Binding Magic In Ancient Greco-Modern Society

Magic and witchcraft has always fascinated human society; it dates to the beginning of human existence. It seems like the height of witchcraft and the believe in it seems to be in the ancient Greco-Roman era. They have many different stories of witchcraft and spells. Binding spells seemed to incredibly popular. Binding spells, or katadesmoi in Greek (Faraone 3), according to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, the earliest known binding spell is from Selinus in Siciliy, Circa 500 BC. The purpose of a binding spell was a “desired restraint or confusion of the victim” and is “often reflected in or induced using reversed, twisted, or humbled forms of writing, conventions, or imagery.” (Ogden 210) This bought up an interesting thought, how is a binding spell constructed? How does a binding spell effect the

At the court and before the judge, when they are to appear and to testify against me, that they cannot appear before a court of justice at all either in words or in deeds.” (Graf 122)

This is an example of a judicial spell because of the mention of court and wanting to do harm against Theagenes, who seems to be testifying against the person who created this binding spell. This spells is also an example of the direct binding formula, as it uses first person and states directly who the person wants to bind. However, it’s interesting that nowhere in the spell does it mention a deity or a god. This seems a little unusual since they are added in binding spells to make it more powerful. An example of a different type and style of binding spell would be one from Greece, it states

“Just as you, Theonnastos, have no power in your hands, feet, or body to do, organize lover… so too may Zoilos may Antheria stay powerless to have sex with Zoilos in the same way… Hermes too… the reciprocal affection and the bed and the chattering and the love of Antheira and Zoilos…” (Odgen