10: Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio

Hi everyone, and welcome to the tenth episode of A History of Literary Criticism, a podcast about the history of literary criticism. Today’s episode concerns Macrobius’ Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. I’ll discuss the author biography, social context and Cicero’s original text first, the subsequent discussion of Macrobius’ work is divided into three parts: philosophers’ use of fables, the significance of dreams, and a discussion of Macrobius’ broader methodology. I’ll then situate Macrobius’ work within the framework of Abrams’ triangle before discussing its broader impact and, yes, relationship to the work of Sigmund Freud.