Presented as part of the ANU Centre for Classical Studies Seminar Series

The mystical power of the book as object derives from the value we assign to knowledge; certain books may have a talismanic function in that power is ascribed to the word in its physical form. As Caliban points out, the book, not the magician, is the locus of ritual power.

The Greek magical papyri from Roman Egypt preserve spells, amulets, and ritual instructions for dealing with everyday problems of living – commercial, romantic, and medical among others. This paper will discuss some of the ways in which these illuminate the particular dynamics of literacy with information transmitted through objects, rather than people, a technological change which caused anxiety in that it undermined traditional ideas of expertise in the ancient world. It will also discuss the ways in which their sophisticated use of paratextual aids (marginalia, formatting, abbreviation, supralineation, etc.) guide the user through ritual action and recitation, suggesting an active concern for exactitude in use and transmission. Such scribal interventions transfer the regulation of practice from the ritual practitioner to the ritual object itself.'

As usual, after the talk discussion will continue in the ANU Classics Museum over light refreshments.