THE ECHENEIS AND EROTIC MAGIC

摘要

A number of ancient writers speak of the fish known in Greek as the ἐχενηΐς, n‘ship holder’ and in Latin as the remora.n1n With one exception,n2n they do so in refer-nence to its eponymous3n capacity to retard4n or to stop5n the progress of a ship, even nwhen under full sail or driven by a following wind.n6n The echeneis has attracted a nmodest amount of attention on this score in both Classical and modern literature. nBut among the moderns, no one, to the best of my knowledge, has examined a nless-noticed feature of the fish, which is mentioned by a mere two ancient authors, nAristotle and, following him closely, the Elder Pliny7n – namely its use in erotic nmagic. The passages in question read:nἜστι δ᾽ ἰχθύδιόν τι τῶν πετραίων, ὃ καλοῦσί τινες ἐχενηΐδα, καὶ χρῶνταί τινες αὐτῷ nπρὸς δίκας καὶ φίλτρα. (Arist. Hist. An. 505b18–20)nandnEst paruus admodum piscis adsuetus petris echeneis appellatus. hoc carinis adhaerente nnaues tardius ire creduntur inde nomine inposito, quam ob causam amatoriis quoque nueneficiis infamis est et iudiciorum ac litium mora, quae crimina una laude pensat fluxus ngrauidarum utero sistens partusque continens ad puerperium. (Plin. HN 9.79)