The magic of writing in mediterranean antiquity
This chapter examines why and how the written word was so often credited with material power in antiquity. Much of the magic of the written word in Greco-Roman culture stems from Egyptian traditions of the hieroglyph as divine writing, an idea embraced by Greeks and Romans as a particularly exotic m...
| Subtitles: | Dimensions of a category magic |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2019
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| In: |
Guide to the study of ancient magic
Year: 2019, Pages: 626-658 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Parallel Edition: | Non-electronic
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| Summary: | This chapter examines why and how the written word was so often credited with material power in antiquity. Much of the magic of the written word in Greco-Roman culture stems from Egyptian traditions of the hieroglyph as divine writing, an idea embraced by Greeks and Romans as a particularly exotic medium for materializing ritual procedures (binding tablets, amulets, etc.). The essay reviews the magic of the written word in Egypt, then moves to Greek views of writing as a medium for sounds and voices – i.e., not materially sacred – symbolized in the use of voces magicae and vowel arrangements in amulets and incantations. The idea of the hieroglyph in Greco-Roman culture inspired the notion of Ephesia grammata (magical “letters”) and the more specific practice of charaktēres – symbols that were meant to function as an otherworldly writing system. |
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| ISBN: | 9004390758 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Guide to the study of ancient magic
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/9789004390751_024 |