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- Title
Patterns of Persecution: ‘Witchcraft’ Trials in Classical Athens*.
- Authors
Eidinow, Esther
- Abstract
The article discusses a series of legal trials of women in Athens, Greece in the 4th century BCE on charges of various supernatural activities that resemble later accusations of witchcraft in the Christian West. Topics discussed include the role of gossip and envy as social dynamics that may explain perceived supernatural events or exercise of magic, and comparisons of these phenomena in the ancient and more modern worlds. The women tried include Theoris of Lemnos, Ninon, and Phryne, and the charges include "pharmaka" (use of drugs or spells) and "asebeia" (impiety).
- Subjects
ATHENS (Greece); TRIALS (Witchcraft); SUPERNATURAL -- Social aspects; PERSECUTION; THEORIS, of Lemnos; NINON; PHRYNE; CLASSICAL Period, Greece, ca. 480 B.C.-323 B.C.; HISTORY
- Publication
Past & Present, 2010, Vol 208, Issue 1, p9
- ISSN
0031-2746
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/pastj/gtq001