Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World

Terms and Definitions

Etic approach

Emic approach

active magic
accusations of magic

Terminology:

Greek

Roman

magos

mageia

agurtes

mantis

goes

epaoide

pharmakon

pharmakeutria

telete

magus

magica

carmen

cantio

excantare

incantare

veneficium

veneficus

haruspex

Scholars:

Hermann Usener (1834-1905)
Albrecht Dieterich (d. 1908)
James George Frazer (1854-1938) The Golden Bough (1890, 1912-5)
Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942)
Emil Durkheim (1858-1917)
Marcel Mauss (d. 1950)
Stanley J. Tambiah (1929- )

Theories and Principles of Magic:

positive magic (sorcery) vs. negative magic (taboo)

impersonal action vs. personal interaction

relation of magic to science and religion

sacred vs. profane
instrumental vs. ultimate

Principle of Sympathy –

law of similarity (homeopathy)
law of contagion (contact)

mana or dynamis

Personal Interaction

prayer vs. compulsion

Performative Language

persuasive vs. predictive analogy

father : children :: employer : workers

instrumental vs. symbolic action

empirical vs. non-empirical ends

causality vs. participation

verification vs. validity

The Power of Words

historiola – mythic narrative in magic spell
poetry, music and meter
simile and metaphor
synecdoche
kenning
secret names
secret languages
alphabets
vowels
numbers