Chapter 72

Close translation

Incantations, then, that is, songs, are said to have such power that they are believed almost able to overturn the whole of nature; as Apuleius says: that by a magical whisper rivers are made to run backward, the sluggish sea is bound fast, the winds breathe out their spirits, the sun is checked, the moon is made to foam down, the stars are torn away, day is taken off, night is held in place. And Lucan sings of the same things, as he says:

The turns of things ceased, and, drawn out long,
day stuck fast in night; the upper air obeyed no law,
and the world went numb and headlong at the charm's hearing.

and a little before:

The Thessalian woman's spell poured into hard hearts,
love not sufficiently drawn on.

and elsewhere:

A mind, stained by no drop of poison drunk,
perishes, sung out of itself.

Likewise Vergil, in his Damon:

Songs can even draw the moon down from the sky.
With songs Circe changed the comrades of Ulysses.
The cold snake in the meadows is burst by singing.
and:
And I have seen crops carried off elsewhere by charm.

[Vergil's text reads: Eclogues 8.69-71 and 8.99 are not consecutive in the original; lines 72-98 (Alphesiboeus's refrain and further verses) fall between them.]

Likewise Ovid, in the poem 'Without a Title,' says:

Grain, hurt by a spell, wastes into barren grass,
springs' waters, hurt by a spell, fail,
acorns fall from the oaks, and the grape sung over
from the vines, drops, and fruits flow though nothing shakes them.

If these things were not true, so strict a penalty would not have been fixed by the laws against those who had charmed away crops. And Tibullus says of a certain enchantress:

This woman I have seen drawing down the stars from the sky;
she turns the course of a rushing river with a song.
She splits the ground with her chant, and calls the shades
out of their tombs, and calls down bones from the still-warm pyre.
When she pleases, she drives clouds from a sullen sky;
when she pleases, she calls up snows in a summer sky.

Of all these matters sorcery [†seems to boast a great deal] in Ovid, when she says:

When I have wished it, rivers have run back,
the banks themselves marveling, into their own springs; I still
waters stirred, and I stir waters standing still, with a song;
I drive off clouds and I bring clouds on; I send winds away and call them;
I burst the throats of vipers with words and with song;
and living rocks, and oaks torn up, with their own earth,
and forests I move, and I bid the mountains tremble,
and the ground to bellow, and the shades to come out of their tombs;
you too, moon, I draw down.

All the poets besides sing of this, and the philosophers do not deny, that many marvelous things can be brought about by songs: that crops can be driven off, lightning compelled or obtained, diseases cured, and the like. For Cato too, in his work on farming, used certain chants against the diseases of animals, which still stand in his writings. Josephus testifies that Solomon likewise was skilled in incantations of this kind. Celsus Africanus also relates that, according to the doctrine of the Egyptians, the human body is healed, according to the number of the faces of the signs of the zodiac, by that many — that is, thirty-six — demons, each of whom takes up and guards his own proper part, whom they call by names in their native tongue; and these being invoked, they restore to health, by their incantations, the parts of the body that have been damaged.

Modern rendering

Incantations — spells sung or spoken — are said to be so powerful that people believe they can overturn almost all of nature. Apuleius puts it this way: a magical whisper can turn rivers backward, chain up a sluggish sea, make the winds breathe themselves out, stop the sun, make the moon foam and fall, tear down the stars, cancel the day, and hold back the night. Lucan sings of the same effects:

The ordinary turning of things stopped;
day was held back and stretched into a long night;
the sky itself would not follow its own law;
the world went numb and reeled at the sound of the charm.

And a little earlier:

The Thessalian witch's spell poured into unyielding hearts,
when love alone hadn't been enough to move them.

And elsewhere:

A mind untouched by any drop of poison
can still be destroyed, sung out of the body by a charm.

Vergil, in his Eclogue on Damon, says the same:

Songs can pull the moon down out of the sky.
Circe used songs to transform the men of Ulysses.
Singing can burst a cold snake apart in a meadow.
and:
I have seen whole crops carried off to someone else's field by a chant.

Ovid, in the poem called 'Untitled,' says:

A crop hit by a spell withers into barren grass,
a spring hit by a spell runs dry,
acorns drop from oak trees and grapes drop from vines
once they've been sung over, and fruit falls though nothing shakes the tree.

If none of this were true, the law wouldn't impose such a harsh penalty on people who charm crops away. Tibullus describes a sorceress this way:

I have watched this woman pull the stars down from the sky;
with a song she redirects a raging river;
she splits open the ground with her chanting and calls the dead
up out of their graves, summoning bones down off a still-warm pyre;
when she wants to, she clears storm clouds from an angry sky,
when she wants to, she brings snow down out of a summer sky.

Ovid seems to have this same sorcery in mind, and [†to lean on it especially hard], when he has Medea say:

When I've wanted it, rivers have reversed course
back into their own springs while their banks looked on amazed;
I calm waters that were churning and stir up waters that were still, just by singing;
I drive clouds off and I call clouds in; I send winds away and call them back;
I split a viper's throat with words and with song;
I tear living rock, and oak trees torn up, out of their own ground,
and I move forests, I make mountains shake
and the earth groan, and I call the dead up out of their tombs —
and you too, moon, I pull you down.

Every poet says this, and no philosopher denies that a great deal that seems impossible can be brought about by incantations: driving off crops, calling down or forcing lightning, curing diseases, that sort of thing. Cato himself, in his book on farming, used certain chants against livestock diseases, and they're still in his writings today. Josephus reports that Solomon, too, knew incantations of this kind. And Celsus Africanus reports, following the teaching of the Egyptians, that the human body is treated according to the number of faces on the zodiac's signs — that is, by that many, thirty-six, demons, each one responsible for guarding one particular part of the body. The Egyptians call these demons by names in their own language, and when they invoke them, they use incantations to restore the damaged part of the body to health.