EROTIC CURSE TABLETS FROM THE HEROON OF OPHELTES AT NEMEA

Four inscribed lead curse tablets excavated from the Heroon of Opheltes at Nemea are edited and presented here with commentary. The texts of the tablets are erotic in nature, but closer analysis reveals a fundamental ambiguity in the rhetorical force of the anatomical lists and the operative verb apostrepho in the curses. The choice of a hero shrine as the place of their deposition is unusual; a deciding factor for this location may have been the presence of the grave of Opheltes, who was believed to have died very young (adros; ) and through violence (biaiothanatos;), both of which being desirable qualities in the practice of ancient magic.