A Woman Seeking to Attract the Love of Another Woman with a Spell

Abstract

Abstract work: “Greek Magical Papyri” is a contemporary label for an assortment of ancient spells, incantations, hymns, ritual prescriptions, and other materials preserved on papyrus in Egypt. The papyri themselves date primarily from the third and fourth centuries c.e., although the material they preserve may be of various dates. For a fascinating introduction to the modern discovery of these papyri, see Betz, below. Erotic spells are common in the papyri, although this is a rare example of a homoerotic spell. translation: E. N. O’Neil, in Hans Dieter Betz, ed., The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells, 2d ed. (Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1992), 266. text: PGM 32.1–19. bibliography: Bernadette J. Brooten, “ ‘Inflame Her Liver with Love’: Greek Erotic Spells from Egypt,” in Love between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), 73–113.