Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion

313 Pages·1991·21.23 MB·english

by  Christopher A. Faraone

Magika Hiera

Magika Hiera
Ancient Greek Magic
and Religion
EDITED BY
Christopher A. Faraone
Dirk Obbink
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Copyright © 1991 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
First published in 1991 by Oxford University Press, Inc.,
198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
First issued as an Oxford University Press paperback, 1997.
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Magika hiera : ancient Greek magic and religion / [edited by] Christopher A.
Faraone and Dirk Obbink.
p. cm. Bibliography: p. Includes indexes.
ISBN 0-19-504450-9
ISBN 0-19-511140-0 (pbk.)
I. Magic, Greek. 2. Greece—Religion. I. Faraone, Christopher A.
II. Obbink, Dirk.
BF1591.M35 1991 88-37685
133.4'3'0938—dc19
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
Preface
Individuals in antiquity who did not particularly like their neighbors or colleagues
or became enamored of others, who wanted to win big at the races or guard against
a life-threatening disease or forecast a rise in personal income or come to terms with
a forgotten past, had a variety of methods at their disposal to attain their- goals, or at
least express their desires. Some are still familiar; others have fallen into obscurity
(at least in Western society) together with their origin, operation, and social func-
tion. The practice of writing curses (defixiones, , i.e., "binding
spells") on lead tablets, for instance, and dropping these tablets into a well, spring,
or grave has been documented wherever Greeks or Romans lived and exercised their
influence.* The practice is attested as early as the fifth century B.C. in places as
far-flung as Sicily, Attica, and the shores of the Black Sea. Lead "voodoo dolls"
have been unearthed even in Attica, inscribed with the names of famous fourth-
century orators and their pierced through with iron nails or bronze pins. Papyrus
finds have brought to light large sections of magical handbooks in which various
professionals purveyed their selections of detailed prescriptions or recipes for ac-
quiring a lover, curing disease, prevailing in court, securing the tutelage of a
particular deity, or protecting an individual's home or workplace against others or
against potential threats in the community at large.
Individuals in antiquity turned to such rituals in the hope of bettering their
fortunes in a natural world that seemed hostile and unpredictable, in a society that
competed fiercely for the use and control of limited resources and advantages.
Farmers ensured a bountiful harvest by encouraging rainfall and inhibiting the
attacks of noxious insects and other agricultural blights. In the cities and towns
merchants, artisans, and politicians attempted to increase their profits and personal
prestige by cursing the activities of their rivals in the agora or in the popular
assembly. At some point in their lives virtually every man and woman would have
had the option of recourse to these traditional rites to learn about the future, turn the
head of a potential lover, or prevent plague and other diseases from falling on their
families and flocks. Indeed a close reading of the extant sources for daily life in the
ancient world reveals many such common fears and persistent uncertainties that
* Many of the phrases used in this opening paragraph came from an unpublished essay by H. S.
Versnel.
vi Preface
daily beset all men and women, rich and poor, slave or free. Unrequited love,
sterility, impotence, gout, eye disease, bad luck at the races, or an unexpected
setback in a legal case—all these and a multitude of other distresses are revealed in
the texts of the magical inscriptions and papyri.
All these practices border ostensibly on the sphere of religion (perhaps of a
private or familial sort) insofar as they document attempts on the part of individuals
to influence factors in their environment that are beyond their immediate control. In
many cases these private, "magical" rites have clear parallels with well-known
forms of corporate and civic cult. Yet the relationship between magic and religion
with respect to such practices has historically been, and continues to be, a very
problematic one. Students of ancient religion have treated such practices in turn as
superstitious religion, vestiges of primitive religion, perverse or corrupt forms of
religion, and the very inverse of religion. Others, having introduced theories of the
development of science and scientific thinking, have claimed that the relationship
between men and the gods exhibited in magical practices was fundamentally differ-
ent from that in religious rites; or that magic involved manipulation, religion
supplication; or that magic presupposes principles of cosmic sympathy and antipa-
thy, whereas religion does not. More recent work (particularly, though not exclu-
sively, influenced by developments in sociology and anthropology) has brought
trenchant challenges against these distinctions. Many now view magic as a type of
religious deviance and treat magical practices as nondichotomous variations in ritual
procedure, arguing that the antithesis between magic and religion arbitrarily sepa-
rates a continuous spectrum of interlocking religious phenomena. There cannot at
present be said to exist anything approaching a consensus over the deployment and
definition of terms (especially with regard to theories of historical development).
Many continue to cling, consciously or not, to the standard dichotomy. The situa-
tion "resembles nothing so much as the endless shuffling and redealing of a deck of
but three cards."*
In any field of inquiry progress is achieved by two developments: either the
existing pool of data is significantly enlarged or otherwise improved so as to prompt
new investigations according to existing approaches; or refinements or (r)evolutions
in methodology prompt investigators to look at the existing data "through different-
colored lenses." In the study of ancient Greek magic and religion both developments
have occurred. The first four chapters in the present volume are devoted to newly
found or reedited inscriptional material and to the subsequent refinement of catego-
ries and theories of historical development attendant on the incorporation of such
new data. The remaining essays in the book deal with changes in the study of this
evidence—with particular attention to specific ritual practices and procedures—
and with new definitions of the fields of religion and magic or science that have been
prompted by refinements or changes in methodology.
In each case authors were urged to consider in detail a specific area of ritual
activity and to ask whether the traditional dichotomy between magic and religion
* C. R. Phillips, ANRW 16.3 (1986):2723, with reference to the terms "religion," "magic," and
"science."
Preface vii
helped in any way to conceptualize the objective features of the evidence examined.
This volume arises out of our conviction that a case-by-case examination of specific
rituals and their contexts will eventually yield a comprehensive account of the areas
of convergence and divergence between ancient magic and religion and establish the
study of magic as an area to be ignored by students of ancient religion and society
only at their peril.
Blacksburg, Virginia C. A. F.
New York City D. O.
May 1990
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge a special debt of gratitude to John J. Winkler who offered encour-
agement, advice, and criticism at every juncture. E. Courtney, A. Henrichs, M. H.
Jameson, D. Jordan, L. Koenen, R. Kotansky, M. McCall, P. Parsons, A. E.
Raubitschek, S. Stephens, S. Treggiari, and H. S. Versnel all offered valuable
advice in planning and producing the book and in many instances read and com-
mented on earlier drafts of individual essays. D. Obbink translated the essay of
S. Eitrem from the original German. J. Ringgold translated H. S. Versnel's contri-
bution from the Dutch original. Thanks are owed to the Department of Classics and
the Dean of Graduate Studies of Stanford University for providing funds for the
costs of translation, typing, copying and mailing. Finally, we are grateful to the
Louvre for permission to publish the photograph used on the dust jacket.
Contents
List of Abbreviations
1 The Agonistic Context of Early Greek Binding Spells, 3
CHRISTOPHER A. FARAONE
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
2 "Cursed be he that moves my bones", 33
J. H. M. STRUBBE
University of Leiden
3 Beyond Cursing: The Appeal to Justice in Judicial Prayers, 60
H.S.VERSNEL
University of Leiden
4 Incantations and Prayers for Salvation on Inscribed Greek Amulets, 107
ROY KOTANSKY
Los Angeles, California
5 The Pharmacology of Sacred Plants, Herbs, and Roots, 138
JOHN SCARBOROUGH
University of Wisconsin
6 Dreams and Divination in Magical Ritual, 175
SAMSON EITREM
formerly Oslo University
7 Prayer in Magical and Religious Ritual, 188
FRITZ GRAF
University of Basel
8 The Constraints of Eros, 214
JOHN J. WINKLER
Stanford University
9 Magic and Mystery in the Greek Magical Papyri, 244
HANS DIETER BETZ
University of Chicago
X Contents
10 Nullum Crimen sine Lege: Socioreligious Sanctions on Magic, 260
C. R. PHILLIPS III
Lehigh University
Selected Bibliography of Greek Magic and Religion, 277
Index of Greek Words, 285
Index of Latin Words, 289
General Index, 291