Magika Hiera Ancient Greek Magic and Religion [Paperback]

This collection challenges the tendency among scholars of ancient Greece to see magical and religious ritual as mutually exclusive and to ignore magical practices in Greek religion. The contributors survey specific bodies of archaeological, epigraphical, and papyrological evidence for magical practices in the Greek world, and, in each case, determine whether the traditional dichotomy between magic and religion helps in any way to conceptualize the objective features of the evidence examined. Contributors include Christopher A. Faraone, J.H.M. Strubbe, H.S. Versnel, Roy Kotansky, John Scarborough, Samuel Eitrem, Fritz Graf, John J. Winkler, Hans Dieter Betz, and C.R. Phillips.

This excellent and thought-provoking book will be indispensable to all who study Gre k religion. It draws on a wealth of illuminating primary material. --The Classical Review

To assemble these 10 pieces on various aspects of ancient magic was an excellent idea....To do justice to the wealth of material presented and the intriguing new ideas which emerge one would have to write another book. --The Classical Outlook