Academic literature on the topic 'Curse tablets / defixiones'

Summary The recently published curse tablets from the sanctuary of Magna Mater in Mainz, from the hero shrines of Opheltes and Palaimon, and from the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore, as well as a single curse tablet from late Roman Antioch invoking the “secret names” of the Samothracian deities, all suggest some connection between mystery religions and cursing. Two possible explanations are explored: (i) because initiates had special access to divine powers, their curses were thought to be especially powerful; or (ii) because these new discoveries fit two traditional types of defixiones: those placed in or at the graves of those violently killed, like Opheltes, or those placed in sanctuaries of female divinities, like Demeter, whose myths focus on the loss and return of a loved one from Hades.

When the Erinyes catch up with Orestes in Athens they find him clutching the archaic wooden statue of Athena and invoking her aid along with that of Apollo (Eum. 235 ff.). The Erinyes scorn his prayers and bid him hear their ‘binding song’: ὕμνον δ’ ἀκούσῃ τόνδε δέσμιον (306). Wecklein in his 1888 edition of the play remarked ‘erinnert an magische Künste’ and quoted Laws 933a, where Plato, discussing murder by poison, makes brief mention of the popular belief in sorcerers, incantations and binding spells (καταδέσεις). Subsequent commentators repeat Wecklein's brief note nearly verbatim and then elaborate it along two different lines, either claiming some vague Orphic source (Thomson 1938) or citing Wuensch's Defixionum Tabellae Atticae (Blass 1907; Groeneboom 1952). More recently, Lebeck argued that the ostensible title (‘binding song’) is incompatible with the actual content of the stasimon (Apollo's encroachment on the Erinyes’ power); she concluded that the title is irrelevant or at best only of secondary importance.’ Thus on the whole, this ὕμνος δέσμιος has been treated as a remnant of magical or chthonic lore too obscure to have any real bearing on our understanding of the immediate dramatic situation in Eumenides. I shall argue to the contrary that the song is closely related to a specific kind of curse tablet used to affect the outcome of law cases in Athens as early as the 5th century bc, and as such it is important to the dramatic context of a tragedy which depicts the mythical foundation of Athens’ first homicide court.

This paper falls into two main sections. The first deals with the defixio and its traditional definition as an example of so-called private inscriptions. Unlike public epigraphs, which were monumental, crafted by professionals, intended for display, and had (mainly) a commemorative function, defixiones (whether written by magoi or amateurs) are usually considered to be among Antiquity’s most private texts. Nevertheless, curse tablets and public inscriptions share a very important feature: both contained messages meant to endure. This specific feature brings us to the second section of this article, which discusses the influence of public inscriptions on curse tablets: to what extent are defixiones a reflection of monumental epigraphy? Aspects such as the ordinatio of the text, the media employed or the way they were displayed (even inside a tomb) are analyzed in this regard. In an attempt to answer these questions, three publicly displayed curse tablets are discussed in depth.

The central theme of this study is to analyse the idiosyncratic nature of the Romano-British interpretation of the use of defixiones and various 'prayers for justice'. The prevalence of revenge as a theme within this comparatively isolated Roman province is notable and clearly illustrates the regional interpretation that affected the implementation of this religious tradition. The Romano-British curse tablets were largely reactionary, seeking either justice or revenge for a previous wrong, which in turn affected the motivation that led to their production. This regional interpretation was quite different to their overall use on the continent, but even these examples frequently also exhibit some degree of local interpretation by their issuers.

La présente thèse a pour sujet la question du système des prépositions en latin vulgaire, ainsi que des morphèmes liés à ces dernières dans les langues indo-européennes (préverbes et préfixes). Notre objectif a été d’évaluer quelles ont pu être les spécificités relatives à l’emploi des prépositions (et des morphèmes connexes) dans la langue ordinaire, sur le plan sémasiologique comme onomasiologique. Est bâti pour ce faire le corpus le plus large possible de documents « autographes », c’est-à-dire de pièces portant une inscription directement réalisée par un latinophone (graffites, ostraca, tablettes de cire, defixiones, papyri documentaires), rédigés entre 1 et 395 p.C. La construction même de ce corpus et l’établissement d’une référenciation stable ont constitué un objectif secondaire de ce travail. La première partie établit les outils terminologiques nécessaires. Sont donc passées en revue toutes les théories relatives aux prépositions et à leur sémantisme depuis l’Antiquité, dans le but de souligner les manques et les imprécisions de la tradition terminologique. L’attention est ensuite portée sur le problème récurrent du « latin vulgaire », appellation nécessairement tolérée, même si elle demeure insatisfaisante et embarrassante. La question est spécifiquement posée au regard de la particularité du corpus, sur le plan matériel comme théorique. La notion « d’autographie » est en effet très floue, du fait de l’immixtion d’intermédiaires humains (comme les scribes, professionnels ou non), de la question de la « formularité » et des text types, et des problèmes complexes liés aux différentes formes de littératies à travers les provinces romaines. Cette partie se clôt sur les choix terminologiques et méthodologiques opérés, relativement au processus sous-jacent de collecte des données. La seconde partie présente les données. Celles-ci sont d’abord traitées sous l’angle quantitatif, avec prudence ; il s’agit d’abord d’établir quels sont les morphèmes encore en usage, quels sont ceux qui déclinent et quels sont ceux qui ont déjà disparu. Il s’agit également de comprendre quels écarts peuvent se manifester entre les données et nos attentes. On souligne ce faisant les différents processus de développement, en synchronie ou en diachronie, de certains morphèmes ou usages ; la notion de « préfixation pré-nominale », jusqu’ici peu envisagée dans les études latines, et ainsi étudiée. Le second chapitre de cette partie étudie ce matériel, sur un plan phonétique, morphosyntaxique et lexical. Il s’agit alors non seulement de découvrir les signes d’un possible renouvellement dans certaines zones de la langue (il est fait ici usage du concept de sermo castrensis, mais aussi de celui – encore peu envisagé – de sermo mercatorius) ; il s’agit en outre de comprendre pourquoi ce corpus manifeste une véritable résistance à l’égard des vulgarismes, et pourquoi l’on ne constate aucun véritable fossé entre la langue normée et celle du corpus.Le dernier chapitre se concentre sur le problème déjà ancien, mais complexe, de la chute des <-m> (et accessoirement, des <-s>) en latin vulgaire, et sur la conséquence de celle-ci au sein des groupes prépositionnels. Ce problème a une histoire (depuis Diehl), qui est rappelée afin d’expliquer comment se mélangent ici les niveaux graphiques, phonologiques et grammaticaux. Il s’agit de comprendre dans quels cas la disparition de <-m> peut être attribuée à une pure convention graphique, dans quels cas elle est relative à l’analphabétisme ou à la faible littératie des scripteurs, et dans quels cas elle constitue effectivement le premier signe (mesuré) d’un effondrement des systèmes flexionnels, dans une perspective romane. Ce chapitre s’interroge ine fine sur la capacité des locuteurs semi-lettrés, à un moment de la diachronie, à faire usage d’un « système polymorphique » (Banniard), et à choisir ainsi, bien qu’ils fussent relativement conscients des règles morphologiques, de marquer ou non le cas accusatif
In this thesis, we deal with the question of prepositional systems in Vulgar Latin, and the linguistic material wih which it is usually associated, in indo-european languages, i.e. preverbs and prefixes. Our work aims to evaluate how specific usages of prepositions (and related material) in colloquial speech may have been, in both semasiological and onomasiological ways. For this purpose, we draw on the largest corpus of « Autographical » documents, i.e. directly inscribed artifacts, such as graffiti, ostraca, wax tablets, defixiones, documentary papyri, etc., from 1 to 395 a.D. Moreover, as a second objective ot the dissertation, we set up a fully-ordered and well-referenced corpus of our archaeological material.The first part of the thesis tries to lay the methodological tools of such the said design. Theories of prepositions and prepositional meanings from Antiquity to present reviewed are reviewed, in order to understand the lack and fuziness of inherited terminological displays. We then consider the customary problem of utilising and defining the terme « Vulgar latin » (which we tolerate, as embarrassing and unsatisfying as it is) and most specifically the peculiarity of our corpus, in a theorical and practical ways : « autography » is indeed a messy concept, due to the involvement of human go-betweens (like professional or casual scribes), the question of formularity and « text types », and the complex pattern of literacy, throughout the Roman provinces. This chapter ends with terminological and methodological choices, referring to the undergoing process of the data report.In second part of the thesis we lay out the data itself. We first deal with this data quantitativly by cautiously using statistical approaches, we try to establish which morphemes were still in use, recessing, or had already disappeared. Furthermore, we examine what kind of discrepancies could arrise between our expectation and the data. We stress, by doing so, the synchonical and diachronical expansions of certain morphemes or usages, and more specifically the question of « Pre-nominal prefixation », on which little has yet been written in classical tradition. The second part of this chapter studies the dynamics of our material phonetically, morphosyntaxically and lexically. Not only do we try to catch sight of linguistic renewals in some areas of language (dealing with the concept of sermo castrensis, or the yet unexplored sermo mercatorius), but also the evidence of a structural dragging into vulgarisms and linguistical changes in our corpus, questioning the lack of an expected « gap » between litterary standards and the language that our documents are using.The third part of our thesis deals with the very well known but very intricate problem of falling /-m/ (and, casually, falling /-s/) in Vulgar Latin, and their consequences in the prepositionnal phrases. The problem’s history (from Diehl’s work) shows up, explaining the entanglement of graphical, phonological and grammatical levels in such an inquiry. We then try to establish which part of the disappearing <-m>, in prepositional phrases, could be assigned to graphical convention, which part goes to real illiteracy (or « low-level literacy ») and which part shows the evidence for a real (but limited) starting point toward a future collapse of nominal flection, from a romance perspective. We conclude this chapter by questioning the ability of semi-literate latin-speakers, at some point of the diachronic evolution of latin language, to deal with « polymorphic » systems (as proposed by Banniard), who ware quite aware of morphological rules but choosing to mark or not mark or to omit the accusative case