Artemidorus and the Oneirocritica

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-32
Author(s):  
Peter Thonemann
Keyword(s):  
Dream Interpretation ◽  
Social Standing

This chapter sketches out what little is known of Artemidorus’ life (largely confined to what he tells us in the Oneirocritica). His social standing as a member of the civic elite at Lydian Daldis is explored in the light of recently discovered bronze coins of Daldis that seem to mention Artemidorus or his homonymous son. The chapter includes discussion of the date (Severan rather than Antonine), structure, and purpose of the Oneirocritica; it also addresses the question of its relationship to earlier Greek books on dream-interpretation (many of which are cited in passing by Artemidorus), with the aim of determining which aspects of the Oneirocritica were original to Artemidorus, and which parts are simply paraphrases of earlier oneirocritical literature.

Dream interpretation and false beliefs.

1999 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuliana A. L. Mazzoni ◽  
Pasquale Lombardo ◽  
Stefano Malvagia ◽  
Elizabeth F. Loftus
Keyword(s):  
Dream Interpretation ◽  
False Beliefs

Interpreting Seventeenth-Century Probate Documents: John Carter, Master Carpenter in St Albans

2011 ◽  
pp. 66-83
Author(s):  
Jane Harris ◽  
Pat Howe
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Context ◽  
Social Standing ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Market Town ◽  
Consumer Age

This is a study of a successful seventeenth-century carpenter in St Albans, John Carter, using probate and other documents, assisted by a large-scale computer database of St Albans residents of the period. Sections of the article cover his family, his work and his house and its contents, which have been reconstructed from his probate inventory and from knowledge of the structure of other local houses of the period. Carter's social standing is discussed, both in its local context and in relation to previous probate inventory analyses. This micro-study sheds unusual light upon aspects of the life of a 'middling sort' of person, living in a thriving market town in close proximity to London, at the beginning of the consumer age.

I doveri della moglie secondo gli insegnamenti di alcuni predicatori e scrittori tardomedievali

2019 ◽  
Vol 110 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-45
Keyword(s):  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Social Status ◽  
Free Time ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Social Standing ◽  
Raising Children ◽  
The Social ◽  
Medieval Europe ◽  
The Future

The society of medieval Europe had specific expectations for marriageable girls. From an early age girls were taught how to be wives and mothers, for example by being entrusted with the care of their younger siblings. The girls learned everything they would need in the future by observation. According to the teachings of preachers and writers at the time, girls, irrespective of their social status, were not meant to remain idle, as there were fears that with too much free time on their hands, they might spend it contemplating their looks, practising gestures that were to attract the attention of men or spending time alone in the streets and squares, thus exposing themselves to a variety of dangers. A wife was expected to bear a lot of children, preferably boys, because the mortality rate among young children was high at the time. Wifely duties also included raising children, at least until they were taken over by, for example, a tutor hired by the father, managing the household and ensuring every possible comfort for the husband. As Gilbert of Tournai noted, it was the mother who was expected to bring up the children in faith and to teach them good manners. The duties of the wife obviously depended on her social standing — different duties were expected from the wives of noblemen than from women lower down on the social ladder, who often had to help their husbands, in addition to doing everyday chores.

Mary Wollstonecraft and Freedom as Independence

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Halldenius
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Mary Wollstonecraft ◽  
Social Standing ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Moral Subject ◽  
The Individual

This chapter demonstrates how Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) uses feminist principles to modify and adapt the republican ideal of freedom as the absence of domination or dependence. It shows that, according to Wollstonecraft, freedom consists in the secure entitlement to act in accordance with the dictates of reason—a freedom that depends upon the possession of a certain social standing and the absence of a dominating master. Crucially, according to this chapter, freedom from domination is relational: it bestows a special status on the moral subject in relation to others. Freedom from subjugation thus gives the individual a certain empowerment, or certain entitlement, with respect to other members of society. The chapter ends by showing how Wollstonecraft takes this idea to its logical feminist conclusion: a call for the equal rights of men and women in civil society.

An Ancient Dream Manual

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Thonemann
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Dream Interpretation ◽  
Greek Literature ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Road Map ◽  
The Social ◽  
Roman Antiquity ◽  
Analytical Tools ◽  
Life Career

Artemidorus’ Oneirocritica (‘The Interpretation of Dreams’) is the only dream-book which has been preserved from Graeco-Roman antiquity. Composed around AD 200, it is a treatise and manual on dreams, their classification, and the various analytical tools which should be applied to their interpretation. Artemidorus travelled widely through Greece, Asia, and Italy to collect people’s dreams and record their outcomes, in the process casting a vivid light on social mores and religious beliefs in the Severan age. This book aims to provide the non-specialist reader with a readable and engaging road-map to this vast and complex text. It offers a detailed analysis of Artemidorus’ theory of dreams and the social function of ancient dream-interpretation; it also aims to help the reader to understand the ways in which Artemidorus might be of interest to the cultural or social historian of the Graeco-Roman world. The book includes chapters on Artemidorus’ life, career, and worldview; his conceptions of the human body, sexuality, the natural world, and the gods; his attitudes towards Rome, the contemporary Greek polis, and the social order; and his knowledge of Greek literature, myth and history. The book is intended to serve as a companion to the new translation of The Interpretation of Dreams by Martin Hammond, published simultaneously with this volume in the Oxford World’s Classics series.

Insolvent Women

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asiya Siddiqi
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Social Classes ◽  
Social Standing ◽  
Indian Women

Our study of insolvency records affords a rare glimpse into the lives of women from different social classes and milieus in Bombay during the mid-nineteenth century. Contrary to colonial stereotypes of Indian women as trapped in oppressive patriarchal relationships, and as weak and helpless, we find that many had independent incomes, owned property, and enjoyed power in the domain of the home and family life. Women from wealthy merchant families actually owned and controlled much of the borrowed capital. We infer from the insolvency records that women who were not wealthy and worked for their livelihood also had considerable agency. In our study, about 38% of the women who petitioned the insolvency courts for protections were dancing girls, courtesans, and prostitutes who had independent incomes and were directly affected by the crash. The incomes of dancing girls and courtesans were low as a whole but varied greatly, as did their social standing and levels of literacy.

The Struggle for Public Recognition: Understanding Early Marriage through the Lens of Honour and Shame in Six Countries in South Asia and West Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 328-346
Author(s):  
Esther Miedema ◽  
Winny Koster ◽  
Nicky Pouw ◽  
Philippe Meyer ◽  
Albena Sotirova
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Female Sexuality ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Early Marriage ◽  
Social Standing ◽  
Public Recognition ◽  
The World ◽  
Economic Future ◽  
Different Parts

There is a burgeoning body of research on the role of ‘shame’ and ‘honour’ in decisions regarding early marriage in different parts of the world. Conceptualizing shame and honour as idioms through which gendered socio-economic inequalities are created and maintained, we examine early marriage decisions in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Senegal. While we acknowledge the existence of important differences between countries in terms of the nature and manifestations of shame and honour, we argue that regardless of setting, neither shame and honour, nor female sexuality and chastity can be separated from the socio-economic hierarchies and inequalities. Thus, in this article we seek to identify the cross-cutting dynamic of marriage as a means to overcome the shame associated with young single women’s sexuality, protecting family honour and social standing, and/or securing young women’s social-economic future. Building on our data and available scholarship, we question the potential of emphasizing ‘choice’ as a means of reducing early marriage and advancing women’s emancipation in international development efforts. Instead, we argue in favour of initiatives that engage with young people and caregivers on the ways in which, at grassroot levels, communities may revise narratives of respectability, marriageability and social standing.

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