Ancient Greece’s Dark Arts: Magic, Sorceresses, and Mystical Rituals

Circe by Frederick Stuart Church. Painting astatine the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Credit: Public Domain

Magic successful the ancient Greek satellite appears predominantly successful its mythology successful narration to definite gods and demigods, namely Orpheus, Hecate, Circe, and Hermes, who had magical powers.

The demigod Orpheus, the superb instrumentalist and poet, was the lad of the king of Thrace Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. He was instructed successful euphony by the deity Apollo. According to immoderate legends, Orpheus was the lad of Apollo and the Muse Calliope. As helium grew older, helium became a maestro astatine playing the lyre and different instruments, and his singing dependable was truthful beauteous that it could charm animals, trees, and adjacent rocks.

The grieving singing of Orpheus’ for the nonaccomplishment of Eurydice was truthful almighty that it adjacent worked its magic connected ferryman Cheron, the guardian canine Cerberus, and the deity of the Underworld, Hades, who allowed Orpheus to instrumentality Eurydice backmost to the satellite of light.

The deity Hermes, 1 of the 12 Olympians, carried a magic wand oregon unit called a caduceus. He was a messenger and bringer of dreams to some the gods and humans. Hermes was besides a mischievous, cunning deity and a thief. He worked his magic to assistance past Greece’s astir celebrated heroes and besides led the souls of the dormant to the Underworld.

The caduceus is an past awesome carried by deities arsenic a motion of their powerfulness and quality to determination betwixt realms. The unit is depicted arsenic a elemental instrumentality twined by snakes with wings sprouting from the sides and a sphere astatine the top.

Hecate and Circe: goddesses of magic

Hecate was the goddess of magic (Greek: Mageia, Μαγεία), witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts, and necromancy successful past Greek mythology. She was the lone kid of Titan Perses and nymph Asteria from whom she received the powerfulness implicit heaven, earth, and sea. Hence, she bestowed wealthiness and each the blessings of regular life, according to Hesiod’s Theogony.

Hekate assisted Demeter successful her hunt for her girl Persephone erstwhile she was taken to Hades. Hecate guided her done the nighttime with flaming torches. After the mother-daughter reunion, Hecate became Persephone’s curate and companion successful Hades.

The goddess of magic was usually depicted successful past Greek vase coating arsenic holding duplicate torches. Sometimes, she was dressed successful a knee-length skirt and hunting boots, overmuch similar Artemis, the goddess of quality and hunting. In statues, Hecate was often depicted successful triple signifier arsenic a goddess of crossroads wherever she tin spot successful each directions.

Her sanction means “worker from afar” from the Greek word hekatos. The masculine signifier of the name, Hekatos, was a communal epithet of the deity Apollo.

Often depicted arsenic a priestess of Hecate is Medea, the girl of King Aeëtes of Colchis. In the story of Jason and the Argonauts, she employs her magic tricks to assistance Jason successful his hunt for the Golden Fleece. She aboriginal marries him, but yet kills their children.

Circe was a almighty sorceress and goddess with an exceptional endowment for mixing drugs. She was the beauteous girl of the prima deity Helios and the Oceanid Perseis, arsenic Hesiod wrote successful Theogony. Circe lived connected the wooded land of Aeaea, and for guards, she turned men into wolves and lions.

The magic powers of Circe appeared successful the past Greek epic poem Odyssey by Homer. When Odysseus arrived connected her land of Aeaea connected the mode backmost from the Trojan War, Circe transformed astir of his unit into pigs. She seduced Odysseus who lived with her for a twelvemonth and had sons by her, including Latinus and Telegonus. The leader yet persuaded her to alteration his men backmost to humans.

Magic successful mundane past Greece

Some individuals successful past Greek nine turned to magic due to the fact that religion successful the gods unsocial did not look enough. For contiguous results, they utilized goal-oriented rituals successful the content that the usage of magic would fulfill their desires and hopes, oregon their request to punish an force oregon wrongdoer.

Recent excavations and scholarly analyses of the Greek Magical Papyri uncover the beingness of immense sections of magical handbooks, successful which past professionals disclose elaborate recipes and prescriptions for a assortment of customary purposes.

Farmers utilized magic to bring rainfall and guarantee affluent harvests, portion others performed mystic rites to carnivore children oregon bring backmost a person who had abandoned them. Yet others had rituals to reconstruct wellness to an sick household member. Some wore amulets to support them from illness oregon danger.

For curse-making, the past Greeks utilized a unsocial signifier of hexing known arsenic the “binding spell.” Curses written connected pb tablets person been wide documented from arsenic aboriginal arsenic the 5th period BC, recovered successful the regions of Sicily, Attica, and the shores of the Black Sea.

The spells were usually carved connected tiny pieces of lead, folded up and pierced with a bronze oregon robust nail to beryllium buried with a corpse oregon successful the vicinity of chthonic cemeteries.

From the findings, it is unclear if these rituals were a signifier of accepted self-help successful hopeless times oregon were much commonly sought by employing a nonrecreational magician to execute the rites. They were often written arsenic letters addressed to underworld deities to summon them done curses.

The earliest surviving grounds for the enactment of a nonrecreational magician successful Greece dates to astir 400 BC with the find of 4 kolossoi (voodoo dolls) successful 2 chiseled graves connected the land of Paros, wherever each doll was punctured by 7 nails, enclosed wrong a pb container and carved with binding curses.

These curse tablets were often written arsenic letters addressed to underworld deities, indicating a inclination to summon gods and goddesses done curses.