Ephesia Grammata (, "

Ephesian Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital, by Attic and ...

Letters") are

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

magical formulas attested from the 5th or 4th century BC. According to Pausanias the Lexicographer (Eust. ad Od. 20, 247, p. 1864), their name derives from their being inscribed on the cult image of

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...

considers them an invention of the Daktyloi. They were "meaningless words" (ἄσημα ὀνόματα) potent to protect those who could speak them correctly, their power residing in their sound, so that they were ineffective if mispronounced.

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

(Quaest. Conv. 706D) reports that the

Magi Magi (), or magus (), is the term for priests in Zoroastrianism and earlier Iranian religions. The earliest known use of the word ''magi'' is in the trilingual inscription written by Darius the Great, known as the Behistun Inscription. Old Per ...

instructed victims of demonic possession to recite the Ephesia Grammata. In the 4th century comedy ''Lyropoios'' by

Anaxilas Anaxilas or Anaxilaus (), son of Cretines, was a tyrant of Rhegium (modern Reggio Calabria) in Magna Graecia. He was originally from Messenia, a region in the Peloponnese. Life Anaxilas was master of Rhegium in 494 BC, when he encouraged the Sa ...

, one character carries Ephesia Grammata inscribed on his belt. The best known Ephesia Grammata are a group of six words: : (or ) :' A version of this formula seems to be attested by a damaged inscription from

Himera Himera (Greek language, Greek: ), was a large and important ancient Greece, ancient Greek city situated on the north coast of Sicily at the mouth of the river of the same name (the modern Imera Settentrionale), between Panormus (modern Palermo) ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

, which must date to before the Carthaginian destruction of the city in 409 BC. The next earliest epigraphic evidence for the formula comes from the 4th century BC, and it continues to re-appear on magical papyri throughout the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

. The words sometimes occur in significantly different variants, for example on the lead tablet of

Phalasarna Falasarna or Phalasarna () is a Greek harbour town at the west end of Crete that flourished during the Hellenistic period. The currently visible remains of the city include several imposing sandstone towers and bastions, with hundreds of meters ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

: : :' There were various attempts by ancient authors to make sense of the words. ' was interpreted as the name of a Dactyl. Androcydes proposed an interpretation as philosophical symbols (Clement, ''

Stromata The ''Stromata'' (), a mistake for ''Stromateis'' (Στρωματεῖς, "Patchwork," i.e., ''Miscellanies''), attributed to Clement of Alexandria (c. 150 – c. 215), is the third of a trilogy of works regarding the Christian life. The oldest ...

'' 5, 8, 45, 2): ' ( "shadowless") as "darkness", ' ( "shadowy") as "brightness" (brightness being necessary in order to cast shadows), ' (

Hsch. Hesychius of Alexandria () was a Greek grammarian who, probably in the 5th or 6th century AD, compiled the richest lexicon of unusual and obscure Greek words that has survived, probably by absorbing the works of earlier lexicographers. The wor ...

: ) as an ancient term for "Earth", and ' ( "fourfold") as the year (the four seasons), ' as "Sun" and ' ({{lang, grc, αἴσιος "right, fitting, auspicious") as

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; ) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric, as well as religion (notably Logos (Christianity), Christianity); among its connotations is that of a rationality, rational form of discourse that relies on inducti ...

References

Magic words Greek religion inscriptions Ephesus

See also

References