Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195044509 ISBN 13: 9780195044508

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1991

Synopsis

This well-researched and inspiring collection of ten essays by leading American and European scholars challenges the tendency among scholars of Greek religion to ignore what have traditionally been called "magical" practices in ancient Greece. Disputing the preconceived notion that a clear dichotomy exists between magical and religious ritual, the essays survey specific bodies of archaeological, epigraphical, and papyrological evidence for magical practices in the Greek world, determining in each case whether the traditional dichotomy between magic and religion helps in any way to conceptualize the objective features of the evidence examined. Contributors include Christopher A. Faraone, J.H.M. Strubbe, H.S. Versnel, Roy Kotansky, John Scarborough, Samuel Eitrem, Fritz Graf, John J. Winkler, Hans Dieter Betz, and C.R. Phillips.

About this title

About the Author

Christopher A. Faraone is at University of Chicago. Dirk Obbink is at Barnard College.

Review

"This excellent and thought-provoking book will be indispensable to all who study Gre k religion. It draws on a wealth of illuminating primary material."--The Classical Review

"To assemble these 10 pieces on various aspects of ancient magic was an excellent idea....To do justice to the wealth of material presented and the intriguing new ideas which emerge one would have to write another book."--The Classical Outlook

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0195044509
• ISBN 13: 9780195044508
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 312
• Editor: Faraone Christopher A., Obbink Dirk