On 6 March 2010 12:59, Khem Caigan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> The words Magos and Goes are also related through
> their connotations of trickery and jugglery.
quite so, attempts to distinguish the terms (still popular today and
with as little justification) were largely ignored in ancient times.
In a similar way St. Augustine dismissed attempts to distinguish
Theurgy and Goetia. Cumont's attempt to show that imported Persian
magic replaced 'crude and primitive goetia' falls at this hurdle,
among others. More recent scholarship shows goetia was doing rather
well at this point in time, and - as you point out - was not really
distinguished from magic at all. On balance the two look more like
synonyms, one of which was devalued sooner and more completely than
the other.
The term goetia is nevertheless important, as it is not a loan word
like 'magic', hence of importance in studying the origins of Western
approaches.
>Gorgias ( c. 480 - c. 375 ) uses the terms interchangeably
Gorgias' mentor of course was Empedocles, who he referred to as a
'goes', and who had - among other feats - raised a woman from the
dead.
ALWays
Jake
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