Furley, William DBiblio.com
Gager, John GBiblio.com
CURSE TABLETS AND BINDING SPELLS FROM THE ANCIENT WORLD
199244426Oxford University Press. 1992. Hardcover. Fine in Very Good dust jacket. Book is fine. DJ has creasing along upper edge of DJ.; In the ancient Greco-Roman world it was common practice to curse or bind an enemy or rival by writing an incantation on a tablet and dedicating it to a god or spirit. These curses or binding spells commonly called defixiones were intended to bring other people under the power and control of those who commissioned them. More than a thousand such texts written between the 5th Century B. C. E. And the 5th Century C. E. have been discovered from North Africa to England and from Syria to Spain. Extending into every aspect of ancient life--athletic and theatrical competitions judicial proceedings love affairs business rivalries and the recovery of stolen property--they shed light on a new dimension of classical study previously inaccessible. Here for the first time these texts have been translated into English with a substantial translator's introduction revealing the cultural social and historical context for the texts.; 296 pages . 0195062264 . Oxford University Press hardcover
