Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds : a Collection of Ancient Texts

563 Pages·2007·1.78 MB·English

by  Luck, Georg

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
List of Texts
25. A: Magical Papyrus in Leiden (PGM XIII.64–71) 138
B: Magical Papyrus in Leiden (PGM XIII.760–65) 138
C: Magical Papyrus in Leiden (PGM XII.245–53) 138
26. Great Magical Papyrus in Paris (PGM IV.2943–66) 139
27. Great Magical Papyrus in Paris (PGM IV.3086–3124) 140
28. A: Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4.44 142
B: Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 8.7.9–10 142
29. Lucian, The Lovers of Lies, pars. 14–17 146
30. Apuleius, Apology, or On Magic, chs. 25–27, 42–43 149
31. Apuleius, Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass 3.21–28 153
32. Plotinus, Enneads 4.4.40–44 157
33. Porphyry, Life of Plotinus, ch. 10 161
34. Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of Egypt 4.2 161
35. Eusebius, The Preparation of the Gospel 4.1.6–9 162
36. Plotinus, Enneads 2.9.14 164
37. Porphyry, Letter to Anebo, chs. 46–49 165
38. Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of Egypt 1.9 166
39. Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of Egypt 2.11 168
40. Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists 5.2.7 169
41. Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists 7.11.6–10; 7.1.1–3;
7.2.1; 7.3.6–6.3 (Giangrande) 170
42. IG 4.951–52 (= Dittenberger, Sylloge∂ 1168–69) 185
43. Apuleius, Florida, ch. 19 189
44. IG 4.955 (= Dittenberger, Sylloge∂ 1170) 191
45. Aelius Aristides, Sacred Orations 2 (= 48, 30–35 Keil) 192
46. Aelius Aristides, Sacred Orations 2 (= 48, 74–78 Keil) 194
47. Lucian, The Lovers of Lies, pars. 10–13 195
48. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 7.38–39 197
49. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4.45 199
50. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 3.38–39 200
51. Eunapius, Lives of the Philosophers and Sophists 6.6.5–8.3 201
52. Homer, Odyssey 11.12–224 223
53. Hesiod, Works and Days, vv. 109–93 228
54. Aeschylus, Persians, vv. 607–99 230
55. Plato, Apology of Socrates 33B8–E8, 39C1–40C3 233
56. Phlegon of Tralles, Mirabilia 1 235
57. Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.32.3–5 238
58. Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.28.1–29.1 240
59. Great Magical Papyrus in Paris (PGM IV.3007–86) 242
60. Seneca, Oedipus, vv. 530–626 244
61. Lucan, Pharsalia 6.413–830 246
62. Plutarch, On the Ceasing of Oracles 14–15, pp. 418E–419E 257
x
List of Texts
63. Plutarch, On the Ceasing of Oracles 9–11, pp. 414E–415D 259
64. Plutarch, On the Ceasing of Oracles 15, p. 418C–D 260
65. Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 26–27, p. 361A–E 261
66. Plutarch, Consolation Addressed to Apollonius 14, p. 109A–D 262
67. Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.6 265
68. Apuleius, Metamorphoses, or The Golden Ass 2.21–30 266
69. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 4.20 271
70. Porphyry, Life of Plotinus 10, pars. 56–60 272
71. Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of Egypt 1.20.61–63 274
72. Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of Egypt 2.1.67–2.69 274
73. Eusebius, The Preparation of the Gospel 4.5.1–3 276
74. Heliodorus, Aethiopica, or Ethiopian Tales 6.14–15 277
75. Abrasax Amulet (Suppl. Mag. 13 = PGM LXXXIX) 280
76. Amulet against Migraine (R. Kotansky, 1994, no.13) 281
77. Heraclitus, quoted by Plutarch in The Oracles of the Pythia, 21,
p. 404d 321
78. Xenophon, Memorabilia, or Recollections of Socrates, 1.1.1–9 321
79. Questions Asked at Dodona (Dittenberger, Sylloge≤ 793; Sylloge≥
1160–61, 1163–65) 324
80. Timotheus Wants to Build a Temple (Dittenberger, Sylloge≥ 977,
25–36 = IG XII 3, 248) 325
81. Procedure at an Oracle (Dittenberger, Sylloge≥ 1157, 1–69 = IG
IX 2, 1109) 326
82. Cicero, On Divination 2.115–16 328
83. Cicero, On Divination, excerpts from Books 1 and 2 330
84. Cicero, On Divination, excerpts from Book 2 332
85. Cicero, On Divination 1.63–64 334
86. Cicero, On Divination 2.127–28 335
87. Seneca, Agamemnon, vv. 710–78 336
88. Seneca, Agamemnon, vv. 867–908 339
89. Seneca, Heracles on Mount Oeta, vv. 1472–78 340
90. Lucan, Pharsalia 5.86–224 341
91. Paul, First Letter to the Corinthians 14:1–33 345
92. Plutarch, On the Ceasing of Oracles 39–40, pp. 431–32F 348
93. Plutarch, On the Oracles of the Pythia 10, pp. 398–99 350
94. Plutarch, On the Oracles of the Pythia 6, pp. 396–97 351
95. Plutarch, On the E at Delphi 6, p. 387 B/C 352
96. Philostratus, Life of Apollonius of Tyana 5.12 352
97. Artemidorus, Oneirocritica, or On the Art of Judging Dreams,
excerpts from Books 1–4 353
98. Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of Egypt 3.4–6 361
99. Iamblichus, On the Mysteries of Egypt 3.11 363
xi