Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World

by Gager, John G.

• ISBN13: 9780195134827
• ISBN10: 0195134826
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-10-28
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

In the ancient Greco-Roman world, it was common practice to curse or bind an enemy or rival by writing an incantation on a tablet and dedicating it to a god or spirit. These curses or binding spells, commonly called defixiones were intended to bring other people under the power and control ofthose who commissioned them. More than a thousand such texts, written between the 5th Century B.C.E. and the 5th Century C.E., have been discovered from North Africa to England, and from Syria to Spain. Extending into every aspect of ancient life--athletic and theatrical competitions, judicialproceedings, love affairs, business rivalries, and the recovery of stolen property--they shed light on a new dimension of classical study previously inaccessible. Here, for the first time, these texts have been translated into English with a substantial translator's introduction revealing thecultural, social, and historical context for the texts. This book will interest historians, classicists, scholars of religion, and those concerned with ancient magic.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations and Conventions
Introduction	p. 3
Competition in Theater and Circus	p. 42
Sex, Love, and Marriage	p. 78
Tongue-Tied in Court: Legal and Political Disputes	p. 116
Businesses, Shops, and Taverns	p. 151
Pleas for Justice and Revenge	p. 175
Miscellaneous Tablets	p. 200
Antidotes and Counterspells	p. 218
Testimonies	p. 243
Glossary of Uncommon Words	p. 265
Index	p. 271
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