Section outline

  • Week II (September 7 & 9)  Defining Magic in the Ancient World

    Topics:

    ·      societies of the ancient Mediterranean world

    ·      magic and mystery – the lure of magic

    ·      types of magic

     

    Readings:

    ·      Edmonds, Drawing Down the Moon, ch. 1-2

    ·      Gager, Introduction, ch. 8

    ·      Apuleius, Metamorphoses (esp. ch. 1-3, 9-10)

     

    Supplementary Readings

    • Bremmer, Birth of the Term 'Magic'
    • Dieleman, The Greco-Egyptian Magical Papyri
    • Dosoo & Torallas Tovar, Anatomy of the Magical Archive & Roll vs. Codex

    ·       Edmonds, The State of Play: Magic

    • Frankfurter, Ancient Magic in a New Key
    • Frazer, Sympathetic Magic
    • Gordon, Imagining Greek and Roman Magic
    • Mauss, General Theory of Magic, pp. 44-90
    • Phillips, In Search of the Occult
    • Smith, Trading Places
    • Smith, Here, There, and Anywhere
    • Sanzo, Deconstructing the Deconstructionists
    • Tambiah, Form and Meaning of Magical Acts
    • Versnel, Some Reflections on the Relationship