Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook » (2nd Edition)

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

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).

Abbreviations xi

1 Introduction 3

2 Greek Sorcerers 9

Shamans 9

Sorcerers, Mages, Beggar-Priests and (Orphic) Initiators 16

Evocators 26

Ventriloquists 30

3 Alien Sorcerers 33

Persian Mages 33

Chaldaeans and Syrians 49

Egyptians 52

4 The Rivals of Jesus 61

Apollonius of Tyana 61

Alexander of Abonouteichos 69

Simon Magus 72

5 Medea and Circe 78

Medea 78

Circe 94

6 Witches in Greek Literature 102

The Deianeira Tradition 102

Some Minor Witches 105

Simaetha and Her Tradition 107

7 Witches in Latin Literature 115

Canidia and Erictho 115

The Witch-Theme in Latin Poetry 124

Witches in the Latin Novels 129

8 Ghosts 146

The Untimely Dead and the Dead by Violence 146

Haunted Houses 154

Ghost-Laying 161

Exorcism 166

The Exploitation of Boys' Souls 171

Werewolves 175

9 Necromancy 179

Evocation 179

Oracles of the Dead 188

Reanimation 192

Further Varieties of Divination 205

10 Curses 210

Binding Curses 210

Prayers for Justice 219

The Evil Eye 222

11 Erotic Magic 227

Separation Curses 227

Attraction Curses 230

Drawing Down the Moon 236

Iunx and Rhombos 240

Hippomanes 242

Abortion and Contraception 243

12 Voodoo Dolls and Magical Images 245

13 Amulets 261

Erotic Amulets 261

Healing and Exorcistic Amulets 265

Protective and Lucky Amulets 269

14 Magic and the Law 275

Legislation against Magic and its Repression 275

Apuleius and Libanius in Court 286

15 Supplementary Texts 300

Bibliographies 337

Text List 337

A Guide to Further Reading 341

Works Cited 352

Indices 383