Greek Magical Papyri is a massive collection of spells, rituals, and curses from Greco-Roman Egypt that reveals ancient magic was mostly just petty squabbles and aggressive dating tactics.

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Greek Magical Papyri is a massive collection of spells, rituals, and curses from Greco-Roman Egypt that reveals ancient magic was mostly just petty squabbles and aggressive dating tactics. Forget lofty spiritual enlightenment; these papyri are filled with highly specific instructions on how to give your business rival insomnia or force someone to fall madly in love with you using bat blood. One famous spell requires you to write a demon's name on a piece of lead, wrap it in the hair of a murdered gladiator, and bury it in a graveyard just to ensure your favorite chariot racing team wins on Sunday. The texts also heavily feature 'barbarous names,' which were just long strings of unintelligible vowels that magicians shouted to sound infinitely more powerful and mysterious to their paying clients. It completely ruins the majestic, ancient aesthetic of sorcery when you realize these spells were essentially the classical antiquity equivalent of anonymously keying your ex's car in a parking lot!