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Article: Ancient Greek Love Magic.(Review)
- Article from:
- The Historian
- Article date:
- March 22, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Ancient Greek Love Magic. By Christopher A. Faraone. (Cambridge: University Press, Harvard 1999. Pp. xii, 223. $35.00.)
In recent decades, interest has grown in the irrational elements in ancient Greek life and thought and in the use of magic by the Greeks and Romans. Christopher A. Faraone here offers a readable and persuasive introduction to one part of this story: how the Greeks used magic--incantations, curse tablets, "voodoo dolls," amulets, and potions--to attract or keep the affections of a loved one. His approach is synchronic, covering the period from the eighth to the first centuries B. C., while making judicious use of later sources. The evidence ...