Latin · AI translation
Latin curse tablets, Curse tablets from Raetia (Epigraphic Database Heidelberg)
English for the 2 passages of this work that the Atlas of Ancient Myth, Magic in the Ancient Texts and a study of demons and angels quote or cite, and which the library holds in no published English. The numbers are the edition's own references.
17875.2.7–57898.1.4
[ipi]atis [- - -]
[... that you] se[i]ze [...]
[- - - - - -]
[...]
Mutae Tacitae ut mutus sit
To Muta Tacita: that he may be mute,
Quartus agitatus erret ut mus
Quartus; harried, may he wander like a mouse
fugiens aut avis adversus basyliscum (!)
in flight, or a bird facing a basilisk,
ut e[i]us os mutu(m) sit Mutae
that h[i]s mouth may be mute. Mute Ones!
Mutae [d]irae sint Mutae
Mute Ones, may they be [d]ire! Mute Ones,
tacitae sint Mutae
may they be silent! Mute Ones,
[Qu]a[rt]us ut insaniat
that [Qu]a[rt]us may go mad.
Ut Eriniis rutus sit et
That he may be cast down (?) to the Erinyes, and
Quartus Orco ut Mutae
Quartus to Orcus; that the Mute Ones,
tacitae ut mut[ae s]int
silent — that they may [be] mute
ad portas aureas
at the golden gates.
De(fig)o AMC ea(m) re(m) impl-
I bind AMC, that thing. [He] will ful-
e(b)it#impl-
-fil [it]:
e(b)i⟨t⟩#IMPLEID D(is) P(at)er ad era(m) Ogm-
Dis Pater, to the Lady (?), Ogmius:
ius salute(m) cor#c⟨o⟩r#CUR talos#tal⟨o⟩s#TALUS re[n(es)]
health, heart, ankles, ki[dneys]
Translator's note. Fragments of three tablets. 17875: '[ipi]atis' completes the 'cor-' that ends the preceding line, cor[ipi]atis, 'that you (plural) seize'; the next line is lost. 19906: Muta Tacita is the goddess of silence; each later 'Mutae' could be the goddess ('to Muta') rather than plural 'Mute Ones', and the repeated formula is obscure; 'rutus' is doubtful (perhaps for ruptus, 'broken'); the 'golden gates' are unexplained. 57898: AMC is unexplained, perhaps initials; 'ad era(m)' is unclear ('to the Lady', or perhaps 'to the altar'); Ogmius is the Celtic god Ogmios. The edition gives some words in several spellings separated by # (normalised, and as written: IMPLEID, CUR, TALUS); each word is translated once, so 'will fulfil' (implebit) runs over the tablet's first three lines.
58312.1.5–58312.2.5
rsus il(l)am loqu(i)t(ur) omnes
against her speaks — all of them
per[da]tis
may you de[str]oy.
[Ro]g(o) vos omnes [q]ui illi
[I a]sk you all, [w]ho for her
malum [pa]ratis dari
are [pre]paring evil to be given:
[[.][.]]DM[[.]]O dari O[g]mio a[bs]u-
[...]DM[...]O to be given to O[g]mius, to be [con]-
mi mort[e][- - -]T[- - -]T[- - -]NTI et Nige[r][- - -]
sumed by deat[h] [...]T[...]T[...]NTI and Nige[r] [...]
DIM[- - -]O Valerium
DIM[...]O Valerius
Translator's note. 'against' completes 'adve-' at the end of the preceding line (adve-rsus). Ogmius is the Celtic god Ogmios. In line 2.3 letters before and after DM are erased on the tablet; DM...O and DIM...O are unexplained. Niger and Valerius (accusative, so among those cursed) are names; the surrounding words are lost.
The whole original: the Epigraphic Database Heidelberg.