Even today, horoscopes line the back pages of newspapers, fortune tellers set up shop on every corner, and many of us still avoid walking under ladders – just in case. The ancient Greeks were just as superstitious, if not more so, and they left behind a treasure trove of writings and artifacts that show how magic and superstition seeped into everyday life. Here are 10 surprising facts that illuminate the spell‑bound side of classical Greece.
10 Surprising Facts About Greek Magic
10 Necromancy
Necromancy, the art of summoning the dead to divine the future or to enlist their aid in magical schemes, was publicly condemned yet privately tolerated in ancient Greece. Citizens decried the practice in the marketplace while quietly consulting the departed behind closed doors.
The evidence for Greek necromancy is abundant. One of the earliest literary attestations appears in Homer’s Odyssey, where Odysseus performs a complex rite involving sacrifices, prayers, and offerings to call forth spirits. Plato later expresses skepticism, while Herodotus records a ritual on the river Acheron where Periander’s envoy seeks counsel from the dead.
Material proof comes from countless inscribed curse tablets—often placed in graves alongside figurines—pleading with departed souls for assistance. These tablets provide a vivid snapshot of how the living appealed to the dead for personal gain.
9 Superstition And Mathematics
The square root of 2, an irrational number that cannot be expressed as a simple fraction, sent shockwaves through the Pythagorean brotherhood. For them, mathematics was a sacred bridge to cosmic harmony, and discovering an “irrational” undermined their mystical worldview.
When a member leaked this unsettling fact beyond the cloister, the Pythagoreans silenced him by drowning him in deep waters. Some scholars view him as an early martyr for science, but the true motive was likely the threat his discovery posed to the sect’s religious dogma.
8 Concoctions
Ancient Greek recipe books were filled with strange concoctions, ranging from the downright ridiculous to the eerily practical. These potions often served mischievous purposes, reflecting a culture that loved a good prank as much as a serious spell.
To force a woman into uncontrollable flatulence, the recipe instructed: “Gather hairs from a donkey’s rear, burn them, grind the ash, and mix it into a drink for the unsuspecting lady.”
For those craving invisibility, the formula read: “Engrave a quail on an onyx stone, place a sea perch at its feet, embed lamp‑oil residue beneath the stone, then smear the resulting mixture on your face. No one will see you or your deeds.”
And to compel a woman to reveal the name of her secret lover, the instructions said: “Lay a bird’s tongue beneath her lips or on her heart, ask the question, and she will utter the name three times.”
7 A Living Goddess
Peisistratos, the sixth‑century BC tyrant of Athens, once staged a theatrical coup by presenting a tall, beautiful peasant girl as the living embodiment of Athena. He dressed her in armor, placed her in a chariot, and rode beside her as heralds proclaimed the goddess’s arrival.
The ruse worked like a charm: Athenians, believing the goddess herself was returning to restore order, welcomed Peisistratos back into power. This clever blend of politics and myth showcases how deeply the Greeks intertwined divine symbolism with real‑world ambition.
6 Animal Sacrifices
While oxen, goats, and sheep were the staples of Greek sacrificial rites, the Greeks occasionally opted for more unconventional offerings. Plutarch notes that Spartans once sacrificed puppies to honor the war god Enyalius, a stark contrast to the usual livestock.
After the pivotal Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, the Athenians vowed to sacrifice a goat for every enemy slain. Xenophon records that the tally reached 6,400, far outstripping the supply of goats. To resolve the shortage, the Athenians instituted an annual ritual of offering 500 goats to Artemis— a tradition that persisted for at least a century, according to Xenophon’s account.
5 Amulets
Amulets held a special place in Greek daily life, especially among farmers who feared the caprices of weather and harvest. Wearing a talisman around the neck or wrist was thought to coax rain, safeguard against thieves, bring good luck, act as contraception, attract lovers, or shield the wearer from hostile spells.
These charms often featured curious shapes believed to amplify their power: Egyptian crabs, obscene hand gestures, phallic symbols, watchful eyes, and even vulvas. Each odd design carried its own specific protective or beneficial property.
4 Magic Spells
Numerous inscribed tablets across Greece bear witness to a thriving market for magic spells. Many of these spells were tied to medical practice—some aimed to hasten recovery, others to boost the potency of medicines, and a few to poison or harm rivals.
While spoken aloud, the Greeks believed the efficacy of a spell increased when accompanied by specific actions: carving the words, drawing images of humans, beasts, demons, or mystic symbols. Thessaly, in particular, earned a reputation as a hub of witchcraft.
Literary sources describe professional Thessalian witches who sold custom‑crafted spells. In Aristophanes’ comedy, the character Strepsiades contemplates hiring such a witch to trap the Moon, hoping that a lunar disappearance would halt his mounting debts.
3 Oracles
Greek oracles could refer either to the prophetic statements themselves—often delivered through a deity’s intermediary—or to the sacred sites where those pronouncements were made. Queries ranged from simple “yes” or “no” answers to cryptic, ambiguous riddles.
The sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona in Epirus stands among the oldest such sites. In the fifth century BC, priestesses uttered responses on behalf of Zeus, inscribing the questions on lead tablets. Today, around eighty of these tablets survive, housed in the museum at Ioannina.
Examples include: “Lysanias asks Zeus and Dione whether he is the father of the boy borne by Annyla,” and “Cleoutas asks Zeus and Dione if it is profitable and beneficial for him to graze sheep.”
2 Astrology
Astrology swayed Greek thought in two major ways: by asserting that planetary motions inexorably shaped human destiny, and by offering personality profiles based on the celestial configuration at birth.
Many astrological treatises survive, among them the works of Vettius Valens (2nd century BC). In his Astrological Anthologies, Valens paints a grim picture of zodiac signs. He declares that those born under Taurus endure “pain in the nostrils, broken limbs, throat tumors, sciatica, and abscesses,” while Capricorns are “wicked, inconsistent, prone to mistakes, fickle, criminal, dishonest, censorious, and disgusting.”
1 Dreams
The belief that dreams could foretell the future permeated ancient Greek culture. The diviner Artemidorus compiled the extensive work Interpretation of Dreams, which links nightly visions to elaborate symbolic meanings, often employing numerical word games.
For instance, he writes: “Seeing a weasel in a dream signifies an evil and tricky woman and a lawsuit, because the Greek words for ‘weasel’ and ‘lawsuit’ are isopsephic— they share the same numerical value.”
Another example: “Seeing an old woman foretells death for a sick person, since the words ‘old woman’ and ‘the funeral’ both total 704 in isopsephic calculation, making the old woman a stand‑in for a funeral.”