Phillips Richard L. In Pursuit of Invisibility: Ritual Texts from Late Roman Egypt

American Society of Papyrologists, 2009. — 232 p. — (American studies in papyrology 47).American Studies in Papyrology is the flagship book series for the American Society of Papyrologists. Monographs in the series include not only editions of papyri and ostraca—literary, subliterary, and documentary; Greek, Coptic, and otherwise—but also the various histories that can be written from the study of papyrological texts.A close examination of invisibility in the context of the Greco-Roman world, from the role invisibility enjoys as a literary motif to the ritual spells whose logos and praxis in magic papyri promise the individual that he will move about unseen by others. Capping the six chapters investigating invisibility in fiction and in handbooks of magic, Phillips examines the relevant papyri, evaluating the Greek texts and translating them into English, as well as offering thorough commentary for each text (e.g. P.Oxy. LVIII 3931, and six examples drawn from the Papyri Graecae Magicae ). Includes bibliographical references and pertinent indices of the Greek.