Curse Tablets and Greek Polis Religion
In modern science, the concept of 'polis religion' has developed into an important theoretical framework for the study of Greek religion in antiquity. In the absence of a church and dogma, the polis constituted the hub in the Greek religious network. Greek polis religion was the 'organizing principle' in distinguishing magic and religion. However, in the last decade, Network Theory and Social Network Analysis have increasingly occupied a prominent place in the study of Greek polis religion. Recent historians have used curse tablets as a case study to slice down the static model of Greek polis religion. The case study of binding spells puts a footnote to the static perception of the Greek polis system. In this essay, I have used Network Theory as a theoretical framework in a study of how the static concept of Greek polis religion has been influenced by the case study of curse tablets.
Curse Tablets and Greek Polis Religion: implications
The polis was the "fundamental framework", wherein Greek religion could function and operate. The main criticism of this model is that it would be to static and that it excludes certain other religious movements - which certainly didn’t occur in the margin. In this way the category of magic is excluded from the Greek religious network. The case study of the curse tablets, however, shows us that a clear distinction can’t be made. A binding spell is a curse that was used throughout the Greco-Roman world . Using a binding spell, anyone could ask the gods to harm another person. By means of this spell the person could be brought under someone’s control. The binding spells took shape on a curse tablet. These were lead sheets, in witch the desired curse was inscribed.
The categories of magic and religion relied on a common symbolic universe and the same theology. Magic rituals were in that sense not opposed to religion, they themselves had a religious nature. In the spread of magical rituals - such as curse tablets - the polis was a central aspect, not the religious system within this polis. The framework of Greek polis religion was necessary for the dissemination of curse tablets, in the sense that this magical ritual needed the spiritual world of the Greek polis religion in order to function at all. The fact that the spread of curse tablets partly took place through a 'High-Fidelity' network (in combination with a 'small world' network) shows that Greek religion within the context of the polis is more complex and dynamic than assumed in the model of Greek polis religion. The use of binding spells has also spread through social contacts within close social systems. So this tight clusters were part of the network of users of binding spells, but also lived within the context of official polis religion. If this had not been so, they could not have used curse tablets. The framework of Greek polis religion was indeed necessary in the use of curse tablets, the use of curse tablets relied partly on the symbolic universe of the official polis religion.
Conclusion
A network perspective on the dissemination of magical practices indicates that a clear distinction between the categories of magic and religion can’t be made. Users of binding spells were also part of the official polis network. By applying a network perspective on the spread of curse tablets I have tried to show that the polis system is static. With the case study of curse tablets, historians can do much more justice to the dynamic complexity of the Greek religious world and the Greek poleis.
References
Collar, A. ‘Network Theory and Religious Innovation’, Mediterranean Historical Review 22, p. 149-162.
Eidinow, E. ‘Networks and Narratives: A Model for Ancient Greek Religion’ in Kernos: Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique 24 (2011) p. 9 – 38.
Gager, J.G. (ed.) Curse tablets and binding spells, New York, 1992.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. ‘Further Aspects of Polis Religion’, in R. Buxton (ed.), Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, Oxford, 2000, p. 38-55.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. ‘What is Polis Religion?’, in R. Buxton (ed.), Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, Oxford, 2000, p. 13-37.
Eidinow, E. ‘Networks and Narratives: A Model for Ancient Greek Religion’ in Kernos: Revue internationale et pluridisciplinaire de religion grecque antique 24 (2011) p. 9 – 38.
Gager, J.G. (ed.) Curse tablets and binding spells, New York, 1992.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. ‘Further Aspects of Polis Religion’, in R. Buxton (ed.), Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, Oxford, 2000, p. 38-55.
Sourvinou-Inwood, C. ‘What is Polis Religion?’, in R. Buxton (ed.), Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, Oxford, 2000, p. 13-37.