Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook - Tapa dura

... an extraordinary rich anthology of ancient texts ... All the sources are carefully introduced and annotated, and there is a rich thematic bibliography worth the price of the collection. (International Review of Biblical Studies)

In a culture where the supernatural possessed an imediacy now strange to us, magic was of great importance both in the literary mythic tradition and in ritual practice. Recently, ancient magic has hit a high of popularity, both as an area of scholarly inquiry and as one of general interest. In Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds Daniel Ogden presents three hundred texts in new translations, along with brief but explicit commentaries. Authors include the well known ( Sophocles, Herodotus, Plato , Aristotle, Virgil, Pliny ) and the less familiar, and extend across the whole of Graeco - Roman antiquity.