Night's black agents: witches, wizards, and the dead in the ancient world

The Ghost of Sychaeus: At length, in dead of night, the ghost appears Of her unhappy lord: the specter stares, And, with erected eyes, his bloody bosom bares. The cruel altars and his fate he tells— The Aeneid The literature of classical antiquity bristles with witches, ghosts, magic books, curses, voodoo-dolls, and other fiendish monsters. This book covers the literature of both Greek and Roman cultures over a period of more than a thousand years, through the advent of Christianity. Although classical culture was conservative, especially in regards to ghosts and witches which were strongly bound up in folklore, such tales preserve and conserve ideas about ghosts and witchcraft, and they survive to achieve this effect precisely because they are wonderfully engaging. Consequently, and also because they have directly and indirectly shaped our own culture's lore of magic and ghosts, these tales speak to us today still with a great directness and immediacy. In Night's Black Agents , Ogden uncovers the ancient foundations of the supernatural stories that have endured for generations. "Night's Black Agents offers an introduction to the world of witches and wizards in Greek and Roman antiquity, and to the ghosts of the dead that were often associated with them. In its pages Daniel Ogden introduces us to the ancient equivalents, and often the actual prototypes, of the cherished ingredients of the modern horror movie. The central focus is the stories that the ancients loved to tell each other about magical adventures, tales of a deeply traditional nature and with strong affinities to folktale. And this is why these tales, which made the world of magic a real and immediate one for the ancients, retain the power to captivate and engage us still today."--Jacket Covers a period that witnessed historical and cultural changes, including the advent of Christianity.