Use this URL to cite or link to this record in EThOS: https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.681781
Title: Recipes for love : a semiotic analysis of the tools in the erotic magical papyri
Author: Evans, Luke Aaron Ralph
ISNI:       0000 0004 5921 5647
Awarding Body: Durham University
Current Institution: Durham University
Date of Award: 2016
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Abstract:
This thesis is a semiotic analysis of the tools instructed for application by the erotic magical papyri (EMP). Erotic magic, one of the largest categories instructed by the Papyri Graecae Magicae (PGM), is performed to establish or reinforce a relationship with an erotic nature. The performance of erotic magic is reliant on the incorporation of a broad variety of ritual practices, including, for example, necromancy, binding, divination, and sacrificial ceremonies. The tools have been defined as the physical substances, materials, and objects that are instructed for application by the PGM for the performance of erotic magic. Any analysis of the PGM will immediately notice that the manipulation of physical tools is ever-present and, as a consequence, the image portrayed of the magician is one of a tool-wielding practitioner. This statement can lead logically to the conclusion that the power of the rituals instructed by the EMP did not reside within the individual but in the manipulation of tools in the proper manner. As a consequence, to understand magic and how it was performed, it is essential to understand the instructions for the manipulation of tools. The main objective of this thesis is to discover, through the application of semiotics, if there was any rationale to the application of a tool and, if there was meaning, did this rationale correlate directly to the outcome of the erotic spells instructed by the PGM.
Supervisor: Not available Sponsor: Not available
Qualification Name: Thesis (Ph.D.) Qualification Level: Doctoral
EThOS ID: uk.bl.ethos.681781  DOI: Not available
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