Dreams of Infanticide II: Flayed for a Wineskin

The Oneirocritica of Artemidorus contains hundreds of dreams and their interpretations, as well as discussions of the various dream symbols and their meanings in different contexts. Though prediction is the ultimate goal of the ancient dream interpreter, Artemidorus at times seems aware of the dreamer’s unconscious fantasies, though he will rarely, if ever, explicitly mention them, because they were considered unimportant. One infanticidal dream in which he seems to grasp the dreamer’s unconscious wishes is the following;