Ancient Greek Love Magic

by Christopher A. Faraone

Overview

The ancient Greeks commonly resorted to magic spells to attract and keep lovers—as numerous allusions in Greek literature and recently discovered "voodoo dolls," magical papyri, gemstones, and curse tablets attest. Surveying and analyzing these various texts and artifacts, Christopher Faraone reveals that gender is the crucial factor in understanding love spells. There are, he argues, two distinct types of love magic: the curselike charms used primarily by men to torture unwilling women with fiery and maddening passion until they surrender sexually; and the binding spells and debilitating potions generally used by women to sedate angry or philandering husbands and make them more affectionate.

Faraone's lucid analysis of these spells also yields a number of insights about the construction of gender in antiquity, for example, the "femininity" of socially inferior males and the "maleness" of autonomous prostitutes. Most significantly, his findings challenge the widespread modern view that all Greek men considered women to be naturally lascivious. Faraone reveals the existence of an alternate male understanding of the female as "naturally" moderate and chaste, who uses love magic to pacify and control the "naturally" angry and passionate male. This fascinating study of magical practices and their implications for perceptions of male and female sexuality offers an unusual look at ancient Greek religion and society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674006966
Publisher:	Harvard
Publication date:	10/30/2001
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Christopher A. Faraone is Professor and Chairman of Classics, University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

The Ubiquity of Love Magic

Definitions and a New Taxonomy

The Advantages of a Synchronic and Comparative Approach

Spells for Inducing Uncontrollable Passion (Eros)

If Eros Is a Disease, Then Erotic Magic Is a Curse

Jason's Iunx and the Greek Tradition of Agoge Spells

Apples for Atlanta and Pomegranates for Persephone

The Transitory Violence of Greek Weddings and Erotic Magic

Spells for Inducing Affection (Philia)

Aphrodite's Kestos Himas and Other Amuletic Love Charms

Deianeira's Mistake: The Confusion of Love Potions and Poisons

Narcotics and Knotted Cords: The Subversive Cast of Philia Magic

Some Final Thoughts on History, Gender, and Desire

From Aphrodite to the Restless Dead: A Brief History of the Agoge Spell

Courtesans, Freedmen, and the Social Construction of Gender

Aelian's Tortoises and the Representation of the Desiring Subject

Glossary

Abbreviations

Bibliography

Subject Index

Index of Foreign Words

Index of Passages from Ancient Authors

Index of Magical Texts

Editorial Reviews

This exemplary book studies ancient Greek magical spells designed to attract or keep lovers, and it advances a clear and persuasive argument…Wisely and with great care, Faraone uses a variety of ancient sources, such as literary depictions of the use of magic, to provide a thicker description of ancient erotic discourse.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History - David Brakke

If any scholar is well-placed to produce a book on the topic of ancient Greek love magic, it is certainly Christopher Faraone...A useful glossary, full bibliography, and indispensable index of terms, and an index of passages from the ancient authors, round out the volume. This is without doubt a definitive work...Packed with information. But, more importantly, it contains critical insights and interpretations which show that Faraone is master of his subject.

Scholia Reviews - Mathew Dillon

In Greek magic, erotic spells were generally used by men to induce eros in women, while spells to maintain or induce affection (philia) were mainly used by women toward men. Mr. Faraone argues that exceptions to those generalities shed new light on the social construction of gender in Greek society, as well as on the issue of which sex was considered the more lascivious.

Chronicle of Higher Education - Nina C. Ayoub

This is no dry tome or unimaginative catalogue of papyrus scraps and voodoo "poppets". The dust-jacket promises a lucid analysis of the large corpus of ritual teachings used by the Greeks to instill or maintain various forms of desire and affection. Faraone delivers the goods, focusing principally on interpersonal aphrodisiac magic: though he does touch briefly on self-help potency spells, he is more interested in those directed against another unconsenting individual.

Joint Association of Classical Teachers Review - Lea Chambers

Christopher Faraone's masterly Ancient Greek Love Magic [is] an always intriguing—and often disturbing—exploration of ancient erotic society. Faraone, an established expert on ancient magic and ritual, examines the evidence for the two most-widely practiced types of love magic: agoge spells, which lasso even the most ornery of love-objects and philia spells, which prevent your significant other from searching for greener pastures elsewhere...Faraone's analysis of the interplay of gender and magic will be the book's most important contribution; although agoge magic is usually practiced by males and philia magic by females, the exceptions (and there are some) point to the paradoxes inherent in Ancient Greek constructions of gender...The book is a veritable encyclopedia of fascinating magical recipes, and boasts many well-researched variations on agoge and philia charms.

Boston Book Review - Thomas Jenkins

This exemplary book studies ancient Greek magical spells designed to attract or keep lovers, and it advances a clear and persuasive argument…Wisely and with great care, Faraone uses a variety of ancient sources, such as literary depictions of the use of magic, to provide a thicker description of ancient erotic discourse.
— David Brakke

Journal of Interdisciplinary History

If any scholar is well-placed to produce a book on the topic of ancient Greek love magic, it is certainly Christopher Faraone...A useful glossary, full bibliography, and indispensable index of terms, and an index of passages from the ancient authors, round out the volume. This is without doubt a definitive work...Packed with information. But, more importantly, it contains critical insights and interpretations which show that Faraone is master of his subject.
— Mathew Dillon

Scholia Reviews

In Greek magic, erotic spells were generally used by men to induce eros in women, while spells to maintain or induce affection (philia) were mainly used by women toward men. Mr. Faraone argues that exceptions to those generalities shed new light on the social construction of gender in Greek society, as well as on the issue of which sex was considered the more lascivious.
— Nina C. Ayoub

Chronicle of Higher Education

This is no dry tome or unimaginative catalogue of papyrus scraps and voodoo "poppets". The dust-jacket promises a lucid analysis of the large corpus of ritual teachings used by the Greeks to instill or maintain various forms of desire and affection. Faraone delivers the goods, focusing principally on interpersonal aphrodisiac magic: though he does touch briefly on self-help potency spells, he is more interested in those directed against another unconsenting individual.
— Lea Chambers

Joint Association of Classical Teachers Review

Christopher Faraone's masterly Ancient Greek Love Magic [is] an always intriguing—and often disturbing—exploration of ancient erotic society. Faraone, an established expert on ancient magic and ritual, examines the evidence for the two most-widely practiced types of love magic: agoge spells, which lasso even the most ornery of love-objects and philia spells, which prevent your significant other from searching for greener pastures elsewhere...Faraone's analysis of the interplay of gender and magic will be the book's most important contribution; although agoge magic is usually practiced by males and philia magic by females, the exceptions (and there are some) point to the paradoxes inherent in Ancient Greek constructions of gender...The book is a veritable encyclopedia of fascinating magical recipes, and boasts many well-researched variations on agoge and philia charms.
— Thomas Jenkins

Boston Book Review

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