In Pursuit of Invisibility: Ritual Texts from Late Roman Egypt

A close examination of invisibility in the context of the Graeco-Roman world, from the role invisibility enjoys as a literary motif to the ritual spells whose logos and praxis in magical 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. The volume includes bibliographical references and pertinent indices of the Greek.