Venenum, or venenum? Tacitus, Magic, and Don Quixote’s
Windmills : Some Remarks on the Methodology of the Study of
Ancient Magic

C 2024

Venenum, or venenum? Tacitus, Magic, and Don Quixote’s Windmills : Some Remarks on the Methodology of the Study of Ancient Magic

CHALUPA, Aleš

Basic information

Original name

Venenum, or venenum? Tacitus, Magic, and Don Quixote’s Windmills : Some Remarks on the Methodology of the Study of Ancient Magic

Authors

CHALUPA, Aleš (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Leiden, Taking Seriously, Not Taking Sides : Challenges and Perspectives in the Study of Religions, p. 177-191, 15 pp. Religion and Transformation in Contemporary European Society, Volume 31, 2024

Publisher

Brill

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Chapter(s) of a specialized book

Field of Study

60304 Religious studies

Country of publisher

Netherlands

Confidentiality degree

is not subject to a state or trade secret

Publication form

printed version "print"

References:

URL

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/24:00137075

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

ISBN

978-3-506-79660-8

DOI

https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657796601_010

Keywords in English

ancient magic; curse tablets; definitions of magic; emic perspective; etic perspective

Abstract

In the original language

The difficulties that complicate the search for a universally acceptable definition of “magic” have led some scholars to attempt to delineate magic using emic data. The main objective of this chapter is to discuss the practical applicability of emic data to further define magic. The chosen test case, a passage from Tacitus (Annales II, 69), is seen as a serious obstacle to these attempts. The emic approach, which seeks to understand magic in terms of the culture under study, has only a limited contribution to make to the formulation of a general category of magic, as Tacitus uses a single word, venenum, for two different activities (a magical attack and a poisoning). The translation of this expression, and thus the interpretation of the whole incident, becomes impossible unless we have a pre-existing etic category of magic at our disposal, even if it remains unexpressed.

Links

MUNI/A/1477/2023, interní kód MU

Name: Digitální výzkum náboženství v dlouhodobé perspektivě

Investor: Masaryk University, Digital research of religion: a long-term perspective

Cite

CHALUPA, Aleš. Venenum, or venenum? Tacitus, Magic, and Don Quixote’s Windmills : Some Remarks on the Methodology of the Study of Ancient Magic. In Pokorny, Lukas K.; Mattes, Astris. Taking Seriously, Not Taking Sides : Challenges and Perspectives in the Study of Religions. Leiden: Brill, 2024, p. 177-191. Religion and Transformation in Contemporary European Society, Volume 31. ISBN 978-3-506-79660-8. Available from: https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657796601_010.

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   author = {Chalupa, Aleš},
   address = {Leiden},
   booktitle = {Taking Seriously, Not Taking Sides : Challenges and Perspectives in the Study of Religions},
   doi = {https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657796601_010},
   editor = {Pokorny, Lukas K.; Mattes, Astris},
   keywords = {ancient magic; curse tablets; definitions of magic; emic perspective; etic perspective},
   howpublished = {tištěná verze "print"},
   language = {eng},
   location = {Leiden},
   isbn = {978-3-506-79660-8},
   pages = {177-191},
   publisher = {Brill},
   title = {Venenum, or venenum? Tacitus, Magic, and Don Quixote’s Windmills : Some Remarks on the Methodology of the Study of Ancient Magic},
   url = {https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657796601_010},
   year = {2024}
}

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N2  - The difficulties that complicate the search for a universally acceptable definition of “magic” have led some scholars to attempt to delineate magic using emic data. The main objective of this chapter is to discuss the practical applicability of emic data to further define magic. The chosen test case, a passage from Tacitus (Annales II, 69), is seen as a serious obstacle to these attempts. The emic approach, which seeks to understand magic in terms of the culture under study, has only a limited contribution to make to the formulation of a general category of magic, as Tacitus uses a single word, venenum, for two different activities (a magical attack and a poisoning). The translation of this expression, and thus the interpretation of the whole incident, becomes impossible unless we have a pre-existing etic category of magic at our disposal, even if it remains unexpressed.
ER  -

CHALUPA, Aleš. Venenum, or venenum? Tacitus, Magic, and Don Quixote’s Windmills : Some Remarks on the Methodology of the Study of Ancient Magic. In Pokorny, Lukas K.; Mattes, Astris. \textit{Taking Seriously, Not Taking Sides : Challenges and Perspectives in the Study of Religions}. Leiden: Brill, 2024, p.~177-191. Religion and Transformation in Contemporary European Society, Volume 31. ISBN~978-3-506-79660-8. Available from: https://doi.org/10.30965/9783657796601\_{}010.

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