Derek Collins

Broschiertes Buch

Magic in the Ancient Greek World

Beschreibung

Magic in the Ancient Greek World is an innovative introduction to the practice of magic during the classical period. This book develops a framework for understanding the role of magic in Greek life. Thematically organized around detailed case studies of individual types of magic, this volume examines the use of spells, drugs, binding curses, figurines, and the specialists who offered them. Collins reveals how each of these magical practices worked and the cultural structures that allowed them to occur. Original and insightful, Magic in the Ancient Greek World takes the reader inside both the social imagination and the ritual reality that made magic possible in ancient Greece.

Autor

Derek Collins is an Associate Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. He has written extensively on Greek poetry and its performance, including Master of the Game: Competition and Performance in Greek Poetry (2005). Collins has also published on Greek divination and magic, including articles on bird divination, the criminalization of magic in Athens, and the intellectual background to classical Greek magic.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Wiley
• Seitenzahl: 224
• Erscheinungstermin: 1. Februar 2008
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 13mm
• Gewicht: 332g
• ISBN-13: 9781405132398
• ISBN-10: 1405132396
• Artikelnr.: 22727774

Rezensionen

Shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Award 2008

"Collins, associate professor of Greek and Latin at theUniversity of Michigan, and author of Master of the Game:Competition and Performance in Greek Poetry (2005), seeks tointroduce nonspecialists to areas of Greek magic, cover thehighpoints of scholarly consensus, and offer new interpretativeframeworks for understanding select Greek magical practices."(New Testament Abstracts, January 2009)

"If you want to understand how the Ancient Greeks practised andviewed the magical arts then this book is highly recommended."(The Cauldron)

"Lots of interesting details, brilliant, clear chapters,great insights, and connections. There is a wealth of informationand ... fascinating little bits of trivia."(About.com)

"This is not simply a rehash of previously coveredmaterial. Collins covers a range of magical practices ... .Thisbook is an important new addition to studies of ancient magic.Present[s] the reader with a full context for any discussion ofmagical practices. Collins achieves this without becoming boggeddown in a discussion of terminology ... which can sometimesderail other studies. The focus on Greek magic centres the bookwith a clear methodology of always bringing the discussion back tothe Greek origins of the magic in question." (RosettaPapers)