Lecture 18: Necromancy Flashcards
what is necromancy
when you call upon the spirits of the dead to ask them about the future
who writes the first ancient greek necromancy and what it is called
it is written by homer in the oddessy
explain the necromancy in the odessy
odysseus is the man of many sorrows and he needs to talk to tiresias who is the goat prophet
circe is a god/witch and helps him by giving him very specific steps
they go to a liminal place and give libations (offerings) to the dead, they pray to hades and persephone and then talk to tiresias after all the other dead come first
did odysseus completely go into the underworld?
no, he got the dead to come up to him instead with offerings
comapre erictho’s necromancy to odysseus
odysseus actually gave sacrices and did this all in a respectful manner, whereas erictho tortued the man until he eventually gave in
why is odysseus necromancy different from an oracle
because odysseus is partaking in magic, he is doing this sneakly
oracle is religion and is accepted within society
why is necromancy magic and not religion
because you are actually communication with the dead and not just a divine spirit or homeric generation
what did julis africanus add to the oddessy’s story
he added more magical elements to it, stated that homers version did not actually show the magic
what is the kestoi
embroidered work by julius africanus
what did odyseus do in the kestoi for his necromancy
he apparently called upon the gods of many cultures that all are associated with the underworld and death
so it was not just peaceful with the sacrfice and blood, it was calling upon all these gods for his wish
why does julius africanus think that homers odessy shows no magic
he belives that there just HAD to be magic and that the people who first copied the text must have removed the magical elements from it
what are oracles of the dead
they are divinations form the gods and ways to talk to them
ex. the delphic oracle of apollo
are oracles of the dead magic or religion
they are religion as they are socially acceptable, but it is kind of a gray area with one foot in each realm
what does plutarch write in the moralia?
he writes about elysius, son of ethynous
what is the story about ethynous and his son elysius
euthynous goes to some oracle of the dead, and makes prelimary sacrifces (incubation, demon of son) and waits for the oracle from his son
the oracle said that his son was supposed to die and this was meant to happen, so he should just stop bothering him
what do they mean by demon of the son in the moralia
they are talking about your spirit/soul that gets released into the underworld and comes up
why does euthynous need to incubate for his sons oracalce
basically means to sleep on something, you sleep in a room and the oracle ghost will come tell you via a vision
comapre euthynous with asclepius and acsleopion
ascslepuis is the mortal son of apollo and he is the goat doctor who cures anything even death (except this is not allowed so the gods kill him)
then a cult called asclepion forms and they pray at the temple of asclepius which is esentially as healing sanctuary
there you preform that same incubation and wait for ascelius to come give you a cure
very similar to the euthynous oracle because you incubate
what are the similarities between euthynous and eluysius oracle and homer or erictho
only similarity is that you wait for the dead to come up to you
odysseus - offerings and they come
erictho - toruture until they beg to stop
what is plutarchs opinion on the oracles of the dead from his writing in the moralia
he does not like it, dead people should stay dead
explain the oracle of the dead with periander and melissa
periander is a greek tyrant and melissa is his dead wife
periander cannot find a large sum of missing money so he calls upon the oracle of his dead wife but she is restless dead and is super mad because he buried her naked and then had sex with her dead body
she wanted restitution with a proper burial that he didnt cheap out so periander got all the women of the town to bring all their expensive stuff and then when she was happy she gave him the info
what is nekumanteion
nek - dead
oracle of the dead
how does perianders necromancy compare to homers or ericthos
comapres to homer as they are asking nicely and giving the offerings that they want
nothing comapres to erictho she is just crazy and tortures
what is corpse reanimation
reanimating someone by supernatural means - this is not really religion and it is not socially authorized
