Episode Synopsis "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.

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More episodes of the podcast A History of Literary Criticism

• 17: Wen-Hsin Tiao lung
• 16: The Poetic Exposition on Literature
• 15: A Discourse on Literature
• I'll Be Back Soon!
• 14: The Maxims of Ptahhotep
• 13: The Great Preface
• 12: Confucius
• 11: Classical Theory
• 10: Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio
• 9: Augustine of Hippo
• 8: Plotinus, On the Intellectual Beauty
• Episode 7: Institutio Oratoria
• Episode 6: On the Sublime
• Relaunch!
• Episode 5 - Ars Poetica
• Episode 4 - Aristotle's Rhetoric
• Episode 3 - Aristotle's Poetics
• Episode 2 - Plato
• Episode 1 - What Is?