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

by Ogden, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780195385205
• ISBN10: 0195385209
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-04-24
• 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).

Author Biography

Daniel Ogden is Professor of Ancient History, University of Exeter. He is the author of Greek Bastardy in the Classical and Hellenistic Periods.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	p. xi
Introduction	p. 3
Greek Sorcerers	p. 9
Shamans	p. 9
Sorcerers, Mages, Beggar-Priests and (Orphic) Initiators	p. 16
Evocators	p. 26
Ventriloquists	p. 30
Alien Sorcerers	p. 33
Persian Mages	p. 33
Chaldaeans and Syrians	p. 49
Egyptians	p. 52
The Rivals of Jesus	p. 61
Apollonius of Tyana	p. 61
Alexander of Abonouteichos	p. 69
Simon Magus	p. 72
Medea and Circe	p. 78
Medea	p. 78
Circe	p. 94
Witches in Greek Literature	p. 102
The Deianeira Tradition	p. 102
Some Minor Witches	p. 105
Simaetha and Her Tradition	p. 107
Witches in Latin Literature	p. 115
Canidia and Erictho	p. 115
The Witch-Theme in Latin Poetry	p. 124
Witches in the Latin Novels	p. 129
Ghosts	p. 146
The Untimely Dead and the Dead by Violence	p. 146
Haunted Houses	p. 154
Ghost-Laying	p. 161
Exorcism	p. 166
The Exploitation of Boys' Souls	p. 171
Werewolves	p. 175
Necromancy	p. 179
Evocation	p. 179
Oracles of the Dead	p. 188
Reanimation	p. 192
Further Varieties of Divination	p. 205
Curses	p. 210
Binding Curses	p. 210
Prayers for Justice	p. 219
The Evil Eye	p. 222
Erotic Magic	p. 227
Separation Curses	p. 227
Attraction Curses	p. 230
Drawing Down the Moon	p. 236
Iunx and Rhombos	p. 240
Hippomanes	p. 242
Abortion and Contraception	p. 243
Voodoo Dolls and Magical Images	p. 245
Amulets	p. 261
Erotic Amulets	p. 261
Healing and Exorcistic Amulets	p. 265
Protective and Lucky Amulets	p. 269
Magic and the Law	p. 275
Legislation against Magic and its Repression	p. 275
Apuleius and Libanius in Court	p. 286
Supplementary Texts	p. 300
Bibliographies	p. 337
Text List	p. 337
A Guide to Further Reading	p. 341
Works Cited	p. 352
Indices	p. 383
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