Flatbusher,
Until the advent of Soncino, the unlearned did not learn Gemara at all and would not have been capable of reading an agadata Gemara to misunderstand it. Gemara has always been meant to be learned from a Rebbi. Modern times has seen the introduction of Artscroll and other “cheating” seforim, but they are usually careful to point out when agadata’s are clearly not literal.