Ricerc@Sapienza

Taking its cue from Freud’s analogy between the unconscious and the Underworld, this paper argues that Lucretius’ theory of dreams enables the description of the katabasis in book 6 of the Aeneid as a dream-like experience. As he meets Dido and Deiphobus, Aeneas thus adumbrates the fears and desires that preside over his negotiations with the past.