IV. impers. c. acc., there is . . (as in Mod. Gr.), “ἔχει δὲ φυλακτήριον πρὸς τὸ μή σε καταπεσεῖν” PMag.Par.1.2505, cf. 1262, 1840.
this is an entry from LS. Can I access PMag.Par.1.2505, cf. 1262, 1840. online and what exactly is it? An edition of papyri?
This is what I found in a list of abreviattions of the LSJ. PMag. is for Papyri Graecae Magicae, for Preisendanz’s editions, while PMag.Par.1, 2 = C. Wessely, Wiener Denkschr. xxxvi (2) (1888) pp. 44-126, pp. 139-148; partly in A. Dieterich, Eine Mithras- liturgie, Leipzig 1903, pp. 1 ff., and A. Deissmann, Light from the Ancient East,London 1919, pp. 258 ff. ( = PMag.4, 3).
After much, much searching, I believe I’ve found at least the Trismegistos number: https://papyri.info/dclp/64343
This corresponds to the pages in this (2505 = line number); and this apparently contains the text in Greek.
This is also quite probably the manuscript in question
Yes that’s it. There are hundreds of these prayers/spells. They’re very dispiriting, for the most part, and leave a very sour taste in the mouth.
But one or two of them are quite fun. The user instructions for this one carry a warning label: μὴ οὖν εὐχερῶς πράσσῃς, εἰ μὴ ἀνάγκη σοι γένηται. ἔχει δὲ φυλακτήριον πρὸς τὸ μή σε καταπεσεῖν· εἴωθεν γὰρ ἡ θεὸς τοὺς ἀφυλακτηριαστοὺς τοῦτο πράσσοντας ἀερο<ρι>φεῖς ποιεῖν καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕψους ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν ῥῖψαι. (“Don’t do it heedlessly, unless you have to. But it has a safeguard against your falling down—for the goddess has a habit of tossing into the air those who do this unsafeguarded and hurling them from on high to earth.”)
Could almost be Hogwarts!
Whether this use of εχει merits being a separate item in LSJ (ἔχω Α.IV) is open to question. And what Constantinus Philo aims to get out of it I can’t imagine.
no its not exo, actually im into all kinds of spells and the occult,
and i like this word phylacterion i bet it could possibly mean talisman, thank you ever so much
You’d have seen φυλακτήριον before if you had followed my Random Greek Passages thread.
i have not found it
There’s nothing remarkable about the word φυλακτήριον (cf. e.g. Socrates’ φροντιστήριον in the Clouds), which in this sort of context would normally be an amulet. ἀφυλακτηριαστος is a far more interesting vocabulary item, as is αερο⟨ρι⟩φής (if correct).
Have managed to find the full thing (see here) on the manuscript images.
Folio 27 verso (27v), lines 8-54, continuing on folio 28 recto (28r), lines 1-23. The phrase in question is on folio 28r, lines 16-17:
ἀεροφ<ερ>εῖς is better I think. I see it’s the reading given in the blog linked to by S Walch.
Here’s a tip for next time you go to a party looking for trouble:
ἐν συ̣[μ]ποσίῳ μάχ̣ην γενέσθαι· κυνόδηκτον λίθον βά̣λε <ε>ἰς τὸ μέσον. [from P.CtYBR Inv. 1206(col. vi)]
it looks like a fragment, so how do you translate it? Throw a dog-bitten stone in the middle when? a fight happens at a symposium. on what does the acc cum inf depend here?
It’s a complete spell/recipe. Inf of purpose: “in order for there to be a fight…”, formulaic for these sorts of texts.
Easier to procure than a golden apple, maybe. The κυνόδηκτος λίθος seems like obvious sympathetic magic that could work anywhere, but the setting of the spell seems chosen particularly to copy the myth. I suppose that makes it technically sympathetic too.
Must not the inf. of purpose be used only after something, like in Smyth 2008ff.?
ok sorry, i got it
It seems to have been a common enough superstition for Manuel Philes to have nearly the same.
Οἴνῳ δὲ κυνόδηκτον ὁ κρύψας λίθον
στάσιν πονηρὰν ἐξεγείρει τοῖς φίλοις.
But rolling it like Eris into the room does seem like the superior thaumatology.
Οἴνῳ δὲ κυνόδηκτον ὁ κρύψας λίθον
στάσιν πονηρὰν ἐξεγείρει τοῖς φίλοις.
Who hides a dog-bitten stone in wine awakens a bitter discord among friends.