Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Collection of Ancient Texts

565 Pages·2006·2.43 MB·English

by  Georg Luck

Arcana Mundi
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o`o`o`o`o`o
SECOND EDITION
Arcana Mundi
MAGIC AND THE OCCULT IN THE
GREEK AND ROMAN WORLDS
A Collection of Ancient Texts
Translated, Annotated, and Introduced by
Georg Luck
o`o`o`o`o`o
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS
BALTIMORE
The first edition of this book was brought to publication with
the generous assistance of the David M. Robinson Fund and
the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
∫ 1985, 2006 The Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 1985, 2006
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
The Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Arcana mundi : magic and the occult in the Greek and Roman worlds : a collection
of ancient texts / translated, annotated, and introduced by Georg Luck. — 2nd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and indexes.
isbn 0-8018-8345-8 (hardcover : alk. paper)
isbn 0-8018-8346-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Occultism—Greece—History—Sources. 2. Occultism—Rome—History—
Sources. 3. Civilization, Classical—Sources. I. Luck, Georg, 1926–
bf1421.a73 2006
130.938—dc22
2005028354
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
For Harriet
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Contents
List of Texts ix
Preface xiii
List of Abbreviations xvii
General Introduction:
Exploring Ancient Magic 1
I. MAGIC
Introduction 33
Texts 93
II. MIRACLES
Introduction 177
Texts 185
III. DAEMONOLOGY
Introduction 207
Texts 223
IV. DIVINATION
Introduction 285
Texts 321
V. ASTROLOGY
Introduction 371
Texts 389
vii
Contents
VI. ALCHEMY
Introduction 435
Texts 443
Epilogue:
The Survival of Pagan Magic 457
Appendix: Psychoactive Substances
in Religion and Magic 479
Vocabula Magica 493
Select Bibliography 519
Index of Ancient Sources 529
General Index 535
viii
List of Texts
1. Homer, Odyssey 10.203–347 93
2. Hippocrates, On the Sacred Disease 1–4 Jones 96
3. Theophrastus, Characters, ‘‘Portrait of the Superstitious Person’’
(ch. 28 Jebb) 100
4. Aesop, Fable 56 Perry 102
5. Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.1635–90 102
6. Theocritus, Idylls 2 104
7. A: Cato, On Agriculture, par. 160 108
B: Varro, On Agriculture 1.2.27 108
C: [Marcellus Empiricus?] De Medicamentis 15.11 (= 113.25
Niedermann) 108
8. Horace, Epodes 5 109
9. Horace, Satires 1.8 112
10. Virgil, Eclogues 8.64–109 113
11. Virgil, Aeneid 4.450–705 115
12. Seneca (?), Heracles on Mount Oeta, vv. 449–72 121
13. A: Seneca, Medea, vv. 6–26 122
B: Seneca, Medea, vv. 670–843 122
14. Petronius, Satyricon, ch. 131 122
15. Tacitus, Annals 2.69 127
16. CIL 11.2.4639 128
17. Lead tablet from Africa, late Empire (no. 286B Audollent) 128
18. Great Magical Papyrus in Paris (PGM IV.297–408) 129
19. Great Magical Papyrus in Paris (PGM IV.154–242) 131
20. Magical Papyrus in the Louvre (PGM III.1–25) 134
21. Great Magical Papyrus in Paris (PGM IV.1495–1546) 134
22. Magical Papyrus in the Louvre (PGM III.591–609) 135
23. Magical Papyrus in Leiden (PGM XIII.242–44, 261–65, 277–82,
290–96) 136
24. Magical Papyrus in Leiden (PGM XII.121–43) 137
ix