| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 223 pages) |
| Contents |
""Contents""; ""Preface""; ""1. Introduction""; ""1.1 The Ubiquity of Love Magic""; ""1.2 Definitions and a New Taxonomy""; ""1.3 The Advantages of a Synchronic and Comparative Approach""; ""2. Spells for Inducing Uncontrollable Passion (Eros)""; ""2.1 If Eros Is a Disease, Then Erotic Magic Is a Curse""; ""2.2 Jason�s Iunx and the Greek Tradition of Agoge Spells""; ""2.3 Apples for Atalanta and Pomegranates for Persephone""; ""2.4 The Transitory Violence of Greek Weddings and Erotic Magic""; ""3. Spells for Inducing Affection (Philia)"" |
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""3.1 Aphrodite�s Kestos Himas and Other Amuletic Love Charms""""3.2 Deianeira�s Mistake: The Confusion of Love Potions and Poisons""; ""3.3 Narcotics and Knotted Cords: The Subversive Cast of Philia Magic""; ""4. Some Final Thoughts on History, Gender, and Desire""; ""4.1 From Aphrodite to the Restless Dead: A Brief History of the Agoge Spell""; ""4.2 Courtesans, Freedmen, and the Social Construction of Gender""; ""4.3 Aelian�s Tortoises and the Representation of the Desiring Subject""; ""Glossary""; ""Abbreviations""; ""Bibliography""; ""Subject Index""; ""Index of Foreign Words"" |
| Summary |
The ancient Greeks commonly resorted to magic spells to attract and keep lovers. Surveying and analyzing various texts and artifacts, the author reveals that gender is the crucial factor in understanding love spells |
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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 artefacts, the author reveals that gender is a crucial factor in understanding love spells. He argues that there are two 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. The author's analysis of these spells also yields a number of insights about the construction of gender in antiquity. Most significantly, his findings challenge the modern view that all Greek men considered women to be naturally lascivious |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 183-203) and indexes |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Magic, Greek.
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Love -- Greece -- History
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Sex role -- Greece -- History
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Sex -- Greece -- History
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Magic -- history
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Love -- history
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BODY, MIND & SPIRIT -- Occultism.
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HISTORY -- Ancient -- General.
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Love
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Magic, Greek
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Sex
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Sex role
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Liefde.
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Magie.
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Griekse oudheid.
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Greece
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| Genre/Form |
History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| ISBN |
9780674036703 |
|
0674036700 |
|
9780674033207 |
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0674033205 |
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