ABSTRACT
There are many episodes in the ancient Greek novels in which magic, divination and sorcery are practised. The ritual performed by the witch of Bessa, especially the libations of milk, wine and honey that are poured into a pit, resemble the actions of Odysseus very closely. The necromantic episode in Heliodorus has a similar prophetic function, delivering guidance to both Calasiris and Chariclea and advancing the action of the plot. Papyrological discoveries have shown that in the third century there was renewed interest in necromancy and in the Homeric variety in particular. A papyrus fragment from Book 18 of Julius Africanus' Kestoi adds a hymn in hexameter verse to Homer's account of Odysseus' consultation of the dead. Eustathius' elaborate attempt to refute Origen's interpretation of the Endor story provides substantial evidence for how seriously necromancy and magic were taken in the fourth century.
