Ancient Greek Magic

This work critically examines every one of the spells and rites translated in Hans Dieter Betz's "Greek Magical Papyri in Translation" and Daniel & Maltomini's "Supplementum Magicum" (plus texts drawn from a number of other lamellae, amulets, etc) with a view to identifying the precise magical technique used in each case. This categorisation is done on the basis of the original Greek or Demotic headwords or key words rather than upon the translation or later imprecise descriptions. The result is an identification of 40+ magical techniques such as autoptos, systasis, agoge, niketikon, oneiropompos, etc, rather than a simple but unhelpful identification each passage as a 'spell' or 'charm'. This is fully tabulated with line count for every single rite, presenting the full panorama of Graeco-Egyptian magic in the form, and with the structure, that the original scribes or magicians would have used. This enables ready access to all of the passages relevant to any one technique. It also removes the difficulties presented by varying translations of a specific Greek technical term by a range of different English approximations (such as 'love spell' for more than 7 different processes). Each of these techniques is then expanded upon showing where they influenced later systems of magic or remained unique in the Graeco-Egyptian world.

Scholarship on ancient Greco-Roman magic, over time and place, has largely focused on the role and identity of ritual practitioners, investigating the nature and source of their perceived expertise and often locating it in their linguistic skills. Less attention has been paid to those identified as the targets of magical rituals, who tend to be described as passive recipients of the ritual or the social power of another. In contrast, drawing on the theory of ritual form developed by Robert McCauley and E. Thomas Lawson, alongside the ritualization theories of Catherine Bell, this article argues that victims of magic were also agents of ritual. Focusing on an experience of hostile magic reported by the fourth-century CE orator Libanius, it explores how conceptions of magical power were co-created by spell-makers and their so-called victims and should be regarded as relational, that is, as emerging from the interactions of people and groups.

La dea Hecate rappresenta una delle figure che vengono generalmente associate al ritorno degli spiriti dei morti 1. Solitamente viene considerata una delle potenze infernali, legata quindi al mondo ctonio, e per questo motivo è una divinità particolarmente cara alla sfera della magia e dell'occulto. Spesso i maghi le rivolgono preghiere e invocazioni nella speranza che la dea possa intervenire in loro aiuto.

The recent find of dozens of curse tablets in a well in the Kerameikos excavation puts the whole Athenian cursing habit into perspective: while during the fifth and fourth century BC curse tablets were mainly deposited in tombs, the bulk of finds from the Early Hellenistic periods onward comes from wells. It is proposed that this is related to the change in the necropoleis caused by the law of Demetrius of Phaleron in 3017/307 BC, who also installed an institution to control the new legislation.

Abstractum:

Synkretyzm religijny w tekstach chrześcijańskich, hermetycznych oraz papirusach magicznych greckich, na przykładzie problemu genezy zła

Celem pracy jest omówienie problematyki związanej z synkretyzmem religijnym w wybranych dziełach literatury chrześcijańskiej, hermetycznej i greckich papirusach magicznych. Analizie poddane zostały zwłaszcza teksty związane z hermeneutyką demonologii i angelarium, pseudoepigrafy o charakterze eschatologicznym, a także greckie traktaty magiczne. Podstawowe pytanie, jakie stawiam, odnosi się do elementu doktrynalnego religii: w jaki sposób synkretyzm może pomóc określić naturę zła oraz bytów złośliwych? Całość została osadzona w ramach religioznawczych, którego jednymi z głównych zadań są: egzegeza, ukazanie podobieństw pomiędzy doktrynami religijnymi oraz krytyczna analiza porównawcza omawianych tekstów.

słowa kluczowe: synkretyzm, demonologia, angelologia, gnoza, religia, Bóg, bóstwa, magia, anioły, demony, chrześcijaństwo, kultura, antyk, mitologia, mity, polityka, filozofia, religioznawstwo, religiologia, hermeneutyka, geneza, historia, hermetyzm, hermetycyzm, alchemia, czary, ewokacje, inkantacje, Biblia, PGM, lingwistyka, łacina, koiné .



Religious Syncretism in Christian and Hermetic texts and in the Papyri Graecae Magicae by the example of the Problem of the Origin of Evil

The purpose of the work is to discuss the problem of the relationship with religious syncretism in selected works of Christian and Hermetic literature and Greek magical papyri. The main subjects analyzed were texts related to hermeneutics of demonology and angelarium, pseudepigrapha and eschatological features as well as the Greek magic treatises. The basic question to guide the strategies taken is: how can syncretism help us to understand evil and malicious entities? The whole was embedded within the cross-section of religion, that some of the main tasks are: exegesis, showing similarities between religious doctrines and critical comparative analysis of the discussed texts.

keywords: sincretism, demonology, angelology, gnosis, religion, God, deities, magic, angels, demons, christianity, culture, antic, mythology, myths, politics, philosophy, religious studies, religiology, hermeneutics, genesis, history, hermetism, hermeticism, alchemy, spells, evocations, incantations, Bible, PGM, lynguistics, lingua latina, koiné.
_____________________________________________
ad.1: artykuł jest fragmentem szerszego tekstu i stanowi część pracy dyplomowej autora.
red. Emilia Żybert-Pruchnicka

De la nécromancie antique à la nécromancie byzantine, Les concepts de « survivance » et de « superstition » en question. Jean-Claude Schmitt avait mis en garde les historiens contre l'emploi du terme « superstition » utilisé à propos de pratiques religieuses jugées « dépassées » du Moyen âge occidental, en remarquant que le sens à la fois normatif et relatif donné à ce concept par l'Église médiévale en rendait l'utilisation actuelle trompeuse 1. Ses mises en garde faisaient écho à d'autres appels à définition formulés depuis les années 1950 et appliqués peu après à la catégorie de la « magie » paléochrétienne et byzantine 2. Qu'en est-il des pratiques décrites comme des « survivances », catégorie la plus en vogue aujourd'hui chez les historiens pour caractériser des pratiques souvent héritées du paganisme et qui semblent à première vue déplacées dans le contexte du christianisme byzantin ? Le cas des rituels de communication entre défunts et vivants, dont certaines formes semblent directement transposées des pratiques antiques, servira ici de base à la réflexion sur la nature de ces rites et sur les terminologies, anciennes et modernes, qui leur sont associées. Cette interrogation prend place dans le débat ancien, mais dont l'issue est toujours incertaine, sur la nature de la magie et de ses rapports avec la religion. Si le premier terme recevra ici des définitions circonstanciées, nous entendrons par « religion » l'ensemble des relations que les sociétés tissent avec les êtres invisibles tels que les forces naturelles divinisées, les divinités et les défunts, ainsi que les représentations cosmologiques et mythologiques qui sous-tendent ou recoupent ces relations. Parmi les opinions récentes, le plus souvent contrastées, qui tentent de déterminer les relations entre magie et religion, une tendance propose de gommer la dichotomie qui les opposerait l'une à l'autre pour faire de ces deux ensembles des phénomènes apparentés, unis dans un même continuum religieux 3. Depuis plusieurs décennies il est admis par les anthropologues que la dichotomie qui eut longtemps cours pour distinguer radicalement les deux phénomènes n'a plus lieu d'être. Demeure cependant le problème, dans les sociétés examinées (l'antiquité gréco-romaine et le monde byzantin) de l'existence de deux champs sémantiques distincts qui cohabitent pour différencier les pratiques « ordinaires » des rites magiques ; les voies pour communiquer avec les esprits des morts ne font pas exception. Quels sont les fondements, anciens comme actuels, de ces catégories ? Communiquer avec les esprits des morts pendant l'Antiquité Il a déjà été remarqué que la nécromancie (nekuomanteiv a~), le fait de recevoir des défunts des connaissances cachées, n'est pas systématiquement assimilée à une pratique magique dans l'antiquité 4. Une large part de la nécromancie se présentait en effet comme une méthode oraculaire traditionnelle, possédant ses sanctuaires, les nekuomanteia contrôlés parfois par les cités et les oracles héroïques, très proches des oracles des morts 5 .

Even though the concept of “magic” has sufffered severe criticism in academic discourse, the category continues to be used in many disciplines. During the last two decades, classicists in particular have engaged in a lively discussion over “magic” and have produced an impressive amount of written output. Given the impossibility of defijining “magic” in a consistent and widely accepted manner, one cannot help but wonder what these scholars are actually talking about. Hence this paper purports (a) to critically review the recent debate on “magic” in Classical Studies, (b) to advocate for abandoning an abstract category of “magic” in favour of a proper analysis of ancient sources and (c) to historicize the term “magic” in Antiquity, that is, to muse on its ancient semantics, functions, and contexts. This methodological approach does not only overcome the major problems inherent in modern definitions of “magic,” but will also yield new insights into terminologies, modes of thought and speech strategies that underlie ancient religious discourses.

Από την επίσημη Ρώμη η μαγεία αντιμετωπίστηκε άλλοτε με απέχθεια, άλλοτε με θαυμασμό, οπωσδήποτε πάντως ο δεισιδαίμων λαός πίστεψε στη μαγεία, είτε διότι εντυπωσιάστηκε από αυτήν είτε διότι την φοβήθηκε. Μέσα σε αυτό το πλαίσιο, ακόμα και καταξιωμένοι συγγραφείς εντάσσουν σκηνές μαγείας στα έργα τους, για να ευχαριστήσουν το ακροατήριό τους. Στο ερώτημα κατά πόσον οι αναφορές αυτές αποτελούν μόνο λογοτεχνικούς τόπους ή αποκυήματα της φαντασίας τους, απαντούν τα ποικίλης φύσεως ευρήματα που αποδεικνύουν ότι η μαγεία είχε ενταχθεί πλήρως στην καθημερινή θρησκευτική ζωή των Ρωμαίων ως αναπόσπαστο τμήμα της. Στο άρθρο παρουσιάζουμε τις θεωρίες για τη σχέση μαγείας, θρησκείας και επιστήμης, εξηγούμε τις διαφορές μεταξύ λευκής και μαύρης μαγείας, μιμητικής και συμπαθητικής μαγείας, γοητείας και θεουργίας και εξετάζουμε μια σειρά από κείμενα, τα οποία περιλαμβάνουν αντίστοιχες σκηνές, αναλύοντας παράλληλα τη σημασία και τους συμβολισμούς διαφόρων μαγικών συστατικών.

Curses were a regular feature of the cultural landscape of archaic and classical Greece. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the links between literary and non-literary curses with a particular focus on Sappho. More specifically, I attempt a reading of Sappho’s poetry in an oral context that might be parallel to the tradition of cursing.

Editio princeps of bronze leaf-shaped amuletic pendant with a suspension loop (BNF Schlumberger.190) featuring inscriptions in Greek and Samaritan Hebrew, iconographical elements (the 'Holy Rider' motif; a lion trampling on a snake) and charaktêres.

There are spells in the Greek and Demotic Magical Papyri which promise divine visitations, assistants, ecstatic states, vessel inquiries, and vivid dreams. They also require powerful psychoactive botanical ingredients. How did these spells work and what were the expectations of somebody purchasing them? Looking at the ingredients of visionary spells and relying on the pharmacology of Dioscorides and Theophrastus, I ascertain how these spells achieved the promised visions and altered states of consciousness for the user. These spells guarantee great spiritual and recreational entertainment to the client who would need an abundance of money to purchase the ingredients.

Curse tablets have been found in the Athenian Kerameikos for more than 100 years now, but hitherto there was no comprehensive catalog of find circumstances that would allow for a concise overwiewand for conclusions. The article helps to fill this gap.  It also presents many Kerameikos curse tablets, including the recent finds from well B 34 , in both their forms: as found and as opened. The reading of the new tablets will be done by Sara Chiariini and Martin Dreher.

The paper discusses a magical incantation on a lead tablet from the
so-called tabellae defixionum. Among the invoked deities in the text of
the incantation of special interest is the mentioning of the names of the
Samothracian gods, otherwise known only from a fragment by the 3rd
century BC mythographer and geographer Mnaseas. The presence in the
text of an invocation of Dionysos, and of other deities connected with the
mystery cults, is an interesting evidence about the connection between
the mystery and magical rites during the Late Antiquity.

The Sirens, hybrid creatures (mix genus), are female marine daemonic deities. daughters of the river-god Acheloos or Phorkys and Chthona or Sterope, or according to other myths of Melpomene or of Terpsichore, they enchanted passing sailors with their enticing song, luring them to their death. In this study six thematic units referring to figurines of Sirens are developed: 1) Their production and dispersion, with particular reference to local clays, 2) the techniques of their manufacture, 3) typological and stylistic analysis of the material, 4) the workshops that were producing these particular figurines, 5) their function and their association with rituals relating to water, love and death (and mainly their funerary use), 6) their interpretation, as conclusion, the results of the exhaustive study of the subject are presented, with parallel reference both to the ancient Greek literary sources and the papyri, inscriptions and other sources. Examination of the particular stylistic and iconographic traits allows us to proceed to the typological classification of these figurines into five basic types. Although Sirens are first encountered in ancient Greek literature in Rhapsody xii of Homer’s Odyssey, and are identified as a motif in ancient Greek art by the eighth century BC, the provenance of these beings is certainly not Greek. Their conception as a subject is attributed to the influence of eastern models and specifically to the Egyptian concept of the soul, Ba. The material on which the study is based comes from excavations in various areas of the Aegean.

The following Byzantine magical text revolves around the virtues of the peony plant. In Greek tradition, peony was attributed to the Moon, and bore a reputation for manifold powers that appears  to mirror and even rival that of mandrake and vervain in western Europe. The plant is also frequently mentioned in the Greek Keys of Solomon/ Hygromanteia , which seem to be closely related to our text and perhaps share a common origin.

Este artigo apresenta as práticas atestadas nos Papiros Mágicos Greco-Egípcios (PGM) à luz do contexto local de reordenação político-administrativa do Egito Romano e dos processos mais abrangentes de interações culturais no leste mediterrânico que o antecederam. Objetivamos discutir a progressiva formatação compósita dessa tradição a partir de sua lógica própria de constituição e desempenho.

(Note: Only an extract of the full article is provided here, please purchase the volume or contact the author to read the full version.)

Both human/animal studies and the field of ancient magic have seen considerable growth in the last decades, and their intersections, though few, have in recent years produced significant works. This discussion does not aim to provide an exhaustive survey or comprehensive theory of animals in Greek magic. Instead, it investigates three motifs – human/animal metamorphoses, curses, and magical sacrifice . These represent only a few of many possible examples, but are recurrent themes within the discursive field of magic, and, more importantly, constitute cases in which more general principles are made explicit. These ‘magical’ practices, and their literary reflexes, both delineate and interrogate the boundaries between human and non–human animals within the symbolic system of Greek religion. I argue that the tracing and retracing of this boundary serves to reveal the ways in which human and non-human animals, and superhuman beings, were conceived of as simultaneously alike and unlike.

Although many magical papyri contain figures, scholarly attention has thus far mostly focused on the texts that are frequently found side by side with them. When we approach magical papyri as artefacts, it becomes clear that these figures deserve as much attention as the texts and that they should be studied in conjunction. In this article, I will concentrate on six magical papyri with drawings which occur in a corpus of Greek magical texts with Christian elements from Late Antique Egypt and demonstrate the essential role that the images play in connection with the texts. As such, like the texts found in the same corpus, they reflect the syncretistic environment of Late Antique Egypt.

PGM VII is a Greek magical handbook which was composed by its principal scribe very carefully. The disposition and selection of prescriptions speak about the composition of the formulary with a plan in mind. In this article, the spells attributed to an author of prestige will be analyzed in order to put in question the belief that the magical handbooks written only in Greek demand a familiarity with international authors while the Demotic handbooks demand only for national authorities. PGM VII shows a preferred use of Hellenistic recognized authorities to " sale " better the prescriptions of the formulary, a marketing strategy that speaks of the " taste " of the potential readers.

An unusual magic gem carved on obsidian preserves on its beveled edge a Greek invocation to an otherwise unidentified "lofty-throned" Creator God, asking to provide health and salvation for its wearer and to check every evil and malevolent demonic force. On its two other surfaces there is preserved a series of seemingly 'magic' syllables that, upon closer inspection, contain, inter alia, hermeneutical glosses in Greek of a number of transcribed, foreign words from other languages, mostly Hebrew/Aramaic, but also others, including possibly Sanskrit (called "Indian"). The text also shows evidence of embedded scribal glosses, as well as references to Egyptian deities, especially Min, along with a handful of new angel-names.

My study focusses on defixiones in Greek attested in Sicily between 550 BCE and 200 CE. I will illustrate how, despite this practice not being uniformly distributed in time and place across the entirety of Sicily, certain distinctive communalities may be identified between 550 and 400 BCE among the Sicilian defixio 'production centres' active in this period. These arguments will be illustrated by means of an analysis of the geochronological diffusion of defixiones across the island, and a study of the textual characteristics of the language of the curses.

Автор анализирует ряд ольвийских заклятий на керамике в контексте магических рецептов, имеющихся в греческих магических папирусах, а также привлекает в качестве параллелей заклятия подобного рода из других регионов античной ойкумены. Магическая эпиграфика Ольвии также относится к разряду наиболее интересных феноменов исторического значения древнего эллинства в целом. Анализируются четыре заклятия, которые кроме того, что они выполнены на керамике, удивляют также тем, что все они круглой формы. Форма круга и спирали и вообще символика замыкающихся на себя пространства и времени играли в античной магии определенную и, вероятно, значительную роль.
Ключевые слова: Ольвия, греческая религия, греческая магия, заклятия на керамике, круглые заклятия

Магиски текстови пронајдени на папируси (PGM I-VI) Даниела Тошева ГРЧКИ МАГИСКИ ПАПИРУСИ PGM (PAPYRI GRAECAE MAGICAE) или Грчките магиски папируси се дел од една збирка со магиски обреди, обреди за иницијација и за стекнување натприродни моќи, пронајдена на почетокот од XIX век. Текстовите се напишани на грчки јазик, а само мал дел на коптски и датираат од II век н.е. до IV век н.е. Имено, тие се оригинални документи и примарни извори; тие не се уметничка книжевност, иако се појавуваат химни посветени на божествата, туку претставуваат еден вид прирачник со текстови собрани од некој упатен во религијата, магијата и окултизмот, кому му биле на располагање различни документи и записи на магии и обреди од египет-ската, еврејската, христијанската и хеленската религија.