Arae: The Curse Poetry of Antiquity (ARCA, Classical and Medieval Texts, Papers and Monographs 26) (Arca, 26)

A fundamental study of curses from a literary point of view. First the author differentiates the various types of curses found in ancient poetry; this is followed by a chronological examination of the curses, from archaic and classical Greece to Hellenistic and Roman times. The rich Hellenistic material is treated in particular detail, by placing it in its literary context and in relation to defixiones . Formally cursing one's enemies was a frequent activity in ancient life and literature. As a result, curse poetry evolved as a significant literary genre, particularly in the Hellenistic and Roman period. Ovid's Ibis is the most extensive example. Arae , Lindsay Watson's fundamental study of this literary phenomenon, first differentiates the various types of curse found in ancient poetry with an eye to real-life analogues. It next undertakes a chronologically based examination of poetic curses, starting with the archaic and classical Greek periods, and then moving on to hellenistic and Roman curse-poetry. The rich hellenistic material receives especially detailed treatment. The volume concludes first by placing hellenistic curse poetry in its literary context and then relating it to the defixiones , the 'curse-tablets' of antiquity.