This is a welcome addition to the recent trend of studies devoted to magic in the Greco-Roman world. Similarly to D. Frankfurter (ed.), Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic (2019) and L.C. Watson, Magic in Ancient Greece and Rome (2019) (reviewed in CR 70 [2020], 247–9), E.'s volume sets out to offer an accessible guide to the topic. While the title of E.'s book seems to promise an investigation of Thessalian witches, which were known for their supposed ability to pull down the moon from the sky, this topic covers only a part of Chapter 1 (pp. 19–32). Here E. discusses his methodological approach to magic, positioning himself within the debate between the so-called ‘emic’ and ‘etic’ approaches (i.e. analysing magic from the socio-cultural perspective of the ancients or adopting external, modern categorisations of these phenomena). E. discards the utility of philological enquiry into the Greco-Roman terminology used to label magic and proposes a synthesis between emic and etic approaches: this consists in refining modern concepts through an in-depth study of the evidence to understand better the ancient perceptions of magic. E. suggests identifying magic as something opposed to official cults and describes such rituals as ‘non-normative’. From this standpoint, E. discusses at length a rich collection of ancient sources about various practices related to Greco-Roman magic. Chapter 2 continues E.'s methodological discourse, giving an overview of the types of evidence that will be taken into account. These range chronologically from Homer to late antiquity and come from literature in Greek and Latin, technical treatises as well as curse-tablets and the recipes of the Greek Magical Papyri. E. seeks to contextualise his examination of magic with substantive and functionalist criteria, i.e. taking into account analytical questions such as what, why, where, when as well as who and how.

Chapter 3 deals with binding spells. These are predominantly attested in curse-tablets and the recipes of the PGM, and E. offers an overview of these sources and their features, as well as considering the main reasons why curses were employed. Chapter 4 focuses on love magic: E. analyses literary and non-literary evidence, discussing the use of love-philtres and of the so-called ἴυγξ (magical wheel) as well as the gender of the agents performing such rituals. Chapter 5 turns to phylacteries, amulets and gems, and magic used for healing purposes. Chapters 6–10 are respectively devoted to the relationship between magic and prayer, magic and divination, magic and astrology, magic and alchemy, and magic and theurgy. Here the discussion of magic itself is preceded – if not somehow eclipsed – by comprehensive descriptions of each of these topics. This will be particularly helpful to a readership unfamiliar either with magic or with these practices. Chapter 11 looks into the label ‘magic’ and how this was employed as a slur in a legal context in Greece and Rome. E. also considers the use of this label in the PGM and its connection with the idea of alterity and foreignness. This final chapter is followed by the bibliography, an index locorum and a useful general index.

E. discusses the evidence synchronically according to a thematic arrangement. The style is quite discursive, and perhaps a more compact format might have helped avoiding some slight repetitions (e.g. p. 42: ‘literary texts provide the richest and most detailed depictions of magic’, then in the ensuing paragraph: ‘the literary evidence provides the richest depictions of magic’; p. 378: ‘a small part of the evidence … comes from self-labeling’, then on p. 379: ‘self-labeling is much rarer and appears only in limited kinds of evidence’; or the description of the voces magicae at pp. 85–7, then at pp. 175–80). E.'s analysis is, however, accessible and suggestive, and provided with appealing references to contemporary fiction and cinema in both the headings and the main text (e.g. p. 116 ‘Defense against the Dark Arts’, and more explicitly ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone’ on p. 269, or p. 118 ‘Through a Glass Darkly’). Several long quotations of ancient sources in translation are included, with the original sometimes reproduced in the footnotes. As E. points out (p. xiii), the original texts are generally taken from the TLG and the PHI for Greek and Latin, respectively, while translations are mostly after or adapted from the Loeb editions. However, lack of precise indications can in some cases lead to issues: for example on p. 55 and n. 2 E. cites the description of the magical laboratory of the Thessalian witch Pamphile in Apul. Met. 3.17.4–5 and follows the emendation infelicium [n]auium durantibus damnis (‘desiccating remains of inauspicious birds’, my transl.). However, later at pp. 60–1, he refers to this same passage following the reading nauium and thereby interpreting this as the remains of ill-fated shipwrecks. Nonetheless, E.'s volume offers an insightful and approachable survey of magical (or non-normative) practices and the beliefs thereto attached in Greco-Roman antiquity. The reasonable price and the attractive design of the volume, with high-quality pictures, make it particularly useful to students and general readers.