Profs and Pints Richmond presents: “Ancient Magic and Witchcraft,” on beliefs in supernatural powers in the Greece and Rome of antiquity, with Barbette Spaeth, professor emerita of classical studies at the College of William & Mary.
In the Greco-Roman world of the ancient Mediterranean existed people who practiced magic and witchcraft in much the same way that we think of it today. They wrote down and uttered spells, for both themselves and their clients, to curse enemies, force others to fall in love, prophesy the future, heal both physical and mental injuries, and even raise the dead. Belief in their powers was widespread.
Take a scholarly journal back to antiquity to learn who practiced magic, and how they did it, with Professor Barbette Spaeth, an expert on Greek and Roman religion who has extensively researched ancient magic and witchcraft and offered two courses on it.
Dr. Spaeth will discuss the evidence of ancient magical practices found in ancient Greek and Latin literature, inscriptions, and artifacts uncovered by archaeologists.
You’ll learn how ancient practitioners of magic could supposedly turn themselves into animals, be in two places at once, and force ghosts and demons to do their bidding. The tools they used in their work included plants and herbs, wands, lead tablets, and animal or human body parts.
While both women and men practiced magic, but there appears to have been marked differences in how they approached it. Men were considered "magicians" who learned their craft from books or consultations with divine beings and mainly practiced positive “white magic.” Women were more likely to be depicted practicing evil “black magic” that they learned from other female “witches” or through powers they’d come upon naturally.
Greek witches like Circe and Medea were seen as beautiful young women who did magic most commonly to help others, particularly their lovers. In contrast, Roman witches like Canidia and Erichtho, were portrayed as old ugly hags who used magic to harm others and ultimately to undermine the very foundations of the universe.
The state, particularly under the Roman Empire, tried to control the practice of magic, particularly the “black” form. The sanctions imposed on those convicted of practicing it included exile and execution. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. Talk starts 30 minutes later.)
Image: From the 1892 John William Waterhouse painting “Circe Invidiosa,” which depicts the witch Circe turning the beautiful maiden Scylla into a monster by pouring a magic potion into the waters where Scylla took her bath.