Star Wars Episode III- Anakin’s dream in relation to Aeschylus Libation Bearers (Part 2)

In the third instalment of the Star Wars prequels ‘Revenge of the Sith’, Anakin Skywalker has prophetic dreams about the death of his wife Padme Amidala. This is not the first time Anakin’s dreams feature in the prequel trilogy, in the second instalment, ‘Attack of the Clones’, we learn of Anakin’s mother’s death through his dreams. This, however, is the first instance where prophetic dreams occur.  Both in ancient literature and in Star Wars, their dreams have an other worldly source, in the former from the gods and in the latter as a product of the force. Both cases reflect the mortality of our protagonist, that such a message must be delivered. In Aeschylus Libation Bearers (Part 2) the importance of a dream is at the forefront of the dream message “this dream (oneiros) declares” and here the use of the word “declares” reflects the dream is delivered for a purpose. In both Star Wars and Libation Bearers the individual protagonists realise “That vision is not likely to have come for nothing!” as Orestes exclaims, this is similar to Anakin’s moment of clarity.