CLASSICS 330 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Libanius
27 Feb 2018
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Document Summary
Leads us into the discussion of erotic and love magic. Agents meant that these statues, dolls, and figurines were a physical extension of an actual person or god; something that has. Agency ; something that has thought, motion, and the ability to act. Ancient culture attributes agency to things that we may not do in today"s culture. A man who hates theagenes goes to his statue and whips it. The statue falls on this man, killing him, and there is a murder trial held where the statue is the accused murderer. In antiquity, there was a special court for trying inanimate objects, like statues. After the court reached its verdict, the statue is thrown into the ocean (exiled). Disasters struck thasos until they removed the statue from the ocean. Something that has thought, motion, and the ability to act. People in antiquity know that statues and figurines are not actually real people, but believe they should be treated as such.
