What did it mean to predict the future, heal the body, or command unseen forces in the early modern world? This symposium invites you to explore a fascinating textual universe where magic, science, and religion intersect.

Bringing together new research on five remarkable composite manuscripts, the event sheds light on a vibrant tradition of knowledge and practice spanning the 16th and 17th centuries. Preserved today in the Gennadius Library, the Historical and Palaeographical Archives of the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation, and the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre of the Academy of Athens, these manuscripts contain a rich mix of texts—from iatrosophia and seismologia to zodiacal guides, lunar manuals, and exorcistic and invocatory writings.

Far from being obscure relics, these works reveal how people sought to understand and influence both the natural world and everyday life. Written in a blend of learned and vernacular language, and copied by scribes of varying skill, they offer a unique window into the transmission of knowledge across social and intellectual boundaries.

The symposium will present the historical and philological contexts of these texts while also taking audiences behind the scenes of their study. Speakers will discuss the challenges and discoveries involved in transcription, palaeographical analysis, and codicological research, illuminating how such complex materials are brought to light and made accessible today.

The keynote lecture by David Owens (University of Hertfordshire), The Development and Nature of Magical and Divinatory Texts in the Western World in a Global Context, will place these traditions within a broader international perspective.

The symposium is jointly organized by:

Gennadius Library, American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Historical and Palaeographical Archives, National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation (MIET)

Hellenic Folklore Research Centre, Academy of Athens

SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

15.45   Welcome

Maria Georgopoulou, Director of the Gennadius Library / American School of Classical Studies in Athens

             Kostas Kostis, Director of the National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation

Evaggelos Karamanes, Director of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre / Academy of Athens

15.55  Stamatis Zochios – Stavros Grimanis

Introduction - General presentation of the project

 

Session I: Cultural and Textual traditions

Chair: Evaggelos Karamanes

16.05  Gerasimos Merianos, Institute of Historical Research (IHR) / National Hellenic Research Foundation

“Aspects of Magic, Divination, and Healing in Late Byzantium”

16.25  Stamatis Busses, School of Humanities / Democritus University of Thrace

“Magical Practices in Late Antiquity”

16.45   Stavros Grimanis, Historical and Palaeographical Archives / National Bank of Greece Cultural Foundation

“Textual Traditions and Practices of Magic, Divination, and Healing in the Post-Byzantine period”

17.05   Stamatis Zochios, Hellenic Folklore Research Centre / Academy of Athens

“Between Liturgy and Magic: Exorcistic and Apotropaic Texts in Modern Greek Religious Practice”

 

17.30 Coffee Break

Session II: Texts

Chair: Stamatis Busses

17.45  Dimitris Ntontis, MΑ, Democritus University of Thrace

“The miscellaneous magical and astrological Manuscript MSS 895 of the Gennadius Library”

18.00  Despina Kalivinou, MΑ, Democritus University of Thrace

“A miscellaneous codex of popular religion, iatrosophical tradition, astrology, divination, and magic. The Manuscript no. 19 of the Pezaros Collection, MIET / Historical and Palaeographical Archives”

18.15  Stephania Daviti, MΑ, Democritus University of Thrace

“The magical Manuscript no. 05223α of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre / Academy of Athens”

18.30  Kleopatra Skoutzou, MΑ, Democritus University of Thrace

“The magical Manuscript no. 05223β of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre / Academy of Athens”

18.45  Aggeliki Skoutzou, MΑ, Democritus University of Thrace

“The magical Manuscript no. 05223γ of the Hellenic Folklore Research Centre / Academy of Athens”

 

19.00 Discussion

Keynote Address

Chair: Maria Georgopoulou

19.15  David Owens, University of Hertfordshire

“The development and nature of magical and divinatory texts in the Western world in a global context”

 

20.00  Discussion