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FORUM
Vol. 22:1 (2024) ► pp.49–76

Lost in translation

The Arabic manuscript of Artemidorus’ Oneirocritica

| University of Toronto,
In 1959, Toufic Fahd – a professor of Arabic language, literature, and civilization – made a fortuitous discovery. During a visit to the University of Istanbul, while perusing the University’s library, Fahd stumbled upon an Arabic translation of a Greek work, namely the famous dream interpretation book of Artemidorus, known as the Oneirocritica. The original Greek text is fascinating as it stands as the sole surviving classical work on dream interpretation. The discovery of its later Arabic translation, however, is captivating in its own right. The context of this translation alone is of particular interest to any Islamic historian, having been initially commissioned during the height of the ʿAbbāsid Translation Movement and undertaken by the renowned translator, Ḥunayn Ibn ʾIsḥāq. The intention of the present paper is to compare these texts, highlighting intentional changes made to the content of the Greek work, specifically in instances related to mythology, sexuality, and cultural practices. These changes are noteworthy as they have rendered the Arabic translation as more of a work of interpretation itself, modifying the 2nd century AD Greek text to reflect the realities of its new religious and geographic setting in 9th century Baghdad.
Keywords: translation movement, dream interpretation, scribal error, reinterpretation, ʿAbbāsid
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Artemidorus and his dream book
  • 3.The translation movement
  • 4.Ḥunayn Ibn ʾIsḥāq and his school
  • 5.Dream interpretation in the time of Ḥunayn ibn ʾIsḥāq
  • 6.Discrepancies and omissions in the text
    • 6.1Mythology and paganism
    • 6.2Sexuality
    • 6.3Cultural practices
    • 6.4Scribal error
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 April 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.00035.pat
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