Lecture 18: Necromancy

Question 1

what is necromancy

Answer 1

when you call upon the spirits of the dead to ask them about the future

Question 2

who writes the first ancient greek necromancy and what it is called

Answer 2

it is written by homer in the oddessy

Question 3

explain the necromancy in the odessy

Answer 3

odysseus is the man of many sorrows and he needs to talk to tiresias who is the goat prophet

circe is a god/witch and helps him by giving him very specific steps

they go to a liminal place and give libations (offerings) to the dead, they pray to hades and persephone and then talk to tiresias after all the other dead come first

Question 4

did odysseus completely go into the underworld?

Answer 4

no, he got the dead to come up to him instead with offerings

Question 5

comapre erictho’s necromancy to odysseus

Answer 5

odysseus actually gave sacrices and did this all in a respectful manner, whereas erictho tortued the man until he eventually gave in

Question 6

why is odysseus necromancy different from an oracle

Answer 6

because odysseus is partaking in magic, he is doing this sneakly

oracle is religion and is accepted within society

Question 7

why is necromancy magic and not religion

Answer 7

because you are actually communication with the dead and not just a divine spirit or homeric generation

Question 8

what did julis africanus add to the oddessy’s story

Answer 8

he added more magical elements to it, stated that homers version did not actually show the magic

Question 9

what is the kestoi

Answer 9

embroidered work by julius africanus

Question 10

what did odyseus do in the kestoi for his necromancy

Answer 10

he apparently called upon the gods of many cultures that all are associated with the underworld and death

so it was not just peaceful with the sacrfice and blood, it was calling upon all these gods for his wish

Question 11

why does julius africanus think that homers odessy shows no magic

Answer 11

he belives that there just HAD to be magic and that the people who first copied the text must have removed the magical elements from it

Question 12

what are oracles of the dead

Answer 12

they are divinations form the gods and ways to talk to them

ex. the delphic oracle of apollo

Question 13

are oracles of the dead magic or religion

Answer 13

they are religion as they are socially acceptable, but it is kind of a gray area with one foot in each realm

Question 14

what does plutarch write in the moralia?

Answer 14

he writes about elysius, son of ethynous

Question 15

what is the story about ethynous and his son elysius

Answer 15

euthynous goes to some oracle of the dead, and makes prelimary sacrifces (incubation, demon of son) and waits for the oracle from his son

the oracle said that his son was supposed to die and this was meant to happen, so he should just stop bothering him

Question 16

what do they mean by demon of the son in the moralia

Answer 16

they are talking about your spirit/soul that gets released into the underworld and comes up

Question 17

why does euthynous need to incubate for his sons oracalce

Answer 17

basically means to sleep on something, you sleep in a room and the oracle ghost will come tell you via a vision

Question 18

comapre euthynous with asclepius and acsleopion

Answer 18

ascslepuis is the mortal son of apollo and he is the goat doctor who cures anything even death (except this is not allowed so the gods kill him)

then a cult called asclepion forms and they pray at the temple of asclepius which is esentially as healing sanctuary

there you preform that same incubation and wait for ascelius to come give you a cure

very similar to the euthynous oracle because you incubate

Question 19

what are the similarities between euthynous and eluysius oracle and homer or erictho

Answer 19

only similarity is that you wait for the dead to come up to you

odysseus - offerings and they come
erictho - toruture until they beg to stop

Question 20

what is plutarchs opinion on the oracles of the dead from his writing in the moralia

Answer 20

he does not like it, dead people should stay dead

Question 21

explain the oracle of the dead with periander and melissa

Answer 21

periander is a greek tyrant and melissa is his dead wife

periander cannot find a large sum of missing money so he calls upon the oracle of his dead wife but she is restless dead and is super mad because he buried her naked and then had sex with her dead body

she wanted restitution with a proper burial that he didnt cheap out so periander got all the women of the town to bring all their expensive stuff and then when she was happy she gave him the info

Question 22

what is nekumanteion

Answer 22

nek - dead

oracle of the dead

Question 23

how does perianders necromancy compare to homers or ericthos

Answer 23

comapres to homer as they are asking nicely and giving the offerings that they want

nothing comapres to erictho she is just crazy and tortures

Question 24

what is corpse reanimation

Answer 24

reanimating someone by supernatural means - this is not really religion and it is not socially authorized

Question 25

what are the steps to corpse reanimation in the widow of bessa

Answer 25

do all the libations and steps with fire and stuff and then the son becomes reanimated

the son is very mad and tells his mom that this is unacceptable and that it is against the laws and she needs to let him rest

he says that people are watching what you are doing and that eventually you will get arrested

Question 26

what is the difference between corpse reanimation and oracles of the dead

Answer 26

prophets derive their divination from lawful sacrifices and pure prayers and not circling around corpses

Question 27

what is psychomanteia

Answer 27

an escort to the underworld

ex. hermes brings down souls

Question 28

what is psychopompeia

Answer 28

divination via dead souls