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How Magic And Witchcraft In Ancient Greece And How Has It Changed Today

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Magic and witchcraft in Ancient Greece:
What is it and how has it changed today?

Alyssa Hoffman
Clas203: Civilization in Ancient Greece
Dr. Micheelsen
March 30, 2023

We today see magic as a fantastical concept and as something that could never really be real or work. The words witch and witchcraft have gained negative connotations in our modern world. The Ancient Greeks believed magic was a part of their everyday lives, and they were a lot more connected to it than we are today. Magic for them was very interconnected with their religion, and medicine. Whereas we have strong distinctions between magic, religion, and medicine. “Magic is the interaction between us and the supernatural, demons, gods, spirits.” Not only do we nowadays …show more content…

Amulets could have two different purposes, first was for protection and the second was for good luck. There is a gold amulet that I found a picture of on the world history encyclopedia webpage that invokes the god Apollo for assistance and luck in battle, it was from either Euboia or Knidos, 6th century BCE. This was one instance of a good luck amulet. Protection amulets were often purchased for children when they were born. Some protection amulets are for general protection while others were specialized for either specific diseases or even curses that might be put upon the wearer. One of the most prominent types of protection magic that was invoked was apotropaic magic. Apotropaic literally translates to turned from, or can also be prevention, it is in reference to evil. So it turns evil away or essentially protects from evil. The most common apotropaic symbol in ancient Greece was male genitalia. They believed that it was the source of life, so it must be good luck. Young boys would wear amulets of this until they were fully matured because they then had their own they did not need the amulet anymore. Apotropaic magic could have been found everywhere back in ancient Greece, and that is one thing that if people do not understand, would cause them to be uncomfortable with everything. We actually still have and use one of their pieces of apotropaic magic. It comes in the form of a hand gesture. Giving someone the …show more content…

“Magic in Ancient Greece.” World History Encyclopedia, 2016. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/926/magic-in-ancient-greece/
Edmonds, Radcliffe G. “Drawing Down the Moon: Defining Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World.” In Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World, 1–34. Princeton University Press, 2019. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv80ccvj.6.
Homer. n.d. Odyssey. Perseus Digital Library, 10.208-260, Accessed March 29, 2023. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D208
Hornblower, Simon, Antony Spawforth, and Esther Eidinow. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
Micheelsen, Lisa. Clas203: Civilization in Ancient Greece. Lecture, at Concordia University of Edmonton, Edmonton, AB, Winter, 2023.
Micheelsen, Lisa. Clas205: Ancient Roman Civilization. Lecture, at Concordia University of Edmonton, Edmonton, AB, Winter, 2023.
Gct, and Athens Bureau. 2020. “Ancient 'Curse Tablets' Discovered down a 2,500-Year-Old Well in Athens.” Greek City Times. February 6, 2020.

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