In classical antiquity, there was much interest in necromancy - the consultation of the dead for divination. People could seek knowledge from the dead by sleeping on tombs, visiting oracles, and attempting to reanimate corpses and skulls. Ranging over many of the lands in which Greek and Roman civilizations fluorished, including Egypt, from the Greek archaic period through the late Roman empire, this book is the first comprehensive survey of the subject ever published in any language. It will be of central importance to those interested in the rapidly expanding, inherently fascinating, and intellectually exciting subjects of ghosts and magic in antiquity.
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"[A] substantial contribution.... Ogden takes on... necromancy... with a huge diachronic sweep and exhaustive trawling of evidence.... [This] book will be indispensable to future scholars." - Peter Green, Times Literary Supplement; "[An] admirably cool and scholarly discussion of necromancy." - Jasper Griffin, New York Review of Books; "Ogden's book... makes it easy for the reader to follow and enjoy the beauty (and sometimes strangeness) of the sources and the accounts of necromancy they provide." - Julia Kindt, International History Review"
From the Back Cover
"This study fills a gaping hole in the scholarship, and it is sorely needed. The fascinating material it covers has never been collected and discussed in one volume, in spite of the current surge of interest in ancient magic and its intersection with religion. The author's command of the sources is excellent. He has made an exhaustive survey of all the relevant evidence, so that the coverage of the subject is satisfyingly complete."--Jennifer Larson, Kent State University
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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THE prime site for necromancy and its conceptual home in the Greek and Roman worlds was the tomb, which served the living as the home of the ghost. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE prime site for necromancy and its conceptual home in the Greek and Roman worlds was the tomb, which served the living as the home of the ghost. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Important contribution
25 Feb 2009
By Christopher R. Travers
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
In this work, Daniel Ogden explores necromancy (conjuring the dead for purposes of gaining information) in the ancient Greek world. He covers in detail where this would be done (tombs, battlefields, special places reserved for this sort of activity etc), who would be doing this sort of thing, broad outlines of how such rites were performed, and the ideas behind them.
This work is important for a number of reasons. First it tells us a great deal about the way the Greeks related to their dead. Secondly it tells us something about a subject which has never been treated carefully by historians.
This book is a must-read for the classicist, the student of ancient history, and even the occasional necromancer himself!
This work is important for a number of reasons. First it tells us a great deal about the way the Greeks related to their dead. Secondly it tells us something about a subject which has never been treated carefully by historians.
This book is a must-read for the classicist, the student of ancient history, and even the occasional necromancer himself!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely indispensable within its field.
5 April 2006
By S. G. Daniels
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
I wrote a research paper on ancient reanimation, and this is the only book (aside from Ogden's sourcebook) to have a serious discussion of the topic. It led to many new sources of inquiry, but still was my major source throughout. Anyone taking a class on ancient magic or wanting to look at necromancy more thoroughly must have this book.
15 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Basic information about this title
16 Aug 2003
By Douglas M. Slakey
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
In classical antiquity, there was much interest in necromancy--the consultation of the dead for divination. People could seek knowledge from the dead by sleeping on tombs, visiting oracles, and attempting to reanimate corpses and skulls. Ranging over many of the lands in which Greek and Roman civilizations flourished, including Egypt, from the Greek archaic period through the late Roman empire, this book is the first comprehensive survey of the subject ever published in any language.
Daniel Ogden surveys the places, performers, and techniques of necromancy as well as the reasons for turning to it. He investigates the cave-based sites of oracles of the dead at Heracleia Pontica and Tainaron, as well as the oracles at the Acheron and Avernus, which probably consisted of lakeside precincts. He argues that the Acheron oracle has been long misidentified, and considers in detail the traditions attached to each site. Readers meet the personnel--real or imagined--of ancient necromancy: ghosts, zombies, the earliest vampires, evocators, sorcerers, shamans, Persian magi, Chaldaeans, Egyptians, Roman emperors, and witches from Circe to Medea. Ogden explains the technologies used to evocate or reanimate the dead and to compel them to disgorge their secrets. He concludes by examining ancient beliefs about ghosts and their wisdom--beliefs that underpinned and justified the practice of necromancy.
Daniel Ogden surveys the places, performers, and techniques of necromancy as well as the reasons for turning to it. He investigates the cave-based sites of oracles of the dead at Heracleia Pontica and Tainaron, as well as the oracles at the Acheron and Avernus, which probably consisted of lakeside precincts. He argues that the Acheron oracle has been long misidentified, and considers in detail the traditions attached to each site. Readers meet the personnel--real or imagined--of ancient necromancy: ghosts, zombies, the earliest vampires, evocators, sorcerers, shamans, Persian magi, Chaldaeans, Egyptians, Roman emperors, and witches from Circe to Medea. Ogden explains the technologies used to evocate or reanimate the dead and to compel them to disgorge their secrets. He concludes by examining ancient beliefs about ghosts and their wisdom--beliefs that underpinned and justified the practice of necromancy.
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