Between Magic and Religion Interdisciplinary Studies in Ancient Mediterranean Religion and Society

by Asirvatham, Sulochana; Pache, Corinne; Watrous, John; Aitken, Ellen Bradshaw; Asirvatham, Sulochana R.; Cole, Spencer; Blair-Dixon, Kate; Fulghum, Mary Margaret; Jones, Prudence J.; Luyster, Amanda; Pache, Corinne Odine; Várhelyi, Zsuzsanna; Walker, Alici

• ISBN13: 9780847699698
• ISBN10: 0847699692
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-10-29
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Between Magic and Religion represents a radical rethinking of traditional distinctions involving the term religion in the ancient Greek world and beyond, through late antiquity to the seventeenth century. The title indicates the fluidity of such concepts as religion and magic, highlighting the wide variety of meanings evoked by these shifting terms from ancient to modern times. The contributors put these meanings to the test, applying a wide range of methods in exploring the many varieties of available historical, archaeological, iconographical, and literary evidence. No reader will ever think of magic and religion the same way after reading through the findings presented in this book. Both terms emerge in a new light, with broader applications and deeper meanings.

Table of Contents

Foreword	vii
Preface	ix
Introduction	xi
PART I: ANCIENT RELIGION, SELF AND OTHER
A. Greeks and Others
Barbarian Bond: Thracian Bendis among the Athenians	3	(10)
Corinne Ondine Pache
Magic, Religion, and Syncretisn at the Oracle of Claros	13	(22)
Zsuzsanna Varhelyi
B. Roman Magic and Religion from Two Perspectives
Saving Water: Early Floods in the Forum	35	(12)
Prudence J. Jones
Magic, Dreams, and Ritual in the Iroquois Conversion	47	(20)
Kate Blair-Dixon
PART II: MAN, HERO OR GOD?
The Dynamics of Deification in Horace's Odes 1-3	67	(26)
Spencer Cole
Olympias' Snake and Callisthenes' Stand: Religion and Politics in Plutarch's Life of Alexander	93	(34)
Sulochana R. Asirvatham
The Cult of Achilles in Philostratus' Heroikos: A Study in the Relation of Canon and Ritual	127	(12)
Ellen Bradshaw Aithen
PART III: RELIGIOUS ICONOGRAPHY IN LATE ANTIQUITY
Coins Used as Amulets in Late Antiquity	139	(10)
Mary Margaret Fulghum
A Reconsideration of Early Byzantine Marriage Rings	149	(16)
Alicia Walker
The Femme-aux-Serpents at Moissac: Luxuria (Lust) or a Bad Mother?	165	(28)
Amanda Luyster
Bibliography	193	(14)
Index	207	(4)
About the Contributors	211