Magic Perfumes and Deadly Herbs
The Scent of Witches' Magic in Classical Literature
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13044802 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Britta Ager (0000-0002-8308-4320, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-34 |
| Publication date | 2019-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Preternature Critical and Historical Studies on the Preternatural (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2161-2188 • E-ISSN: 2161-2196 |
| Publisher | The Pennsylvania State University Press (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.5325/preternature.8.1.0001 |
| OpenAlex | W2950294450 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 51 |
The magic of Greek and Roman witches is often described as fragrant, or even as being itself a kind of scent. Classical descriptions of witchcraft thus echo ancient fears of women's perfumes and scented cosmetics, which were conventionally thought of as altering the minds of men, who could be seduced by sweet scents into doing things they would not willingly choose to do. Witches' spells similarly charm and confuse their targets, acting as more aggressive supernatural versions of ordinary women's scents, even as witches themselves were increasingly described as old, repulsive, and foul-smelling. Meanwhile, male magicians are largely inodorate in the fantastic literature of antiquity. Clarifying the links between ancient discourse on perfumes, gender, and magic offers new ways to read Greco-Roman fantastic literature
Art · Literature · MAGIC (telescope · Classical Antiquity Studies · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History
Which Magic? Which Eros? Apollonius' Argonautica and the Different Narrative Roles of Medea as a Sorceress in Love
Designing Women
Apollonius of Rhodes: Argonautica Book IV
Drunken Hags with Amulets and Prostitutes with Erotic Spells
Archaeology and the Senses
Witches, Disgust, and Anti-Abortion Propaganda in Imperial Rome
ONE. Invading the Roman Body
Woman in the Mirror
EIGHT. Pliny's Brassiere
Constructions of the Classical Body
A Cultural History of the Senses in Antiquity
Naming the Witch
Olfaction and transition
A Commentary on Apollonius Rhodius Argonautica III, 1-471
"A Commentary on Horace's "Epodes
Canidia Channels Medea
Canidia, Rome’s First Witch
Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius
The Path of the Argo
Medea
The Poet and the Procuress
A sociology of smell
Magic in the Ancient Greek World
The Plant Called Moly
The Cycle and Stagnation of Smells
Thelxis
Symbols and Sentiments
The Gardens of Adonis
The Odor of the Other
A Sensory Ecology of Medicinal Plant Therapy in Two Amazonian Societies
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |