Decoding the Night: Artemidorus’s Guide to Dreams

The Two Worlds of Dreaming

Is a dream merely a fleeting echo of your day, or could it be a profound message about your future? The ancient dream interpreter Artemidorus of Daldis believed the answer is both, and that the first step to understanding our dreams is to know which kind we are having. He drew a sharp line between the enypnion, or insignificant dream, and the oneiros, the truly prophetic dream. The enypnion, he explained, is simply a reflection of our present reality, a memory of our waking state. It is the mind replaying our passions and physical needs.

These dreams are not predictions, but reminders. As Artemidorus notes, our physical and emotional states naturally bubble up into our consciousness as we sleep.

τὰ ποιὰ τῶν παθῶν προσανατρέχειν πέφψυκε καὶ προσανατάσσειν ἑαυτά τῇ ψυχῇ καὶ τοὺς ὀνειρωγμοὺς ἀποτελεῖν. οἷον ἀνάγκη τὸν ἐρῶντα ὄναρ ἅμα τοῖς παιδικοῖς εἶναι δοκεῖν καὶ τὸν δεδιότα ὁρᾶν ἅ δέδιε, καὶ πάλιν αὖ τὸν πεῖνῶντα ἐσθίειν καὶ τὸν δεψῶντα πίνειν…

“The various passions have a natural tendency to rush up and attach themselves to the soul and so to produce dreams. For example, a lover must dream that he is with his beloved, a frightened man that he is seeing the things he fears, and again, a hungry man that he is eating and a thirsty man that he is drinking…”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 1.1)

These enypnia are named for the fact that they exist only “in sleep” (en hypno) and vanish the moment we wake, leaving nothing behind. The oneiros, however, is a different beast entirely. It is a message carrier, a significant event that stirs the soul and remains active even after sleep has ended. Artemidorus defines it as a profound communication from the soul itself, a glimpse into what is to come.

Ὄνειρός ἐστι κίνησις ἢ πλάσις ψυχῆς πολυσχήμων σημαντικὴ τῶν ἐσομένων ἀγαθῶν ἢ κακῶν.

“A dream is a movement or creation of the soul, of many forms, signifying future good or evil.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 1.2)

This is the true dream, the one that demands our attention and requires careful interpretation. It is not a mere echo of the past but a voice speaking about the future, its very name possibly derived from the Greek phrase for “to tell what is.” To understand the night, we must first learn to distinguish the simple reflection from the meaningful prophecy.

Literal Visions and Allegorical Riddles

Imagine you are a sailor who dreams of a shipwreck, only to be jolted awake by the cracking of timbers as your vessel begins to sink. According to Artemidorus, this is the most direct and unmistakable type of prophetic dream, the theorematikos, or literal dream. These dreams are not symbolic; they unfold in reality exactly as they appeared in sleep, offering a direct window into an imminent event.

Artemidorus provides several striking examples of these literal visions, where the dream and its fulfillment are identical.

οἷον πλέων τις ἔδοξε ναυαγεῖν καὶ διατεθεὶς ἔτυχεν οὕτως. ἐπεὶ γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀνῆκεν ὁ ὕπνος, καταποθὲν ἀπώλετο τὸ σκάφος, αὐτὸς δὲ σὺν ὀλίγοις μόγις ἐσώθη. καὶ πάλιν ἔδοξέ τις τετρῶσθαι ὑπὸ ἀνδρός, ᾧ μεθʼ ἡμέραν συνεξελθεῖν εἰς θήραν συνέθετο. καὶ δὴ συνεξελθὼν ἐτρώθη ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ παρὰ τὸν ὦμον, ἔνθα καὶ ὄναρ ἔδοξεν.

“For example, a man who was sailing dreamed that he was shipwrecked, and it happened just as he had dreamed. For when sleep left him, his boat was swallowed by the sea and sank, and he himself was saved with a few others only with great difficulty. Again, a man dreamed that he was wounded by a man with whom he had arranged to go hunting during the day. And when he went out with him, he was wounded by him in the shoulder, the very place where he had dreamed he was wounded.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 1.2)

While these direct premonitions are powerful, they are not the most common form of prophetic dream. More often, the soul speaks in a language of symbols and puzzles. These are the allegorikoi, or allegorical dreams, which form the true heart of the interpreter’s art. In these dreams, the soul communicates through riddles, using one image to stand for something entirely different.

As Artemidorus explains, this is a natural function of the soul, a way of encoding messages that require intellect and experience to unravel.

ἀλληγορικοὶ δὲ οἱ διʼ ἄλλων ἄλλα σημαίνοντες, αἰνισσομένης ἐν αὐτοῖς φυσικῶς τι καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς.

“Allegorical dreams are those which signify one thing by means of another, since the soul is expressing its meaning in riddles in a natural way.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 1.2)

These are the dreams that challenge us, where a simple image can hold a complex truth. They are not straightforward visions but intricate tapestries of meaning, where dining with a god, finding a treasure, or losing a tooth can signify events far removed from the dream’s surface. It is in deciphering these allegories that the true skill of dream interpretation lies.

The Cast of the Dream: Personal, Public, and Cosmic

Who is the star of your dream? Is the story about you, a friend, a city, or the entire world? According to Artemidorus, identifying the subject of a dream is a crucial step in its interpretation. He classified allegorical dreams into five distinct categories based on their scope: personal, concerning others, common, public, and cosmic. A personal (idios) dream is one where “a man supposes that he himself is doing or experiencing something,” and its outcome will affect the dreamer alone. A dream concerning another (allotrios) focuses on an acquaintance, and its events will befall that person.

Beyond the individual, dreams can take on a wider significance. Common (koinos) dreams involve acting alongside a familiar person, while public (demosios) dreams relate to shared civic spaces like “harbors, city walls, market-places, and gymnasia.” The grandest of all are the cosmic (kosmikos) dreams, which foretell universal calamities through visions of the sun, moon, and stars vanishing or the earth and sea being thrown into chaos.

However, Artemidorus warns that these categories are not as rigid as they first appear. A dream that seems intensely personal can have profound consequences for one’s closest relations. He gives the startling example of a man who dreamed of his own death, only for the event to befall his father. The logic is one of deep connection:

ἀπέβη τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ ἀποθανεῖν, ὅσπερ ἦν ἄλλος αὐτὸς τῷ καὶ σώματος καὶ ψυχῆς τῆς αὐτῆς μετέχειν.

“The outcome was that his father died, who was another self in that he shared the same body and soul.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 1.2)

This symbolic substitution extends to the body itself. In the language of dreams, different parts of our body represent different family members. The head stands for the father, the right hand for a father, son, or brother, while the left hand signifies a wife, mother, or daughter. Even a dream about someone else can rebound onto the dreamer. A man who dreamed his beloved had died soon passed away himself, having been “deprived of his greatest pleasure.” A dream where one’s mother or wife is sick could signify that one’s trade or craft—which nourishes like a mother and is intimate like a wife—is failing. The dream world is a web of relationships, where no symbol stands entirely alone.

The Deceptive Dream: When Good is Bad and Bad is Good

What if a beautiful dream foretells disaster, and a terrifying nightmare promises good fortune? Artemidorus reveals that the emotional tone of a dream can be deeply deceptive. To truly understand a dream’s message, an interpreter must look beyond its surface appearance and consider its hidden outcome. He organized dreams into a brilliant four-part classification: those that are good in both appearance and outcome, those that are bad in both, and most intriguingly, those where appearance and outcome are opposites.

Some dreams are straightforwardly good. To dream of “seeing the Olympian gods when they are cheerful and smiling” or of one’s family and home prospering is a pleasant experience that foretells an even more pleasant reality. Likewise, some dreams are simply bad through and through, such as dreaming of falling from a cliff or being attacked by robbers. In these cases, the “painful states of the soul during the vision” are a direct match for the unfortunate events that follow.

The true test of an interpreter’s skill comes with the mixed dreams. A dream that feels wonderful can be a harbinger of doom. Artemidorus gives the example of a man who had a seemingly pleasant dream of dining with the god Cronus, but the outcome was grim.

ἔδοξέ τις σὺν τῷ Κρόνῳ δειπνεῖν, καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον καθείρχθη· δείπνου μὲν γὰρ τοῦ σὺν θεῷ εἰκὸς εἶναι ἡδεῖαν τὴν ὄψιν, δεσμῶν δὲ καὶ εἱρκτῆς οὐχ ἡδεῖαν.

“A man dreamed that he was dining with Cronus, and the next day he was thrown into prison. For though the vision of a dinner with a god was likely to be pleasant, that of bonds and a prison was not.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 1.5)

Conversely, a frightening vision can signal a wonderful turn of events. These are the dreams that are bad in appearance but good in outcome. A slave who dreams of serving in the army will gain his freedom; a poor man who dreams of being struck by lightning will become rich. For someone about to undertake a voyage or a duel, a nightmare can be a sign of great success.

κεραυνοῦσθαι δοκεῖν πένητα ὄντα στρατεύεσθαι δοῦλον ὄντα ἢ μέλλοντα πλεῖν ἢ μονομαχεῖν ἀγαθόν τούτων γὰρ ὁ μὲν πλοῦτον ὁ δὲ ἐλευθερίαν, ὁ δὲ πλοῦν οὔριον ὁ δὲ γάμον προσημαίνει. καὶ εἰσὶν αὐτῶν αἱ μὲν ὄψεις κακαί, αἱ δὲ ἀποβάσεις ἀγαθαί.

“For a poor man to dream that he is struck by lightning, for a slave to dream that he is serving in the army, or for a man who is about to sail or fight in single combat to dream of this is good. For to these men the dream signifies, respectively, wealth, freedom, a favorable voyage, and a wife. The visions themselves are bad, but their outcomes are good.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 1.5)

This reveals the soul’s complex symbolic language, where context is everything. The interpreter must not be swayed by the dream’s immediate emotional impact but must instead rely on a deep knowledge of these symbolic reversals to uncover the true message hidden within the vision.

The Interpreter’s Craft and Common Myths

Do bad dreams come true faster than good ones? It’s a common fear, one that Artemidorus encountered frequently. Many people came to him convinced that their good dreams were false or hopelessly delayed, while nightmares seemed to manifest overnight. But the master interpreter insisted this was a misunderstanding of how dreams function, born from the dreamer’s own circumstances.

He argued that the error stems from our waking state. People who are suffering and in misfortune tend to have two kinds of dreams: bad dreams that are simply reflections of their current misery, and good dreams that are prophetic messages sent to give them hope for the future. When the promised good fortune doesn’t arrive immediately, they feel deceived, not realizing the dream was a long-term forecast.

οἱ ἄνθρωποι κακοδαιμονοῦντες ὁρῶσι κακοὺς ὀνείρους σημαντικοὺς τῶν ἐνεστώτων κακῶν καὶ ἀγαθοὺς προαγορευτικοὺς τῶν ἐσομένων ἀγαθῶν εἰς εὐθυμίαν, ἵνα ἐλπίδι τῶν ἐσομένων ἀγαθῶν μὴ ἀπαγορεύσωσι κακοπραγοῦντες, οὐδέπω δὲ ἀποβαινόντων τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡγοῦνται ἐξηπατῆσθαι.

“Men who are in misfortune see bad dreams that signify their present evils and good dreams that foretell future good things to cheer them up, so that they will not give up in despair in their misfortune because of the hope of future blessings. But when the good things do not yet come to pass, they think they have been deceived.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 4.21)

This insight reveals the core of Artemidorus’s method. Dream interpretation is not magic; it is a craft, a skill built on logic and, above all, experience. He advised interpreters to always try to provide a reason and plausible proof for their conclusions, as this inspires confidence. However, he also warned the interpreter not to be fooled by his own cleverness. The true meaning of a dream is not derived from elegant theories, but from a vast, accumulated knowledge of what specific dream images have meant for people in the past.

The outcomes, he believed, were discovered through experience (peira), while the explanations were supplied by the interpreter’s own reasoning.

ἡγούμεθα τὰς μὲν ἀποβάσεις ἀπὸ τῆς πείρας εὑρῆσθαι, τὰς δὲ αἰτιολογίας ἀπὸ ἡμῶν αὐτῶν κατὰ τὴν ἑκάστου δύναμιν.

“We believe that the outcomes have been discovered from experience, but the causal explanations have been supplied by us ourselves according to the ability of each.”

(Artemidorus *Onirocriticon*, 4.20)

Ultimately, the art of decoding the night is a discipline. It requires an understanding of human psychology, a respect for the power of symbols, and a humble recognition that knowledge is built not on abstract speculation, but on the solid foundation of observed reality.

Overall Summary

This narrative explores the ancient art of dream interpretation through the systematic approach of Artemidorus. It begins by establishing his fundamental distinction between the enypnion, an insignificant dream reflecting one’s current physical or emotional state, and the oneiros, a significant, prophetic dream that carries a message about the future. The narrative then delves into the two main types of oneiros: the theorematikos, which is a literal vision of events to come, and the more common allegorikos, which communicates through symbolic riddles.

The story further breaks down allegorical dreams by their scope—personal, public, or even cosmic—and reveals the complex rule that a dream’s subject is not always straightforward, as body parts can represent family members and a personal dream can affect one’s relatives. A key section explains Artemidorus’s four-fold classification of dreams based on whether their appearance matches their outcome, highlighting the deceptive nature of visions where a pleasant dream can foretell disaster and a nightmare can signal good fortune. Finally, the narrative addresses common myths, such as the belief that bad dreams come true faster than good ones, explaining it as a psychological effect of one’s current circumstances, and concludes by framing dream interpretation as a craft built on experience, logic, and a deep understanding of a shared symbolic language.

References by Section

The Two Worlds of Dreaming

• Artemidorus, Onirocriticon

Literal Visions and Allegorical Riddles

• Artemidorus, Onirocriticon

The Cast of the Dream: Personal, Public, and Cosmic

• Artemidorus, Onirocriticon

The Deceptive Dream: When Good is Bad and Bad is Good

• Artemidorus, Onirocriticon

The Interpreter’s Craft and Common Myths

• Artemidorus, Onirocriticon

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(Editorial Assistance: Chieka Saito、Nene Nishikawa)