Research Catalog

Title

Vanishing acts on ancient Greek amulets : from oral performance to visual design / Christopher A. Faraone.

Author

Faraone, Christopher A.

Publication

London : Institute of Classical Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, 2012.

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Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

University of London. Institute of Classical Studies, publisher.

Description

xii, 105 pages (some folded) : illustrations (some color); 25 cm.

Summary

"Greek magical texts sometimes contain peculiar triangular formations created by repeating the same word over and over again in the same column, but leaving off one letter at the beginning or end (or both). Interpretations shifted during the twentieth century: did the words inscribed in these shapes represent the names of diseases or evil demons which were forced to disappear as each letter of the name does? Or were they the work of Roman period scribes representing very different notions? This new study uses a masterly survey of the known examples of these texts to argue for a radical revision of recent views."--

Series Statement

Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies supplement ; 115

Uniform Title

Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement 115.

Subject

• Amulets, Greek
• Inscriptions, Greek
• Magic paraphernalia > Greece
• Magic, Greek

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Language (note)

• In English; occasional phrases in Ancient Greek with English translations.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Preface -- Abbreviations -- List of figures -- Introduction: oral performance and epigraphic habit -- Fever: palindromes, confrontation and containment -- Bleeding: the evolution of a vox magica -- Headache and sore throat: vanishing acts as expulsion rituals -- Conclusions: a tentative history of disappearing speech-acts -- Bibliography -- Appendix: Survey of wing- and heart-shaped names in magical texts: Amulets ; Non-amuletic magic -- Indexes: Subject index ; Magical texts and gems ; Index of foreign words ; Index locorum.

ISBN

• 9781905670406 (paperback)
• 1905670400 (paperback)

OCLC

• 827949348
• SCSB-11206031

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library