Greek-Roman love magic

La tesi di laurea triennale tratta l'argomento della magia antica, concentrandosi prevalentemente sul mondo greco - sebbene non manchino riferimenti al mondo latino -, a partire dalle attestazioni letterarie e archeologiche (statuette, lamine, tavolette etc.).
Uno spazio particolare è riservato al tipo specifico della magia erotica, mirata all'ottenimento dei favori e delle attenzioni della persona desiderata.
Si analizzano le caratteristiche specifiche di questa tipologia di incantesimi, ponendo in rilievo le somiglianze con le più tradizionali maledizioni greche.

Una lunga sezione è dedicata a un testo contenuto nei cosiddetti PGM, una raccolta di papiri e di codici papiracei risalenti dal II sec. a.C. al V sec. d.C. circa: si tratta della più completa raccolta di testi e rituali magici del mondo greco, veri e propri 'formulari' destinati a maghi di professione o amatoriali. Il corpus mostra evidenti segni di contatto tra le tradizioni greche, egizie, babilonesi e semitiche - solo per citarne alcune.
All'interno dei PGM è presente un incantesimo detto Φιλτροκατάδεσμος θαυμαςτός, uno 'straordinario incantesimo per un vincolo d'amore' suddiviso in tre distinte sezioni: rito preparatorio con realizzazione di due statuette; incantesimo da recitare e incidere su di una lamina metallica; preghiera conclusiva.
Il testo è analizzato e commentato evidenziandone i punti salienti e peculiari che mostrano un'applicazione 'concreta' di quanto teorizzato nei capitoli precedenti e che permettono utili riflessioni sul mondo della magia e sul mondo antico in generale.
Le Conclusioni, infine, ripercorrono sinteticamente il percorso esposto in precedenza, concentrandosi sul ruolo svolto dall'eros nei tempi antichi, sui possibili utilizzatori di questi incantesimi e sugli obiettivi di tale magia.

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.

Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach to a variety of material, textual, and literary evidence, the aim of this thesis is to shed light on the realities –rather than stereotypes- of an important aspect of late ancient women’s experience: the use of ritual power. Patterns of gender differentiation in late antique Egyptian magic are investigated and shown to be connected to the particular aims to which numinous powers were employed, aims which were in turn bound up with the social roles expected of each sex. The majority of this study consists of a series of case studies of different types of women’s rituals of power, which emphasize examples of significant trends in ritual iconography, praxis, and context, both those which were typical of late antique Egyptian magic as a whole, and those which were uniquely female in character. The fact that female practitioners came from a wide array of socio-economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds is also addressed.

In the recent exhibition catalog Death Dogs: The Jackal Gods of Ancient Egypt by Terry
Wilfong, there appeared as number thirty-two a papyrus inscribed with a Demotic text
accompanied by a rather interesting illustration. Wilfong mentions that the “text is, as
yet, unedited, but the illustration — showing a jackal-headed god most likely to be Anubis shooting a bow and arrow toward a grotesque naked male figure — makes it all but certain that this papyrus is a magical text. A jackal-headed god shooting a bow and arrow is sometimes represented in amulet form (for example, see Andrews 1994, 47, fig. 52a), and this image may be related.” The authors are currently working to edit and publish the papyrus in full. This preliminary publication will serve to confirm Wilfong’s suspicions about the text, the jackal-headed figure, and to situate the illustration explicitly within the larger corpus of archer figures from ancient Egypt.

This paper investigates the decorations imbued with an apotropaic protectional quality used on the harnass of Roman horses by first examining the depictions of horses to
see which amulets appear and where they are worn, before
looking at the archaeological finds of amulets themselves. These can be grouped according to their connection with sexuality (male/female/neutral).

Ovid's narrative of Apollo and Daphne introduces elements not apparent in earlier extant versions of the myth, such as the involvement of Cupid and his deployment of two distinct arrows, one golden that sets Apollo's passions aflame, and the other lead that makes Daphne averse to all male advances. The passion-averting arrow in particular is a curious addition to Cupid's arsenal. This paper will argue that the lead arrow can be better understood when viewed alongside the practices and discourses of ancient magic and medicine, especially the widespread use of lead for erotic defixiones, antaphrodisiacs, and even contraceptives.

A series of Roman intaglios and coins bear the iconographic scheme of Eros, which removes a splinter from the paw of a lion. An enigmatic inscription in Greek language accompanies the image: marmaraouôth. These engraved stones seem to indicate a use in the field of erotic magic while on coins the whole conveys a political message. In this article we propose to analyze each iconographic element in order to determine if the gems were used to attract a lover or rather to cure the pains caused by the arrows of Eros.