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Greek Magic

Select Texts from the Byzantine Tradition and Beyond
Series: Graphai
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Brief Description
Greek Magic collects, edits, and translates a vast number of Greek magical texts—spells, incantations, and related elements incorporated in prayers—from over one hundred manuscripts that date from the tenth through the eighteenth centuries and often preserve much earlier works. The result gives us a new understanding... Read More
Format: Hardback
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Greek Magic showcases a vast number of Greek magical texts, from spells and incantations to related elements in prayers. Michael Zellmann-Rohrer illuminates the nature of belief, worship, and adaptation among Greek-speaking Christians and offers a spellbinding resource for understanding the social world of medieval Byzantium.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Greek Magic collects, edits, and translates a vast number of Greek magical texts—spells, incantations, and related elements incorporated in prayers—from over one hundred manuscripts that date from the tenth through the eighteenth centuries and often preserve much earlier works. The result gives us a new understanding of the nature of belief and worship among medieval Greek-speaking Christians and offers a spellbinding resource for understanding the social world of medieval Byzantium.

These spells bear fresh and direct witness to practical concerns of daily life: their users hoped to protect crops from pests, cure various ailments, catch thieves, and ease childbirth. The rituals in which they are embedded range from the mundane to the spectacular and bizarre. These rites and spells are not, however, relics of antiquity that have simply seeped into the world of medieval Christianity. Instead, they reveal how medieval Christians adapted and remixed practices and techniques from the past and from their neighbours into new and vibrant social practices—now made accessible to modern readers.

Series: Graphai

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  • Greek Magic
    Greek Magic collects, edits, and translates a vast number of Greek magical texts—spells, incantations, and related elements incorporated in prayers—from over one hundred manuscripts that date from the tenth through the eighteenth centuries and often preserve much earlier works. The result gives us a new understanding of the nature of belief and worship among medieval Greek-speaking Christians and offers a...
    Hardback
    Sold Out

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780884025177

Publisher: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 15 September 2026

Country: United States

Imprint: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library & Collection

Illustration: 411 illus.

Contributors:

  • Translated by Michael Zellmann-Rohrer
  • Edited by Michael Zellmann-Rohrer
  • Edited and translated by Michael Zellmann-Rohrer

Audience: General / adult, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Width: 203.0mm

Height: 254.0mm

Weight: 0g

Pages: 1056

Collections

European History History & Archaeology History & Military Non-Fiction Religion & Spirituality Series: Graphai

About the Author

Michael Zellmann-Rohrer is a Research Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin.

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