J 2019

"May Their Limbs Melt, Just as This Lead Shall Melt…" : Sympathetic Magic and Similia Similibus Formulae in Greek and Latin Curse Tablets (Part 1)

FRANEK, Juraj and Daniela URBANOVÁ

Basic information

Original name

"May Their Limbs Melt, Just as This Lead Shall Melt…" : Sympathetic Magic and Similia Similibus Formulae in Greek and Latin Curse Tablets (Part 1)

Authors

FRANEK, Juraj (703 Slovakia) and Daniela URBANOVÁ (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Philologia Classica, St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg State University, 2019, 0202-2532

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Článek v odborném periodiku

Field of Study

60304 Religious studies

Country of publisher

Russian Federation

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/19:00110076

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

DOI

UT WoS

000473314800004

Keywords in English

curse tablets; defixiones; ancient magic; sympathetic magic; Greek and Latin epigraphy; similia similibus; simile formula; materiality; ghosts in antiquity

Tags

Tags

International impact, Reviewed
Změněno: 3/4/2020 20:16, Mgr. Zuzana Matulíková

Abstract

V originále

In this contribution, we present a representative corpus of similia similibus formulae attested in ancient Greek and Latin curse tablets or defixiones. The simile formulae, attested in about 80 tablets in widely differing states of preservation and legibility, are introduced in the context of sympathetic magic and, in contradistinction to literary similes, as performative utterances that are based on a persuasive analogy. This analogy operates in the general form of "just as X possesses property P, so let also Y possess property P", in which Y is the target or victim of the curse, while X and P are variables that change in accordance with the intended results. We provide a provisional taxonomy of simile formulae, offer new readings and interpretations of some defixiones, and compare Greek and Latin documents. Due to its length, the paper has been divided into two parts. In the first part, presented here, we focus on comparata that reference the materiality of the tablet itself and comparata referencing corpses or ghosts of the dead. The remaining comparata, namely animals, historiolae and rituals, aversus formulae and unusual orientations of the script, "names", and drawings, will be presented in a follow-up paper, to be published in the next issue of Philologia Classica.

Links

MUNI/A/1269/2018, interní kód MU
Name: Výzkum starověkých jazyků mediteránního prostoru, jejich písemnictví a příslušných kultur, včetně jejich recepce – 2019 (Acronym: Staré jazyky a kultury)
Investor: Masaryk University, Category A