The Haley Classical Journal, an undergraduate research publication affiliated with Hamilton College
Long Term Female Homoerotic Relationships in Suppl. Mag. 1.37 and 1.42 Lucy Parr, Oberlin College, Class of 2020
Abstract
Both female homoeroticism and magical practices appear in the Greek and Roman literary record, but the actual practitioners of both remain elusive. This paper will focus on two female homoerotic love spells found in Egypt during Roman occupation. By analyzing Supplementum Magicum 1.42 and 1.37 and placing them in their proper context, this paper will explore female homoeroticism in antiquity, particularly with regards to cohabitation and marriage.
There are very few primary sources from antiquity that feature female homoerotic relationships, which is why the Supplementum Magicum 1.42 and 1.37 are very important texts to engage with. Both spells were found in Egypt, with Suppl. Mag. 1.42 dating to the second century CE and Suppl. Mag. 1.37 dating to between the third and fourth centuries CE. While the language of these texts may not perfectly reflect these women’s desires, the goal of each of these texts, namely for the client and the victim of the spell to enter into a long term relationship, does reflect the women’s wishes. Through careful analysis of these texts and through putting them into their proper context in antiquity, it becomes clear that these spells support the existence of female homoerotic long term relationships and even marriages. Before analyzing the texts, however, some issues must be addressed. The first problem is that both of these texts are formulaic and were likely written by a magical practitioner these women hired. The language used bears all the hallmarks of traditional heterosexual love spells, and Suppl. Mag. 1.42 especially appears to be copied from some magical practioner’s grimoire. The major issue with the formulaic nature of these texts is that they do not accurately reflect the nature of these women’s desires, nor do they employ the language these women might have used themselves. Instead, these texts represent the power imbalance common among heterosexual or male homoerotic and pederastic relationships.1 However, due to the wealth of love spells found throughout the Papyri Graecae Magicae, there is no reason to assume that the spells used here were chosen at random. Of all the spells magical practitioners had at their disposal, the ones chosen may have most closely reflected what the women wanted. Therefore, there is merit in examining these spells despite their formulaic nature. Suppl. Mag. 1.42 written on an oval shaped lead tablet from Hermopolis Magna in Egypt, is sixty-two lines long, and written in a third or fourth century CE script with the first and last ten lines tapering off in order to fit on the oval tablet.2 A woman named Sophia used this spell in order to attract another woman, Gorgonia. Side A of this tablet contains an invocation to chthonic deities, primarily a corpse-daimon, but also the Erinyes, as well as “holy 1 Ormand, Kirk. Controlling Desires: Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2009. 55 2 Brooten, Bernadette J. Love Between Women: Early Christian Responses to Female Homoeroticism. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. 81
The Haley | Volume I | Issue II | July 2020
serpents, maenads, and frightful maidens.”3 On side B, the spell asks a corpse-daimon to “inflame the heart, the liver, the spirit of Gorgonia, whom Nilogenia bore, with love for Sophia.” While calling upon a corpse-daimon for a love spell may be surprising to a modern reader, it actually was quite common to call upon chthonic entities such as underworld gods, corpse-daimons, and the restless dead for any type of binding spell. This spell contains language of domination and violence typical of erotic defixiones.4 Additionally, language of enslavement, burning, and torment appear frequently in erotic defixiones. While this language is more prevalent in Suppl. Mag. 1.42 than in Suppl. Mag. 1.37, the language’s intesity when compared to most erotic defixiones is fairly average.5 While the spell calls for the corpse-daimon to “burn, set on fire, the heart and liver [of Gorgonia],” this order is not meant to be taken literally. Violent wording such as this was often used to describe attraction in antiquity. More troubling is when the spell calls for the corpse-daimon to “torment her body night and day” until she surrenders “like a slave.” While it is still not as violent as some heterosexual erotic defixiones — calling for the woman victim to be dragged by her hair or to be prevented from sleeping by means of thorns and impalements — the language in Suppl. Mag. 1.42 is still very violent and dominating.6 Because this spell appears to be copied from a formula, this language does not elucidate the extant power dynamics in female homosexual relationships, but rather the intesity of Sophia’s desire. However, while the language of enslavement may not be the language Sophia would have chosen to use to describe her desire for Gorgonia, such language reveals something of her real desire: a long term relationship, perhaps even marriage. Sophia calling for Gorgonia to be like her slave follows in the tradition of other examples of erotic defixiones with language of enslavement that clearly allude to long-term relationships.7 For example, in spell no. 36 from John Gager’s book Curse Tablets and Binding Spells 3 All translations from Brooten, Love Between Women 4 A defixio (pl. defixiones) is a binding spell often written onto a lead tablet intended to influence, by supernatural means, the actions or welfare of persons or animals against their will. For more information about defixiones generally, see Gager, Curse Tablets and Binding Spells in the Ancient World. 5 See suppl. mag. 135, suppl. mag. 45, and PGM VII. 467-77 for examples of violent language in love spells. 6 S suppl. mag. 1.46 and 1.50, PGM 36.151-153.; Brooten, 90 7 Suppl. Mag. 38.10 and Gager, Curse Tablets and Binding Spells no. 36, pg 155
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