CLASSICS 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Sulis, Hellenistic Greece, Greek Magical Papyri
Document Summary
Lecture 6: the greek magical papyri (papyri graecae magicae) Fragments of spellbooks in greek and demotic egyptian (some are bilingual) Draw on both greek and egyptian (and later, roman, jewish, christian, and other) traditions. These books are made by either professionals or highly dedicated amateurs. There are a lot of elements involved in these spells; they are elaborate. Need time, knowledge (people need to be educated), money, literate. Those who make these/use these spells are typically well-off. These spell books are actual excavated objects, not translations or copies. Ancient paper is made from these plants to make papyrus. Papyrus plant has a sticky sap that helps with the creation of the paper, but dries and hardens to make the papyrus more sturdy and strong (easier to preserve). Codex book (normal book we use today) was a more modern invention. A different physical, visual form from what we are used to today.
