Ancient Greek Magic

The Greeks have a legacy in many areas of Modern Western culture- from Politics, to theatre, to philosophy and medicine. And of course- Magic, as it is from the Greeks that we get the word ‘Magic.’ Their stories are absolutely suffused with Magic, Gods and sorcerous characters, adding much to their mythical culture; The Greeks lived in a Magical world of Gods, Myths and the restless Dead. In this Episode of WMiT? Doug and his guest Eva go through some of the ways that the Greeks used Magic and how it is very familiar in many ways.

Show Notes

• The Classical World: An Epic History from Homer To Hadrian by Robin Lane Fox – Perhaps my favourite book to get up to speed on Greek history and culture. And the Romans as well, why the hell not? A Must Read not just for Magicians, but anyone with a pulse
• Ancient Greece in 18 Minutes
• Getting Started on the Greeks – A fantastic visual tasting menu! This gets a big thumbs up from me
• Storytelling in The Odyssey
• Magic & Magicians in the Greco-Roman World by Matthew Dickie
• Magic in Ancient Greece: Necromancy, Curses, Love Spells, and Oracles
• Iatromantis
• Mythos and Stories as Methods of Practice as well as Ritual and Divination as Reliving Myth from Sam Block are fantastic. Sam takes his Greek Magic seriously and is an excellent resource
• Astrology in Greek and Roman Culture
• The Necromancy of Homer – The Odyssey Chapter 11 Summary
• Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden – Fantastic resource
• Greek and Roman Necromancy by Daniel Ogden – Daniel is such a fantastic scholar of this kind of thing. This is one of my favs
• Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World by Radcliffe G. Edmonds III
• Magika Hiera: Ancient Greek Magic and Religion
• Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Georg Luck
• Restless Dead: Encounters between the Living and the Dead in Ancient Greece by Sarah Iles Johnson – I think this is such an amazing book
• The Shaft Graves of Mycenae
• The Kings of Midea and the Cemetery of Dendra
• Lay That Ghost: Necromancy in Ancient Greece and Rome
• Goêteia: Explorations in Chthonic Sorcery
• Geosophia: The Argo of Magic by Jake Stratton-Kent – A complicated Masterpiece. Essential reading at some point as it is certainly not the first book on Magic you should read through though
• Review of Geosophia by Dan Harms as well as a Follow-up response
• Goetic Pharmakos by Jake Stratton-Kent and Jaimie Alexzander – Interesting little booklet that I use constantly
• Goetic Divination by Jake Stratton-Kent
• Peter Kinglsey’s Books – If you are more fascinated by the Esoteric Philosophy of Greece, Peter is your guy
• Magic in the Ancient Greek World by Derek Collins
• The Sacred & The Profane: The Nature of Religion by Mircea Eliade – Must Read Book
• A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong – Short and oh so sweet
• The Mighty Dead: Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicolson – Awesome Book
• Circe by Madeline Miller – An absolute joy to read. The audiobook is a favourite

Music in this episode by Stefan Hagel, who is a master of Ancient Instruments