Magic and Witchcraft in Ephesus

An interesting story is that of the young Thelyphron of Miletus, and the strange and unusual events that befell him. Death has many effects on life, but there is no other example like that of Thelyphron, the ward of the dead, as described by Apuleius (in his work *Metamorphoses* / popularly known as ‘Golden donkey’ (Asinus Aureus).

Apuleius’s “Metamorphoses” is the only complete novel of the ancient world, recounting the events surrounding Lucius, who is transformed into a donkey by magic, and his eventual return to humanity thanks to the goddess Isis. Apuleius was a North African Roman writer who lived in the 2nd century AD. He was also a philosopher and orator (particularly close to Platonic thought).

According to Apuleius, in Rome and Ephesus, magic had become an art and was so widespread that sorcerers didn’t even leave the dead in peace. Indeed, looking at studies on magic, it’s hard not to agree with Apuleius. Each work is full of examples showing that sorcerers frequently used the dead and graves to enhance the effects of their spells.

Especially for the effective performance of malevolent spells, graves were frequently opened, parts of the dead were torn off, and used as magical materials. However, it should be noted that Apuleius’s witty exaggeration adds a certain color to the matter. In his work “Transfigurations,” the author describes how sorcerers and witches do not leave the dead in peace, damaging their bodies before or after burial.

There are even instances where these sorceresses attacked the living. Apuleius has his hero, Thelyphron, who was attacked by sorceresses, recount how the event occurred.

Thelyphron, a young man from Miletus who had gone to Greece to watch the Olympic Games, arrived in Larissa with his pocket money almost gone. Hearing that guarding the dead in the Larissa agora paid well, he learned the job and took it. He would stand guard over a recently deceased person, whose funeral was to be held the next day, until morning without blinking. This was because sorceresses would bite or cut off the faces of the dead to use as material for their spells.

If sorcerers, disguised in various forms, enter the dwelling where the dead are kept and are allowed to take a piece from the deceased, that piece will be taken from the guard and grafted onto the deceased’s wound. Of course, this job is quite risky and dangerous, but it offers the potential for substantial financial gain.

Despite the risks, Thelyphron accepts the guarding of the deceased, the son of one of the settlement’s elders, and pockets a considerable sum of 1000 sesters (approximately $1400-$1500 USD) as an advance.

Thelyphron, upon arriving at the deceased’s home, is required by the family, in the presence of witnesses, to record that the body was delivered to him intact and without any damage. This ensures that if anything were to happen, the caretaker would be held fully responsible.

The mortuary keeper, having gathered everything he needed, begins his duties. After a while, Thelyphron, feeling safe after chasing away the sable that entered the room, succumbs to sleep as night falls. Waking up at dawn to the sound of roosters crowing, the mortuary keeper, horrified at having overslept, rushes to the deceased and feels a profound sense of relief upon seeing that everything is in its place.

When the family arrived in the morning and found no damage to the deceased’s body, they paid Thelyphron, the corpse keeper, a large sum of money. During the funeral, there were talks about how the deceased had been killed by witchcraft, orchestrated by his wife and her lover.

When an Egyptian priest claimed he could bring the dead back to life and make them speak, the dead man actually came back to life and confirmed what had been said, recounting that he had been murdered by his wife and her lover.

When he was in the same room as Thelyphron, the keeper of the dead, the sorcerers, despite their strong desire, could not enter. They called him to the window, but because they shared the same name, Thelyphron, sleepwalking, went to the window. The sorcerers mistakenly cut off the nose and ears of the young Milesian keeper, Thelyphron. In horror, Thelyphron touched his face and realized he had lost his nose and ears.

Our story ends there. But this is the clearest and only information from the ancient world that has reached us today about the magic of that period, showing us what sorcerers were capable of doing for their own purposes.