Hostes deum: Magic in the literature of the Neronian period

This study examines magical discourse in the Neronian literature and, more specifically, its role in the works of the three major authors of the period, namely, Petronius, Seneca, and Lucan. It endeavors to trace possible echoes of popular beliefs about magic and real witchcraft practices of the 1st century C.E. in the text of the Satyrica, the Medea, and the Bellum Ciuile. This is done through a close reading of the relevant passages, and their thorough comparison with the magical texts of the Papyri Graecae Magicae and the defixionum tabellae as well as Pliny’s Historia Naturalis; such collation with other texts allows us to underline structural as well as verbal similarities. A large part of the study is dedicated to each author’s treatment of magic according to their personal views and the work’s generic context