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Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World
  
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Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World (Hardcover)

by John G. Gager (Editor) "The city's two strongest rivals are the Goose . . . and the Tower ..." (more)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 296 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, USA (1 Aug 1992)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0195062264
  • ISBN-13: 978-0195062267
  • Product Dimensions: 21.7 x 14.6 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,951,294 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

"There is ample reason...to be extremely grateful to Gager and his associates for having provided such a rich and accessible collection of these fascinating and culturally important documents."--Bryn Mawr Classical Review
"The material is fascinating, and provides a view of antiquity from an unaccustomed angle....Of immense value to students of the ancient world and of the history of religion."--Times Literary Supplement
"Spellbinding."--Christian Century
"A thorough and scholarly book, of immense value to students of the ancient world and of the history of religion."--Ancient History
"The editor and publisher are to be commended for making an important aspect of ancient popular religion accessible to a wide audience."--Journal of Religion


Product Description

In the ancient Graeco-Roman world, it was a common practice to curse an enemy or rival by writing an incantation on a tablet and dedicating it to a god or spirit. More than a thousand such texts, written between the fifth century BC and the fifth century AD, have been discovered in places ranging from North Africa to England, and from Syria to Spain. Until now, however, there has been no English translation of these tablets and indeed the texts themselves have remained virtually unknown. This volume makes these fascinating texts available for the first time. A substantial introduction supplies the full cultural, social, and historical context for the texts. The selected translations, arranged thematically, are fully annotated and accompanied by extensive commentary. Reflecting a wide range of social occasions, including lawsuits, love affairs, business competition, and horse-races, the tablets open a window into the hearts and minds of ordinary people, shedding light on a dimension of classical society in which historians today are increasingly interested.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Don't forget your tranquilisers., 17 Feb 2009
By M.I. "migoe" (Newcastle, UK) - See all my reviews
  
This review is from: Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World (Paperback)
Latin is perhaps as robust a language as we've had in Europe - something you don't learn in school. Its closest descendant, Spanish, can have a sharp edge too, in the right circumstances. But what this book isn't is a list of abusive terms. It's far worse than that. It comes nearer to voodoo. If you don't have a strong stomach, or aren't used to this sort of material, don't read it, for it's likely to haunt you.
The practice of placing metal (usually lead, a symbol of death) was well known in ancient times. In Latin, it was defixio. The Greek equivalent is more familiar: anathema. If someone really wanted to vent hatred, a single phrase wasn't enough. A long list of evil wishes, dedicated to some spirit, would specify every possible harm the ill-wished person might suffer, including even impotence and infertility. They could run for paragraphs, to omit not a single detail of the suffering desired. A taste of this practice, shortened, is portrayed in one of the later episodes of the HBO/BBC DVD, Rome. This is not easy reading. If you want to explore some of the nastier recesses of some ancient minds, it's valuable. If you want easy, holiday reading, don't open it, for that's
what it's not - and not intended to be
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