| Artemidorus was a professional diviner and author known for an extant five-volume Greek work Oneirocritica, (English:
The Interpretation of Dreams). Artemidorus was surnamed Ephesius, from Ephesus, on the west coast of Asia Minor, but was also called
Daldianus, from his mother's native city, Daldis in Lycia. He lived in the second century AD.
According to Artemidorus, the material for his work was gathered during lengthy travels through Greece, Italy and Asia, from
diviners of high and low station. Another major source were the writings of Artemidorus' precedessors, sixteen of whom he cites
by name. It is clear he built on a rich written tradition, now otherwise lost. Artemidorus' method is, at root, analogical. He
writes that dream interpretation is "nothing other that the juxtaposition of similarities" (2.25). But like other species of
Greek divination, including astrology, celestial divination and
pallomancy, Greek dream
divination (Oneiromancy) became exceedingly complex, a given dream subject to
a number of interpretations depending on secondary considerations, such as the age, sex and status of the dreamer. At other
times, subtle distinctions within the dream itself are significant. In a particularly memorable passage, Artemidorus expounds
upon the meaning of dreams involving sex with one's mother:
- "The case of one's mother is both complex and manifold and admits of many different interpretations—a thing not all
dream interpreters have realized. The fact is that the mere act of intercourse by itself is not enough to show what is porteded.
Rather, the manner of the embraces and the various positions of the bodies indicate different outcomes." (Trans. Robert J.
White)
There follows a lengthy and minute recitation of the divnatory significance of enjoying one's mother in various sexual
positions.
The first three books of the Oneirocritica are dedicated to one Cassius Maximus and were intended to serve as a
detailed introduction for both diviners and the general public. Books four and five were written for Artemidorus' son, also
Artemidorus, to give him a leg-up on competitors, and Artemidorus cautions him about making copies.
According to the Suda (Alpha 4025), Artemidorus also penned a Oeonoscopica
(Interpretation of Birds) and the Chiroscopica (Palmistry), but neither has survived, and the authorship is discounted. In
the Oneirocritica Artemidorus displays a hostile attitude to palmistry.
Among the authors Artemidorus cites are Antiphon (possibly the same as Antiphon the Sophist), Aristander
of Telmessus, Demetrius of Phalerum, Alexander of Myndus in
Caria, and Artemon of
Miletus. The fragments of these authors, from Artemidorus and other sources, were collected by Del Corno in his Graecorum
de re onirocritica scriptorum reliquiae (1969).
Editions and Translations
- The definitive edition of the Greek text is by Roger Pack, Artemidori Daldiani Onirocriticon Libri V (Teubner
1963)
- A medieval Arabic version was made of the first three books (ie., the "public" books) in 877 by Hunayn B. Ishaq, and
published by Toufic Fahd with a French translation in 1964 under the title Le livre des songes [par] Artémidore
d'Éphèse
- The most recent English translation is by R.J. White, The Interpretation of Dreams (Park Ridge, NJ, 1975).
- The most recent Italian translation is by Dario Del Corno, Libro dei sogni (1974)
- The most recent French translation is by A. J. Festugière, Clef des Songes (1975)
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