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The study of magic in the Greco-Roman world is a branch of the disciplines of classics, ancient history and religious studies. In the ancient post-hellenistic world of the Greeks and Romans (the Greco-Roman world), the public and private rituals associated with religion are accepted by historians and archaeologists to have been a part of everyday life. Examples of this phenomenon are found in the various state and cult Temples, Jewish Synagogues and in the early Christian cathedrals and churches. These were important hubs for the ancient peoples of the Greco-Roman world that were representative of a connection between the heavenly realms (the divine) and the earthly planes (the dwelling place of humanity). This context of magic has become an academic study especially in the last twenty years. Authors William Swatos and Peter Kivisto define Magic as ==Terminology== The principal defining factor of magic in the classical world is that it was held in low esteem and condemned by speakers and writers. According to Robert Parker, "magic differs from religion as weeds differ from flowers, merely by negative social evaluation"; magic was often seen as consisting of practices that range from silly superstition to the wicked and dangerous. However, magic seems to have borrowed from religion, adopting religious ceremonies and divine names, and the two are sometimes difficult to clearly distinguish.〔 Magic is often differentiated from religion in that it is manipulative rather than supplicatory of the deities; this is not a hard and fast rule, though, and with many ritual acts it is difficult to tell whether they are coercive or supplicatory. Also, some mainstream religious rites openly set out to constrain the gods.〔 Other rough criteria sometimes used to distinguish magic from religion include: that it is aimed at selfish or immoral ends; and that it is conducted in secrecy, often for a paying client. Religious rites, on the other hand, are more often aimed at lofty goals such as salvation or rebirth, and are conducted in the open for the benefit of the community or a group of followers.〔 Alongside the more common manifestations of state religion, ancient peoples sought individual contact and assistance, along with influence, with the heavenly realms through other channels. Religious ritual had the intended purpose of giving a god their just due honor, or asking for divine intervention and favor, while magic is seen as practiced by those who seek only power, and often undertaken based on a false scientific basis.〔 Ultimately, the practice of magic includes rites that do not play a part in worship, and are ultimately irreligious. Associations with this term tend to be an evolving process in ancient literature, but generally speaking ancient magic reflects aspects of broader religious traditions in the Mediterranean world, that is, a belief in magic reflects a belief in deities, divination, and words of power. The concept of magic however came to represent a more coherent and self-reflective tradition exemplified by magicians seeking to fuse varying non-traditional elements of Greco-Roman religious practice into something specifically called magic. This fusing of practices reached its peak in the world of the Roman Empire, in the 3rd to 5th centuries CE. This article therefore covers the development of this tradition and an evolving definition associated with the term "magic" in the texts left to us by practitioners and authors of the ancient Greco-Roman world. Via Latin ''magicus'', the word "magic" derives from Greek ''magikos'', with "magic" being the art and craft of the ''magos'', the Greek word for followers of "Zoroaster" (i.e. either Zoroaster or Pseudo-Zoroaster). The relationship with "magic" derives from the Hellenistic identification of (Pseudo-)Zoroaster as the "inventor" of both astrology and magic. This was in turn influenced by (among other factors) the Greek penchant for seeking hidden meanings in words; the name "Zoroaster" was presumed to have something to do with the stars (-''astr''), while ''magos'' was perceived to have to do with ''goēs'', the old Greek word for "magic" (in the modern sense). However, in the main, (Pseudo-)Zoroaster seems to have been almost exclusively identified with astrology, and magic then remained the domain of other (real or putative) "magians" such as the synthetic "Ostanes". Because ''magos''/''magikos'' were influenced by the association with the old Greek word for "magic", Greek ''magos''/''magikos'' accordingly held the same meaning that "magic" and "magician" do today. Although a few Greek writers – e.g. Herodotus, Xenophon, Plutarch – did use ''magos'' in connection with their descriptions of (Zoroastrian) religious beliefs or practices, the majority seem to have understood it in the sense of "magician". Accordingly, the more skeptical writers then also identified the "magicians" – i.e. the magians – as charlatans or frauds. In Plato's ''Symposium'' (202e), the Athenian identified them as maleficent, allowing however a measure of efficacy as a function of the god Eros. Pliny paints them in a particularly bad light. Thorndike comments: "Greek science at its best was not untainted by magic". 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Magic in the Greco-Roman world」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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