SC Connecticut News

An ancient object used in Yale University classes offers a glimpse into the past practices of settling scores. Known as a "curse tablet," this artifact, housed at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, is a thin lead sheet inscribed with ten lines of ancient Doric Greek script. It curses four men involved in a lawsuit in ancient Sicily around 450 BCE.

Jessica Lamont, an assistant professor of classics and history at Yale, incorporates the tablet into her courses on classical antiquity. These tablets were believed to be effective enough that they were offered to gods of the underworld by Greeks and Romans for about 1,000 years. Lamont explains that curses targeted not only legal opponents but also business rivals and competitors in athletic events.

"These were very charged, aggressive, powerful ritual objects that were meant to transform threatening situations," Lamont stated. She noted that lawsuits in Greek antiquity were high-stakes affairs where reputations and fortunes could be lost.

The curse tablets sometimes contained "binding spells" intended to incapacitate or restrain adversaries. The inscriptions were etched into lead with a stylus, orally recited, folded for concealment, and deposited in places like wells or graves as conduits to the underworld.

"We often see gods and goddesses from Greek and Roman mythology invoked," said Lamont. Figures such as Hermes and Persephone were thought to bring these curses to fruition.

Lamont's research focuses on these magical practices, which she explores in her book "In Blood and Ashes: Curse Tablets and Binding Spells in Ancient Greece." More than 2,000 curse tablets have been recovered globally, providing valuable insights for scholars since they are rarely mentioned in literary sources from their time.

According to Lamont, these artifacts capture diverse voices not found in contemporary texts. They reflect an agonistic culture where individuals used ritualistic means to cope with frustrations without direct confrontation.

"Whatever frustrations... you had, you were ritually exorcising them by inscribing them," Lamont explained. This practice allowed individuals to work through emotions within a contained ritual framework.