Katharine S Stevens (Rutgers University)
The Orphic Lithika is, at its simplest, a poetic instruction on the proper use of various stones in medical treatments, amulet use, and propitiating the gods. It is a text deeply focused on its chosen subject matter, to the extent that it lacks the sort of references to contemporary events that often guide us in dating and contextualizing a given work. The clearest external reference is to the Hellenistic poet Nicander, an intertextual relationship that is fundamental to the Lithika as a whole – and which provides our only context for the work as a point post quem (Schamp 1981; Halleaux and Schamp 1985; Janssen 2015). This relationship has been identified in the second prologue, evidenced by the bucolic setting and focus on snakes, and throughout the final portion, which emphasizes remedies for venomous animals and the mythical tradition of this knowledge (Janssen 2015). The catalogue of stones to propitiate the gods has generally been excluded from this particular intertext, as it seems to lack the same engagement with literary antecedents as the highly allusive prologues and concluding sections. I argue that the author of the Lithika in fact uses the final entry in the first catalogue of stones, that of the magnet (303-330), to emphasize the extent to which stones are safe, practical, and powerful magical components. The author bolsters this argument with allusive references to authoritative poetic sources such as Apollonius’ Argonautica and Bacchylides, and I argue that this section should be read as a literary as well as magical text.
Taking the standard properties of attraction and a pattern of understanding magnetism in analogy with other phenomena, the author of the Lithika leans heavily on the more magical uses of the magnet, relocating its medical uses to passages concerning hematite. The author focuses on the sympathetic magic of the magnet and its powers of attraction and repulsion. Unlike the other entries in the catalogue section, this passage invokes mythical figures to validate the power of the magnet as a tool by which one may effectively propitiate the gods, the professed theme of this section. The author introduces an unusual affiliation between the magnet and the mythical figures of Circe and Medea, claiming that they used the magnet as an ingredient in their θέλγητρα (313-316). While the simple mention of Circe and Medea evokes a powerful family line of magic and potion users, the author goes further than this basic evocation. It is significant that he defies the typical association between divine witches and plant-based magic in favor of a connection of these iconic women to the magnet (Vian 1986). This connection emphasizes the magical potency of magnets, and it serves as a correction of his predecessors’ – especially Nicander’s – focus on the magical potency of plants. His introduction specifically readies the reader to understand the magnet as a powerful magical ingredient, an understanding that will be rewarded when Helenus of Troy argues for the preeminence of stone-based magic over-plant based remedies in both power and ease of use (405-417).