 168-170). Now it was clear that the lady did not want to have
sexual relations with her son. So unlike the Gilgamesh theory where people would have acted
based on a dream that they had, her dream remained as her dream and she does not actually act
on it.
Freud’s findings to support his theory on dreams show the flaws in the theory of the
power of dreams. He shows through investigation and research how it makes much more sense
for dreams to be triggered by events and desires that people go through as opposed to dreams
having the power to triggers people’s fate. Through factors such as dream distortion and the
discredibility of symbolism, Freud’s theories show how the theory of dreams described in The
Epic of Gilgamesh fails to show concrete evidence of truth.
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