Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the problem of perception of Greek knowledge in the Middle Ages. How early it could have begun; to what extent and in what form the ingredients of Aristotle’s theories began to appear in the texts of the European medieval authors on dreams, visions and the occurrence of sleep? The theories of William of Conches, including his glosses on Macrobius’ Commentary on the ‘Dream of Scipio’, and ps.-Augustine are analyzed. It is shown that their texts contain the synthesis of different, non-direct psychological and physiological Greek concepts, in which one can see not only the influence of Platonic and Neoplatonic doctrines, but also the ingredients of the Aristotelian theories.