Thẻ ghi nhớ: Philosophy CL136 Exam 2: Key Terms & Definitions

Tyche

Goddess of luck (good and bad), = Fortuna in Latin

Megaira

One of the furies, sister of Allecto and Tisiphone

In Oresteia, the furies perform binding spell

Nemesis

Goddess of retribution

Root nemein meaning "to give what's due"

Nemein

"To give what's due" -> Nemesis goddess of retribution

Tyche, Megaira, Nemesis

Gods of the Junii family

Voces Magicae

Magical names/words that can be pronounced but has no apparent meaning; Often represent a secret deity name invested with power

Characteres

Letter-shaped sign that has no meaning/way of pronouncing (no semantic/phonetic connections); 700 have been identified

Orpheus

Legendary bard/musician/poet in Greek mythology, whose music can charm all living things and even stones

Amphion

magical musician; whose poetry/music built the walls of Thebes

Thelxis

Sirens' song, from Greek word meaning "enchantment"

θέλξις

Circe

Greek witch/goddess, can tame beasts like Orpheus, knowledgeable of potions, can transform her enemies into animals

Illocutionary act

Performance of an act in saying something, accomplishes in the world what it declares, by one who has authority

e.g. pronouncing husband and wife, calling a timeout, declaring guity/innocent

Illocutionary force

Intent

Perlocutionary act

External to the performance, change listener/speaker's feelings/thoughts/actions e.g. inspiring, persuading, detering

Illocutionary + perlocutionary

In a magical context, some illocutionary acts have perlocutionary effect

Coefficient of intelligibility

liturical words, using sacred languages carrying an Otherness e.g. Latin, Greek, Hebrew

Coefficient of weirdness

nonsense, voces magicae, language of animals

Coefficient of intelligibility + weirdness

Idea by Malinowsky, tension between create authority and power

Katadesmoi

Greek word for binding magic, refer to curse tablet

κατάδεσμος, κατάδεσμοι

Defixiones

Latin for nailing curse

Kolossoi

Greco-Roman "Voodoo Dolls" - verbal and plastic medium for achieving binding spell, often made of clay or wax, important for sympathetic magic

Anna Perenna

Roman deity of the circle of the year, Sister of Dido (Vergil), Becomes Italian goddess (Ovid)

Pharmaka

Greek for potion (good or bad), medicine, poison, even spell

Venena

Drug, charm, poison, venom, love potion

Etymology: Venus - goddess of love

Abrasax, abraxas

a common voces mysticae/magical drawing portraying a figure with rooster head + cuirass + shield + whip/wreath, associated with Hebrew words

ABLANATHANALBA

Greek & Latin versions of popular magic palindrome, meaning "you are our father" in Hebrew

Ousia

Greek meaning essence, being e.g. nails, hair, blood, foreskin

ουσία

Larvans

Sorcerer or necromancer (Latin)

Root from larvo/larvare - to bewitch, possesed with evil spirits

Manosphere

network of online men's communities against the empowerment of women; encourage misogyny, antifeminism, sexism; blames society and feminist for problems

Incels

Involuntary celibates - often a heterosexual male blaming women & society for their lack of sexual experience/romantic success

Misogyny

Hatred of/prejudice against women

Countercultural

Opposing mainstream values/norms & seeking to change society

e.g. prominence of matronymics as a practice in magic is countercultural

Matronymic

A name derived from the name of your mother or a maternal ancestor

Q(uem) p(eperit) vulva

Latin for "whom a womb bore" - non-specific metronymic in cases of unknown mother

Limerence

The state of being infatuated/obsessed with another person, often involuntarily, strong desire for reciprocation of feelings but not necessarily sexual

Agoge, agogai

Spell used to influence targets' emotions and behavior --> develop sexual/romantic attraction

Use personal item

ἀγωγή

Philtrokatadesmos

From "philtron" - love potion + "katadesmos" - binding spell

Spell to ensure fidelity, use figure/dolls

φιλτροκατάδεσμος

Phusikleidion

From "physis" - nature + "kleidion" - key

Agoge, philtrokatadesmos, phusikleidion

Attraction spell

Diakope, diakopai

severance/cutting spells

designed to drive away a rival

Katagrapho

"I register, convey, devote, or write down"

To condemn object of spell to the 'care' of cthonic gods

καταγράφω

Exhaustive dichotomy

Logical division of a set into 2 parts that are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive

Agamoi

Dead before marriage, a category of the restless dead

Ateknos

Without children; gendered expectation for women (women's fault; men's bad luck)

ἄτεκνος

Andromache, Hermione, Neoptolemus

- Characters in Euripede's Andromache

- In an antagonistic situation with each other (childbearing)

- Andromache: Hector's widow, Neoptolemus's slave, mother of Neoptolemus

- Neoptolemus: Achilles' son

- Hermione: Neoptolemus' wife, daughter of Meneleus and Helen; accuse Andromache of being a witch, barbarian and using potion to make her miscarry

--> xenophobic, spiteful, privileged

Pharmakon, pharmaka

Potion/poison/medicine/spell

Preferred magic of women

Philtron

Potion/poison/broadly a magic spell

Polygyny

A form of polygamy where a man has more than 1 wife

Apotropaic

Having the power to turn away evil or bad luck such as the evil eye

Moly

Magic herb mentioned in Odyssey, given by Hermes to Odysseus to counteract Circe's spells

Venefica

Witch, "a female who poisons" in Latin

Canidia

A witch in Latin literature, appears in >= 6 of Horace's poems

Devotus

Enchanted, bewitched

"Having been vowed/dedicated" (to the Cthonic gods) in Latin

Aphrodisiac

Food, herbs, potions, etc. thought to increase sex drive

Root from Greek goddess of love Aphrodite

Hippomanes

Discharge from aroused/wild pregnant mares (lustiest animal), used in aphrodisiac

Chupacabra

Monster, "devil dog", vampiric creature targeting animals like goats, sheep, pets

Meaning "goat-sucker" in Spanish

Exist in Puerto Rico, Mexico, USA

Bogeyman

A monster typically used to frighten children, widespread

From MIddle English "bugge" - the scary or Welsh "bwg" - ghost

Bugbear

Similar to bogeyman; bear-like creature that carries off and sometimes eats naughty children

Tokoloshe

South African monster, a hairy water sprite

Bes

Egyptian god of miscarriages and aborted fetuses, associated with fertility, childbirth, music; has dwarf-like stature

Metminwi

Bogeyman against (teenagers') sexual activities, 2-stories tall,eat those out after midnight

Succubus

Female demons who have sex with men

Incubus

Male demons who have sex with women

Sleep paralysis

When a person's mind wakes up while they're still dreaming and body's still paralyzed

Natural mechanism to prevent acting out dreams

Empousa, Lamia, Mormo

Demons who could take form of beautiful women

Sex as lure, cannibalism as goal

Ancient forbears of vampires and succubi

Empousa, empousai

- Meaning "moves on one leg"/"obstructing female"

- Flaming hair

- Leg of copper/bronze

- Leg of an ass/manure

- Servant of Hecate

- Could be repelled by insults

Ἔμπουσα

Lamia, lamiai

- Meaning "gullet"/ "devourer" or "Shark"

- Child of Poseidon/mother of sea monsters (scylla) or Libyan queen

- Loved by Zeus --> Hera abducted/killed her children

--> Lamia became a monstrous child-killer

- Shapeshifter, sometime described as a ghost, has tail of serpent in place of legs

Mormo

- Related to words meaning fear

- Hideous she-monster, mother who killed her children

- Function as bugbear to scare children