Magic in the Ancient Greek World [Paperback]

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• Explores the widespread use of spells, drugs, curse tablets, and figurines, and the practitioners of magic in the ancient world
  
• Uncovers how magic worked. Was it down to mere superstition? Did the subject need to believe in order for it to have an effect?
  
• Focuses on detailed case studies of individual types of magic
  
• Examines the central role of magic in Greek life

Abbreviations.

Introduction.

Part I: Magic: What Is It and How Does It Work?.

Frazer and Tylor.

Malinowski.

Magic as Communication.

Lévy-Bruhl.

Evans-Pritchard.

Sympathetic Magic.

Magic and the Extended Person.

Magic and Analogy.

Beyond Frazer.

Tambiah and Persuasive Magic.

Conclusion.

Part II: A Framework for Greek Magic.

Magic and the Gods.

Divinity and Nature.

The Hippocratics: Magic, Divination, and Epilepsy.

Plato and Greek Psychology.

Magic and Causality.

Greek Magicians.

Magoi.

Gorgias, mageia and goēteia.

Other Magical Terms.

Conclusion.

Part III: Binding Magic and Erotic Figurines.

Binding the Gods.