Note 312 — Chapter VII · THEOCRITUS—THE GREEK EPIGRAMMATISTS
Reading edition
Mr. Lang adopts the reading ἄρτον, bread; Ahrens substitutes ἄρκτον, bear, which seems to fit the context far better, as it keeps up the whole spirit of, “I dreamed of large-sized fish, and a lively fight, just as a sleeping dog dreams of chasing bears.” Cf. Tennyson’s Locksley Hall—
“Like a dog he hunts in dreams,”
and his Lucretius—
“As the dog With inward yelp and restless forefoot plies His function of the woodland,”
passages alike inspired by the lines in which Lucretius (iv. 991 f.) proves that waking instincts are reflected in dreams—
“venantumque canes in molli sæpe quiete jactant crura tamen subito.”