Tag: Artemidorus

Καὶ γὰρ εἰκὸς τοὺς θεοὺς τὰ πολλὰ δι’ αἰνιγμάτων λέγειν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ σοφώτεροι ὄντες ἡμῶν αὐτῶν οὐδὲν ἡμᾶς ἀβασανίστως βούλονται λαμβάνειν. οἷον ἔδοξέ τις λέγειν αὐτῷ τὸν Πᾶνα ‘ἡ γυνή σοι φάρμακον δώσει διὰ τοῦ δεῖνος ὄντος γνωρίμου καὶ συνήθους’. τούτου ἡ γυνὴ φάρμακον μὲν οὐκ ἔδωκεν, ἐμοιχεύθη δὲ ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου δι’ οὗ ἐλέγετο φάρμακον δώσειν· καὶ γὰρ ἡ μοιχεία καὶ φαρμακεία λάθρᾳ γίνονται καὶ ἀμφότεραι ἐπιβουλαὶ λέγονται, καὶ οὔτε ἡ μοιχευομένη οὔτε ἡ φάρμακον παρέχουσα φιλεῖ τὸν ἄνδρα. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἡ γυνὴ ἀπηλλάγη αὐτοῦ· πάντων μὲν γὰρ ὁ θάνατός ἐστι λυτικός, τὸ δὲ φάρμακον τὸν αὐτὸν τῷ θανάτῳ λόγον ἔχει.
(Artemidorus, Oneirocritica 4.71)

For in fact it is fitting that the gods should speak many things through riddles, since in fact they, being wiser than us, do not want us to receive anything without due examination. For example, a certain person imagined that Pan said to him: ‘Your wife will administer poison to you by means of a certain so-and-so who is an acquaintace and familiar to you.’ The wife of this man did not poison him, but had an affair with that man through whom it was said that she would administer the poison. For in fact adultery and poisoning both arise through stealth and both are said to be plots, and the adulteress and the woman administering poison both do not love thei rhusband. And, in addition to these things, not long afterwards his wife received a divorce. For death releases all things, and poison has the same logic as death. (tr. Daniel E. Harris-McCoy)

Χειροτονεῖν δὲ τὸ αἰδοῖον εἴ τις ὑπολάβοι, δοῦλον ἢ δούλην περανεῖ διὰ τὸ τὰς χεῖρας τὰς προσαγομένας τῶι αἰδοίωι ὑπηρετικὰς εἶναι· εἰ δὲ μὴ ἔχοι θεράποντας, ζημίαν ὑπομενεῖ διὰ τὴν εἰς ἄχρηστον τοῦ σπέρματος ἀπόκρισιν. οἶδα δέ τινα δοῦλον, ὃς ἔδοξε τὸν δεσπότην αὐτοῦ δέφειν, καὶ ἐγένετο τῶν παίδων αὐτοῦ παιδαγωγὸς καὶ τροφός· ἔσχε γὰρ ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ τὸ τοῦ δεσπότου αἰδοῖον ὂν τῶν ἐκείνου τέκνων σημαντικόν. καὶ πάλιν αὖ οἶδά <τινα> ὃς ἔδοξεν ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου δέφεσθαι, καὶ προσδεθεὶς κίονι πολλὰς ἔλαβε πληγάς, καὶ οὕτως ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσπότου ἐνετάθη.
(Artemidorus, Oneirocritica 1.78)

And if one should suppose that he masturbates, he will penetrate a male or female slave because the hands, brought to the genitals, are its servants. But if he should not have servants, he will suffer a loss due to the release of his sperm to no purpose. And I know of a certain slave who imagined he gave a hand job to his master, and he became the tutor and nurse of his children. For he held in his hands the genitals of his master, which are significant of the children of that man. And, moreover, I know of <a certain man> who imagined that he was given a hand job by his master and, being bound to a pillar, he received many lashes, and in this way was he ‘pulled tight’ by his master. (tr. Daniel E. Harris-McCoy)