1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910777322003321

Titolo

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

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Oxford University Press, 1999

ISBN

0-19-773876-1

0-19-988118-9

9786610834266

1-280-83426-9

0-19-802277-8

0-19-535062-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource  (xv, 278 pages) : illustrations

Altri autori (Persone)

GagerJohn G

Disciplina

133.44

Soggetti

Incantations

Blessing and cursing

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di contenuto

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

Sommario/riassunto

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.