Artemidorus, Ονειροκριτικά

Πολλάκις προετράπην ἐπὶ τὴν πραγματείαν τὴν προκειμένην ὁρμῆσαι καὶ ἐπεσχέθην ‘οὔτʼ ὄκνῳ εἴκων οὔτ’ ἀφραδίῃσι νόοιοʼ, ὥς φησιν ὁ ποιητής, ἀλλὰ τὸ μεγαλεῖον τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ θεωρημάτων καὶ τὸ πλῆθος καταπεπληγὼς μάλιστα καὶ τὰς ἀντιλογίας δεδιὼς τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἤτοι διὰ τὸ πεπεῖσθαι οὐκ εἶναι μαντικὴν οὐδὲ θεῶν πρόνοιαν λεγόντων ὅσα λέγουσιν ἢ ἄλλως γυμνάσματα καὶ διατριβὰς ἑαυτοῖς ποριζομένων. νυνὶ δὲ ἡ παροῦσα χρεία ἀναγκαία οὖσα διὰ τὴν εὐχρηστίαν οὐ μόνον τὴν ἡμῶν αὐτῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν μετέπειτα ἐσομένων ἀνθρώπων προετρέψατό με μὴ διαμέλλειν μηδὲ ἀναβάλλεσθαι, ἀλλὰ περὶ ὧν ἄν ἔχω κατάληψιν, ἣν διὰ πείρας ἐπορισάμην, συγγράψαι. ἡγοῦμαι δʼ ἀμφότερά μοι ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτου περιέσεσθαι, πρός τε τοὺς ἀναιρεῖν ἐπιχειροῦντας μαντικήν τε αὐτὴν καὶ τὰ εἴδη αὐτῆς ἀνεπιφθόνως τε ἅμα καὶ μετὰ κατασκευῆς οὐ τῆς τυχούσης ἀντιτάξεσθαι φέρων εἰς τὸ μέσον τὴν πεῖραν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀποτελεσμάτων μαρτυρίαν, ἣ πᾶσιν ἱκανὴ γένοιτʼ ἂν ἀντισχεῖν ἀνθρώποις, καὶ μέντοι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς χρωμένους μὲν μαντικῇ διὰ δὲ τὸ μὴ ἐντετυχηκέναι λόγοις περὶ τούτων ἀκριβέσι πεπλανημένους καὶ κινδυνεύοντας ἤδη καταφρονεῖν τε καὶ ἀφίστασθαι θεραπείαν τινὰ σωτηριώδη ἀντὶ τῆς πλάνης καταστήσειν. σχεδὸν γὰρ οἱ μικρὸν ἡμῶν πρεσβύτεροι δόξαν συγγραφικὴν ἀπενέγκασθαι βουλόμενοι καὶ, διὰ τούτου ἡγούμενοι μόνου ἔνδοξοι ἔσεσθαι, εἰ συγγράμματα καταλίποιεν ὀνειροκριτικά, ἀντίγραφα ἀλλήλων πεποίηνται ἤ τὰ καλῶς εἰρημένα ὑπὸ τῶν παλαιῶν κακῶς ἐξηγησάμενοι καὶ ὀλίγοις τῶν παλαιῶν πολλὰ προσθέντες οὐκ ἀληθῆ οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ πείρας ἀλλ’ αὐτοσχεδιάζοντες, ὅπως ἕκαστος αὐτῶν ἐκινεῖτο περί τινος, οὕτως ἔγραφον, καὶ οἱ μὲν πᾶσιν ἐντυχόντες τοῖς τῶν παλαιῶν βιβλίοις, οἱ δὲ οὐ πᾶσιν ἔνια γὰρ αὐτούς διʼ ἀρχαιότητα σπάνια ὄντα καὶ διεφθαρμένα διέλαθεν. ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦτο μέν οὐκ ἔστιν ὅ τι βιβλίον οὐκ ἐκτησάμην ὀνειροκριτικὸν πολλὴν εἰς τοῦτο φιλοτιμίαν ἔχων, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ σφόδρα διαβεβλημένων τῶν ἐν ἀγορᾷ μάντεων, οὓς δὴ προΐκτας καὶ γόητας καὶ βωμολόχους ἀποκαλοῦσιν οἱ σεμνοπροσωποῦντες καὶ τὰς ὀφρῦς ἀνεσπακότες, καταφρονήσας τῆς διαβολῆς ἔτεσι πολλοῖς ὡμίλησα, καὶ ἐν Ἑλλάδι κατὰ πόλεις καὶ πανηγύρεις, καὶ ἐν Ἁσίᾳ καὶ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ καὶ τῶν νήσων ἐν ταῖς μεγίσταις καὶ πολυανθρωπτοτάταις ὑπομένωονἀκούειν παλαιούς ὀνείρους καὶ τούτων τὰς ἀποβάσεις· οὐ γὰρ ἦν ἄλλως χρήσασθαι τῇ κατὰ ταῦτα γυμνασίᾳ. ὅθεν μοι περιγέγονεν ἐκ περιουσίας ἔχειν περὶ ἑκάστου λέγειν πλείονα μὲν ἤ προσδοκήσαι ἄν τις οὕτως ὡς αὐτὰ τἀληθῆ λέγοντα μὴ φλυαρεῖν, ὧν δʼ ἂν ἐπιμνησθῶ καὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις φανερὰς καὶ πᾶσιν εὐκαταλήπτους ἀποδοῦναι μ’ ἐξ ἁπλῶν, πλὴν εἰ μή τι εἴη οὕτω σαφές, ὡς περιττὴν ἡγήσασθαι τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐξήγησιν.

Often I have been urged to set out on the present undertaking, and have held back, 'yielding neither to sloth nor to thoughtlessness of mind', as the poet says, but above all awed by the grandeur and the number of the principles it contains, and fearing the objections of men who say what they say either because they are convinced that there is no divination and no providence of the gods, or else because they are providing themselves with exercises and pastimes. But now the present need, pressing because of its usefulness not only to ourselves but also to the men who will come after us, has urged me not to delay or put it off, but to write down whatever I have an understanding of, an understanding I acquired through experience. And I think that I shall gain two things from such a work: that I shall stand against those who try to do away with divination itself and its kinds, both without giving offence and with no ordinary argument, bringing into the open my experience and the testimony of the outcomes, which would be enough to withstand all men; and further, that for those who make use of divination but, because they have not met with accurate accounts of these matters, have gone astray and are now in danger of despising it and falling away from it, I shall establish a saving cure in place of their error. For nearly all those a little older than ourselves, wishing to win a reputation as writers, and thinking that they would become famous by this alone, if they left behind treatises on the interpretation of dreams, have made copies of one another, or have explained badly what was well said by the ancients and added many untrue things to a few of the ancients'; for they wrote not from experience but improvising, each as he was moved about any given thing; and some had read all the books of the ancients, others not all, for some, being rare through their age and corrupted, escaped their notice. But I, for my part, on the one hand, there is no book of dream interpretation that I have not acquired, since I have great zeal for this; on the other hand, though the diviners in the marketplace are greatly slandered, whom those who put on solemn faces and raise their eyebrows call beggars and sorcerers and buffoons, I despised the slander and for many years kept company with them, both in Greece, in its cities and at its festivals, and in Asia and in Italy and in the largest and most populous of the islands, patiently listening to old dreams and their outcomes; for there was no other way to get practice in these matters. From this it has come about that I have, in abundance, more to say about each thing than one might expect, and so as, speaking the very truth, not to talk idly; and, for whatever I mention, to give proofs that are clear and easily grasped by all, and from simple [principles], unless something should be so plain that I consider an explanation of it superfluous.

Τῶν δὲ ἀξιοπίστων λεγομένων, οἷς λέγουσί τι κατ᾿ ὄναρ πιστεύειν χρὴ καὶ πείθεσθαι, φημὶ πρώτους εἶναι θεούς ἀλλότριον γὰρ θεοῦ τὸ ψεύδεσθαι. ἔπειτα ἱερεῖς· τῆς γὰρ αὐτῆς τοῖς θεοῖς παρὰ ἀνθρώποις τετυχήκασι τιμῆς. εἶτα βασιλεῖς καὶ ἄρχοντας· ‘τὸ κρατοῦν γὰρ δύναμιν ἔχει θεοῦ’. εἶτα γονεῖς καὶ διδασκάλους· καὶ γὰρ οὗτοι ὅμοιοί εἰσι θεοῖς, οἱ μὲν εἰσάγοντες εἰς τὸ ζῆν, οἱ δὲ ὅπως χρὴ τῷ ζῆν χρῆσθαι διδάσκοντες. εἶτα μάντεις, μάντεων δὲ τοὺς μὴ ἀπατεῶνας μηδὲ ψευδομάντεις. ὅσα γὰρ ἂν λέγωσι Πυθαγορισταὶ φυσιογωνμονικοὶ ἀστραγαλομάντεις τυρομάντεις κοσκινομάντεις μορφοσκόποι χειροσκόποι λεκανομάντεις νεκυομάντεις, ψευδῆ πάντα καὶ ἀνυπόστατα χρὴ νομίζειν· καὶ γὰρ αἱ τέχναι αὐτῶν εἰσι τοιαῦται καὶ αὐτοὶ μὲν μαντικῆς οὐδὲ βραχὺ ἴσασι, γοητεύοντες δὲ καὶ ἀπατῶντες ἀποδιδύσκουσι τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας. ὑπολείπεται δὴ μόνα ἀληθῆ εἶναι τὸ ὑπὸ θυτῶν λεγόμενα καὶ οἰωνιστῶν καὶ ἀστεροσκόπων καὶ τερατοσκόπον καὶ ὀνειροκριτῶν καὶ ἡπατοσκόπων. περὶ δὲ μαθηματικῶν τῶν γενεθλιαλόγων ἐπισκεψώμεθα. ἔτι τῶν ἀξιοπίστων εἰσὶ καὶ οἱ νεκροί, ἐπεὶ πάντως ἀληθῆ λέγουσι· διὰ γὰρ δύο ταῦτα οἱ ψευδόμενοι ἀπατῶσιν, ἢ διὰ τὸ ἐλπίζειν τι ἢ διὰ τὸ φοβεῖσθαι οἱ δὲ μήτε ἐλπίζοντές τι μήτε φοβούμενοι εἰκότως ἀληθῆ λέγουσι. μάλιστα δὲ οἱ νεκροί εἰσι τοιοῦτοι. ἔτι καὶ τὰ παιδία ἀληθῆ λέγει· οὐδέπω γὰρ οἶδε ψεύδεσθαι καὶ ἐξαπατᾶν. καὶ οἱ παντελῶς πρεσβῦται· τὸ γὰρ ἀξιόπιστον διὰ τοῦ γήρως ἐνδείκνυνται. καὶ τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα πάντως ἀληθῆ λέγει διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι ἐν μεθόδῳ λόγου. οἱ δὲ λοιποί, ἵνα μὴ καθʼ ἕκαστον λέγω, ὅσα ἂν λέγωσι ψεύδονται, πλὴν τῶν ἐν τῷ ἀνὰ χεῖρα βίῳ πιστῶν καὶ τοῖς ἤθεσι χρηστῶν. θεατρικοὶ δὲ καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ θυμέλην ἀναβαίνοντες αὐτόθεν διὰ τὰς ὑποκρίσεις πᾶσιν ἄπιστοι, καὶ σοφισταὶ καὶ πένητες καὶ γάλλοι καὶ ἀπόκοποι καὶ σπάδοντες· οὗτοι γὰρ καὶ μὴ λέγοντές τι ψευδεῖς τὰς ἐλπίδας εἶναι μηνύουσι διὰ τὸ φύσει μήτε ἐν ἀνδράσι μήτε ἐν γυναιξὶν ἀριθμεῖσθαι. χρὴ οὖν τοῖς ἀξιοπίστοις καὶ περὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων λέγουσι πιστεύειν.

Of those called trustworthy, whom one must believe and obey when they say something in a dream, I say that the first are the gods; for lying is foreign to a god. Next come priests; for they have received from men the same honour as the gods. Then kings and rulers; for 'what holds power has the might of a god'. Then parents and teachers; for these too are like gods, the former bringing [us] into life, the latter teaching how one ought to use life. Then seers, but of seers only those who are not cheats or false seers. For whatever Pythagorists, physiognomists, diviners by knucklebones, by cheese and by sieves, readers of forms, readers of palms, diviners by basins and diviners by the dead may say, one must consider it all false and baseless; for their arts are of that kind, and they themselves know not even a little of divination, but by bewitching and deceiving they strip bare those who come to them. It remains, then, that the only true things are those said by sacrificers, augurs, star-gazers, interpreters of portents, interpreters of dreams and inspectors of livers. As for the mathematicians who cast nativities, let us examine them. The dead too are among the trustworthy, since they always speak the truth; for liars deceive for these two reasons, either because they hope for something or because they are afraid; but those who neither hope for anything nor fear naturally speak the truth. And the dead above all are of this kind. Again, little children speak the truth; for they do not yet know how to lie and deceive. So do the very old; for they show their trustworthiness through their age. And dumb animals always speak the truth, because they have no art of speech. All the rest, not to go through them one by one, lie in whatever they say, except those who are trustworthy in everyday life and upright in character. Theatre people and those who go up on the stage are, simply because of their play-acting, untrustworthy to everyone; so are sophists, paupers, galloi [castrated priests of Cybele], the castrated and eunuchs; for these, even when they say nothing, show that hopes are false, because by nature they are counted neither among men nor among women. One must therefore believe the trustworthy when they speak about all other matters as well.