L’Oneirocriticon d’Achmet et la christianisation de la tradition grecque d’interprétation des rêves

• Main Author: Anne-Marie Bernardi
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Presses universitaires de Caen 2011-11-01
• Series: Kentron
• Subjects: Byzantine oneirocriticism; Greek science of dreams; Byzantine dreambooks; Achmet son of Sereim; Artemidorus; Ps. Daniel
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/kentron/1246
• ISSN: 0765-0590; 2264-1459

The Oneirocriticon that has reached us under the name of Achmet is a peculiar work, raising problems with regard to dating and authorship. While we can narrow the date of this Byzantine treatise, the riddle why it has been ascribed to the founder of the Muslim science of dreams remains. The analysis of the composition of this skillfully staged treatise can help to elucidate this point. The work is introduced as the summa of knowledge acquired in the science of dreams. However, the presentation by the four voices – that of the writer and of the Indian, Persian and Egyptian interpreters – turns out to be a fiction that does not even try to be credible. The specificity of the sources fades progressively. Undeniably, there is an influence of Muslim oneirocriticism, but it seems to be motivated mainly by the concern to give a spectacular character to the consultations attributed to the famous Muslim interpreter that punctuate the work. However, the comparison with Artemidorus – never cited by the author – and Byzantine alphabetical manuals makes it evident that the Oneirocriticon is rooted in the Greek tradition. Under its many disguises, the Oneirocriticon renews the Greek tradition and christianizes it. The Christian impregnation, often underestimated, is profound. This is where the peculiarity of the work lies: despite the Church’s reluctance towards this form of divination, Achmet succeeds in showing that a Christian science of dream interpretation is possible and legitimate.