Sexuality and Gender

Abstract

The Oneirocritica is a remarkably rich source of evidence for Graeco-Roman ideas about gender relations and male and female sexuality. For Artemidorus, as Foucault recognized, the key to the symbolic meaning of a sex-act in a dream is not the biological sex of the participants, but their relative social status. This chapter deals with Artemidorus’ classification of sex-dreams (varieties of sexual intercourse which are considered to be ‘in accordance with’ or ‘contrary to’ law and/or nature), as well as the symbolic significance of different sexual acts and positions; it is argued that Artemidorus’ sexual ethics are more strongly heteronormative than they have often been considered in previous scholarship. This chapter also explores the marginalization of women’s dreams (and female sexuality) in the Oneirocritica, as well as Artemidorus’ implicit and explicit assumptions about gender relations and female social and sexual roles.