Stories of ghostly spirits who return to this world to warn of danger, to prophesy, to take revenge, to request proper burial, or to comfort the living fascinated people in ancient times just as they do today. In this innovative, interdisciplinary study, the author combines a modern folkloric perspective with literary analysis of ghost stories from classical antiquity to shed new light on the stories' folk roots. The author begins by examining ancient Greek and Roman beliefs about death and the departed and the various kinds of ghost stories which arose from these beliefs. She then focuses on the longer stories of Plautus, Pliny, and Lucian, which concern haunted houses. Her analysis illuminates the oral and literary transmission and adaptation of folkloric motifs and the development of the ghost story as a literary form. In her concluding chapter, the author also traces the influence of ancient ghost stories on modern ghost story writers, a topic that will interest all readers and scholars of tales of hauntings.

In a culture where the supernatural possessed an immediacy now strange to us, magic was of great importance both in the literary mythic tradition and in ritual practice. In this book, Daniel Ogden presents 300 texts in new translations, along with brief but explicit commentaries. Authors include the well known (Sophocles, Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, Virgil, Pliny) and the less familiar, and extend across the whole of Graeco-Roman antiquity.

The first anthology to present the entire range of ancient Greek and Roman stories- from myths and fairy tales to jokes Captured centaurs and satyrs, talking animals, people who suddenly change sex, men who give birth, the temporarily insane and the permanently thick-witted, delicate sensualists, incompetent seers, a woman who remembers too much, a man who cannot laugh-these are just some of the colorful characters who feature in the unforgettable stories that ancient Greeks and Romans told in their daily lives. Together they created an incredibly rich body of popular oral stories that include, but range well beyond, mythology-from heroic legends, fairy tales, and fables to ghost stories, urban legends, and jokes.

"Lacy Collison-Morley's 'Greek and Roman Ghost Stories' delves deep into the supernatural realms of ancient civilizations, offering a captivating anthology of spectral encounters from antiquity. As one of the foremost authorities on classical literature, Collison-Morley meticulously curates a collection of haunting tales that transcend time and space. Drawing from a rich tapestry of Ancient Greek literature and Roman supernatural tales, this anthology transports readers to a world where myths and legends intertwine with the mysteries of the afterlife. Through classical mythology narratives and ancient ghost stories, readers are immersed in a realm of eerie encounters and otherworldly phenomena. With each story carefully selected and presented, Collison-Morley showcases the enduring allure of Greek and Roman folklore, offering insights into the supernatural beliefs and cultural practices of antiquity. From supernatural legends to mythological ghost stories, this anthology serves as a comprehensive exploration of the paranormal encounters that have fascinated and intrigued readers for centuries. As a classic literature classic and spectral encounters compilation, 'Greek and Roman Ghost Stories' is a must-read for anyone fascinated by the intersection of history, mythology, and the supernatural."

Drawing from a rich corpus of art works, including sarcophagi, tomb paintings, and floor mosaics, Patrick R. Crowley investigates how something as insubstantial as a ghost could be made visible through the material grit of stone and paint. In this fresh and wide-ranging study, he uses the figure of the ghost to offer a new understanding of the status of the image in Roman art and visual culture. Tracing the shifting practices and debates in antiquity about the nature of vision and representation, Crowley shows how images of ghosts make visible structures of beholding and strategies of depiction. Yet the figure of the ghost simultaneously contributes to a broader conceptual history that accounts for how modalities of belief emerged and developed in antiquity. Neither illustrations of ancient beliefs in ghosts nor depictions of afterlife, these images show us something about the visual event of seeing itself. The Phantom Image offers essential insight into ancient art, visual culture, and the history of the image.

Ranging over the many lands in which the Greek and Roman civilizations flourished, from the Greek archiac period through the late Roman empire, this is a comprehensive survey of the subject of Greek and Roman necromancy.