Dionusofontos Gamoi: Marital Life and Magic in Fourth Century Pella

Book info: Dionusofontos Gamoi: Marital Life and Magic in Fourth Century Pella (Paperback, 178 pages) – Brill, 1998. Language: English.

This study deals with an intriguing recent find from Pella, a lead tablet with a magical spell inscribed on it. The object itself is by no means uncommon in classical antiquity: it belongs to a well-known and widespread category of finds, documented in most regions of the ancient world and covering a very broad period, from the early 5th cent. BC to late antiquity. Besides being the first “curse tablet” discovered in Macedonia, the new text from Pella is very important because of its relatively early date, before the middle of the 4th century BC. It also presents the particular interest of being the first text from this region written in dialectical Greek. Furthermore, it is unusual among similar documents in that it describes at some length the intention and expectations of its author, and provides information on the situation from which it has arisen.