Lawsuits with Headless Foes: A Greek Incantation Motif
This study proposes a new interpretation of the texts of two late ancient or early Byzantine papyrus amulets that refer to conflict with “headless” entities (PGM P 5a-b). Based on the identification of parallels in the Byzantine and later Greek tradition, a traditional incantation motif can be ident...
| Published in: | Archiv für Religionsgeschichte |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
De Gruyter
[2020]
|
| In: |
Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Greece (Antiquity)
/ Religion
/ Zauberpapyri
/ Amulet
/ Evil
|
| IxTheo Classification: | AG Religious life; material religion BE Greco-Roman religions |
| Further subjects: | B
Religionswissenschaften
B Theologie und Religion B Altertumswissenschaften B Antike Religionsgeschichte B Klassische Altertumswissenschaften |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This study proposes a new interpretation of the texts of two late ancient or early Byzantine papyrus amulets that refer to conflict with “headless” entities (PGM P 5a-b). Based on the identification of parallels in the Byzantine and later Greek tradition, a traditional incantation motif can be identified, targeting fever, which is analogized as a judicial crisis. An appendix publishes or republishes the relevant texts with translations. The complex career of the motif attested by the papyri and the Byzantine texts is also applied to illustrate the workings of the Greek tradition of incantations, in particular the mechanism by which elements of a received repertoire are re-combined, modified, and augmented for changing contexts, a process comparable to folkloric composition. The judicial motif can further be contextualized among beliefs about the supernatural, including the divinization of fever itself and the crediting of a broad cast of powers, including John the Baptist along with other holies, angels, and demons, with its infliction and relief. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1868-8888 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Archiv für Religionsgeschichte
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1515/arege-2020-0004 |