 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
 |
Cristiano Grottanelli |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
'Sors unica pro casibus pluribus enotata':
Some Aspects of Ancient Cleromancy
|
| |
|
In Apuleius' novel usually referred to as "The Golden Ass", the wandering, effeminate devotees of the Syrian Goddess are presented as practicing 1) trance divination and 2) the peculiar type of divination by drawing lots ( s o r t e s ) that was widespread in ancient Italy. In both cases, the votaries cheat and easily collect money from the gullible inhabitants of the countryside; but they are found out in the end and duly punished. Apulieus' ways of presenting the trance- and the lot-divination are consistent with his view of the relationships between humans and gods and with some ideological stances of the ruling classes of Hellenistic and Roman societies. The paper discusses those views as well as the various forms of divination by lots (cleromancy) practiced in Antiquity. Inscribed pebbles or metal lamellae used for cleromancy in Antiquity and found in various parts of Italy are also examined in order to show that Apuleius' caricature of the votaries' cleromantic practices is not too distant from the practice testified by such documents.
|
| |
| Back to Abstracts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This conference generously supported by the University of Pennsylvania's Classics Department, Research Foundation, and Center for Ancient Studies
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright 2001, University of Pennsylvania
|
|
|
|
|
|
