Curse tablets and binding spells from the ancient world / edited by John G. Gager.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Gager, John G., editor.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Incantations.

Blessing and cursing.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 278 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

New York : Oxford University Press, 2023.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

data file

Summary:

In the ancient Greco-Roman world, it was common practice to curse or bind an enemy or rival by writing an incantation on a tablet and dedicating it to a god or spirit. These curses or binding spells, commonly called defixiones were intended to bring other people under the power and control of those who commissioned them. More than a thousand such texts, written between the 5th Century B.C.E. and the 5th Century C.E., have been discovered from North Africa to England, and from Syria to Spain. Extending into every aspect of ancient life--athletic and theatrical competitions, judicial proceedings.

Contents:

Contents; Abbreviations and Conventions; Introduction; 1. Competition in Theater and Circus; 2. Sex, Love, and Marriage; 3. Tongue-Tied in Court: Legal and Political Disputes; 4. Businesses, Shops, and Taverns; 5. Pleas for Justice and Revenge; 6. Miscellaneous Tablets; 7. Antidotes and Counterspells; 8. Testimonies; Glossary of Uncommon Words; Index

Notes:

Previously issued in print: 1992.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Derived record based on print version record and publisher information.

Contains:

Curse tablets and binding spells from antiquity and the ancient world.

ISBN:

0-19-773876-1

0-19-988118-9

9786610834266

1-280-83426-9

0-19-802277-8

0-19-535062-6

OCLC:

436988542