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Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Mind, body, spirit: thought & practice > Dreams & their interpretation
'Dreams are products of the mind, and do not come from any external
source' Artemidorus' The Interpretation of Dreams (Oneirocritica)
is the richest and most vivid pre-Freudian account of dream
interpretation, and the only dream-book to have survived complete
from Graeco-Roman times. Written in Greek around AD 200, when
dreams were believed by many to offer insight into future events,
the work is a compendium of interpretations of dreams on a wide
range of subjects relating to the natural, human, and divine
worlds. It includes the meanings of dreams about the body, sex,
eating and drinking, dress, the weather, animals, the gods, and
much else. Artemidorus' technique of dream interpretation stresses
the need to know the background of the dreamer, such as occupation,
health, status, habits, and age, and the work is a fascinating
social history, revealing much about ancient life, culture, and
beliefs, and attitudes to the dominant power of Imperial Rome.
Martin Hammond's fine translation is accompanied by a lucid
introduction and explanatory notes by Peter Thonemann, which assist
the reader in understanding this important work, which was an
influence on both Sigmund Freud and Michel Foucault.
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