Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in Greek and Roman Worlds A Sourcebook

by Ogden, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780195135756
• ISBN10: 019513575X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-11-07
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In a culture where the supernatural possessed an immediacy now strange to us, magic was of great importance both in the literary and mythic tradition and in ritual practice. Recently, ancient magic has hit a high in popularity, both as an area of scholarly inquiry and as one of general, popular interest. In Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds Daniel Ogden presents three hundred texts in new translations, along with brief but explicit commentaries. This is the first book in the field to unite extensive selections from both literary and documentary sources. Alongside descriptions of sorcerers, witches, and ghosts in the works of ancient writers, it reproduces curse tablets, spells from ancient magical recipe books, and inscriptions from magical amulets. Each translation is followed by a commentary that puts it in context within ancient culture and connects the passage to related passages in this volume. Authors include the well known (Sophocles, Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Pliny) and the less familiar, and extend across the whole of Greco-Roman antiquity. The second edition includes a new preface, an updated bibliography, and new source-passages, such as the earliest use of the word "mage" in Greek" (fr. Aeschylus' Persians ), a werewolf tale (Aesop's Fables), and excerpts from the most systematic account of ancient legislation against magic (Theodosian Code).

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	ix
Introduction	3	(6)
Greek Sorcerers	9	(24)
Shamans	9	(7)
Sorcerers, Mages, Beggar-Priests and (Orphic) Initiators	16	(10)
Evocators	26	(4)
Ventriloquists	30	(3)
Alien Sorcerers	33	(28)
Persian Mages	33	(16)
Chaldaeans and Syrians	49	(3)
Egyptians	52	(9)
The Rivals of Jesus	61	(17)
Apollonius of Tyana	61	(8)
Alexander of Abonouteichos	69	(3)
Simon Magus	72	(6)
Medea and Circe	78	(24)
Medea	78	(16)
Circe	94	(8)
Witches in Greek Literature	102	(13)
The Deianeira Tradition	102	(3)
Some Minor Witches	105	(2)
Simaetha and Her Tradition	107	(8)
Witches in Latin Literature	115	(31)
Canidia and Erictho	115	(9)
The Witch Theme in Latin Poetry	124	(5)
Witches in the Latin Novels	129	(17)
Ghosts	146	(33)
The Untimely Dead and the Dead by Violence	146	(8)
Haunted Houses	154	(7)
Ghost-Laying	161	(5)
Exorcism	166	(5)
The Exploitation of Boys' Souls	171	(4)
Werewolves	175	(4)
Necromancy	179	(31)
Evocation	179	(9)
Oracles of the Dead	188	(4)
Reanimation	192	(13)
Further Varieties of Divination	205	(5)
Curses	210	(17)
Binding Curses	210	(9)
Prayers for Justice	219	(3)
The Evil Eye	222	(5)
Erotic Magic	227	(18)
Separation Curses	227	(3)
Attraction Curses	230	(6)
Drawing Down Moon	236	(4)
Iunx and Rhombos	240	(2)
Hippomanes	242	(1)
Abortion and Contraception	243	(2)
Voodoo Dolls and Magical Images	245	(16)
Amulets	261	(14)
Erotic Amulets	261	(4)
Healing and Exorcistic Amulets	265	(4)
Protective and Lucky Amulets	269	(6)
Magic and the Law	275	(26)
Legislation Against Magic and its Repression	275	(11)
Apuleius and Libanius in Court	286	(15)
Bibliographies	301	(38)
Text List	301	(4)
Guide to Further Reading	305	(8)
Works Cited	313	(26)
Indices	339