Magic in the Ancient Greek World

by Collins, Derek

• ISBN13: 9781405132381
• ISBN10: 1405132388
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-17
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Original and comprehensive, Magic in the Ancient Greek World takes the reader inside both the social imagination and the ritual reality that made magic possible in ancient Greece. Explores the widespread use of spells, drugs, curse tablets, and figurines, and the practitioners of magic in the ancient world Uncovers how magic worked. Was it down to mere superstition? Did the subject need to believe in order for it to have an effect? Focuses on detailed case studies of individual types of magic Examines the central role of magic in Greek life

Author Biography

Derek Collins is an Associate Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. He has written extensively on Greek poetry and its performance, including Master of the Game: Competition and Performance in Greek Poetry (2005). Collins has also published on Greek divination and magic, including articles on bird divination, the criminalization of magic in Athens, and the intellectual background to classical Greek magic.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. vii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Introduction	p. xi
Magic: What Is It and How Does It Work?	p. 1
Frazer and Tylor	p. 3
Malinowski	p. 5
Magic as Communication	p. 5
Levy-Bruhl	p. 7
Evans-Pritchard	p. 11
Sympathetic Magic	p. 14
Magic and the Extended Person	p. 16
Magic and Analogy	p. 17
Beyond Frazer	p. 20
Tambiah and Persuasive Magic	p. 21
Conclusion	p. 24
A Framework for Greek Magic	p. 27
Magic and the Gods	p. 27
Divinity and Nature	p. 31
The Hippocratics: Magic, Divination, and Epilepsy	p. 33
Plato and Greek Psychology	p. 42
Magic and Causality	p. 44
Greek Magicians	p. 49
Magoi	p. 54
Gorgias, Mageia and Goeteia	p. 58
Other Magical Terms	p. 60
Conclusion	p. 62
Binding Magic and Erotic Figurines	p. 64
Binding the Gods	p. 67
Divine Agents	p. 69
'Characters'	p. 73
Body Parts and Health	p. 78
Erotic Magic	p. 88
Figurines	p. 92
Erotes	p. 97
Homeric Incantations	p. 104
Pythagoras and Empedocles	p. 105
The Mechanics of Homeric Incantations	p. 108
Obstetrics and Gynecology	p. 109
Verse Combinations and the Power of Metaphor	p. 114
Intoxication, Choking, and Gout	p. 118
Incantations and Divination	p. 122
Neoplatonic Theurgy and Homer	p. 125
Conclusion	p. 131
Magic in Greek and Roman Law	p. 132
Magic in Greek Law and Legal Imagination	p. 133
Trials for Erotic Magic	p. 135
Theoris, the Lemnian Witch	p. 136
Plato's Laws Against Magic	p. 139
Magic in Roman Law and Legal History	p. 141
The Twelve Tables	p. 142
The Lex Cornelia	p. 145
Magia and Maleficium: Magic and Witchcraft	p. 148
Apuleius the Magus	p. 150
The Opinions of Paulus and Later Law Codes	p. 159
Interpretationes Christianae	p. 162
The Medieval Inheritance	p. 164
Conclusion	p. 166
Notes	p. 170
Select Bibliography	p. 191
Index	p. 198
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