Describe a commonly found document in your world - what's in it and what is it for?

— Document

Pella Katadesmos (c. 375-350 BCE) by Dagina (presumably)

"The Pella Curse Tablet"

A message,

entrusted to the spirit of Markon

(recently deceased),

to the infernal daimones of the Underworld:

Heed you now this prayer

that a woman named Thetima

(and all other women,

including widows and maidens,

but most especially Thetima)

should be prevented by all possible means

from marrying a man named Dionysophon,

with the proviso that said Dionysophon

should instead fall in love

with a woman named Dagina,

who surely deserves better

than her miserable and lonely life,

and that said Dionysophon and said Dagina

should themselves be married,

and that their marriage

should be blessed with happiness,

and that they should grow old together,

and that said Dionysophon

should never desire any other woman,

and that said Thetima

should suffer a painful death

very, very soon,

amen!

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Curse Tablets

A katadesmos, or curse tablet, was a thin sheet of metal, a flat stone, or a baked clay tablet with writing meant to invoke supernatural aid.
Although some were intended to call down curses on an individual, others asked for blessings, worked as love charms, or conveyed messages to the dead.

Making a Curse Tablet

To make a katadesmos of metal, a sheet of lead was hammered to be uniformly paper-thin. A section was cut to the desired shape and size, and the text was scratched onto the surface in tiny lettering.
Katadesmoi of stone or clay could be similarly prepared, but their usage was less versatile, since only the metal tablets could be rolled into tubes, folded, or nailed to a wall or door frame.

Curse Tablets Seeking Help for the Dead

Some katadesmoi are found in the graves of infants or children, or with remains that indicate a particularly violent death. These were intended for the deceased to take into the Underworld for protection and guidance after death.
The tablet was a ticket of safe passage, believed to make it more likely for a soul to find its way to safety.

Curse Tablets Seeking Help from the Dead

Other katadesmoi found in graves were messages that the deceased loved one was meant to carry to a recipient already in the Underworld. Often, there would be many such tablets addressed to a number of previously dead relatives, updating them on affairs in the Land of the Living.

Love and Curses

Some katadesmoi invoked the aid of Aphrodite or Hera to make a target fall in love or want to enter into a marriage. Others called down plagues on a target.
These might, as justification, include references to offenses, grievances, or crimes committed by the target. They might request divine aid in pending litigation against the target. Or they might solicit interference with a targeted rival in business, sports, or love.

Special Delivery

A katadesmos could be buried underground, and thereby given to the gods for safekeeping. For greater effect, katadesmoi could be secretly hidden in the target's living quarters. And for ultimate effectiveness, the katadesmoi could be paired with tiny dolls made to resemble the target and including a sample of the target's hair or clothing.
To call for the target's death, the doll included with the katadesmos could be pierced with nails and its hands and feet bound together. Whether or not this was effective, it certainly must have been cathartic for the maker.
One remarkable katadesmos, the Pella curse tablet that inspired the poem above, served as an appeal to the dead, a curse tablet, and love tablet all at once!

Preemptive Curses

Sometimes, instead of punishment for a past crime, a katadesmos would outline terms under which a target's future action might trigger a punishment from the gods. These tablets, whether planted in the ground, dropped down a well, or nailed to a temple wall, would act as "curse time bombs" that might go off years, decades, or generations after being set.

The Ironic Backfire

The metal most commonly used to make a curse tablet had to be cheap, abundant, and malleable. In the ancient world, that meant lead. Which meant that people who made or handled curse tablets were exposing themselves to increasing levels of a substance now known to cause serious neurological damage.
The effects of lead poisoning include:

• Abdominal pain
• Constipation
• Chronic Fatigue
• Headaches
• Loss of Appetite
• Memory Loss
• Pain or tingling in the hands and/or feet
• Weakness
• Depression
• Distraction
• Confusion
• Irritability
• Nausea

In the end, a person creating curse tablets may have suffered more actual harm than any of their intended victims!

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Read the Manuscript

Poetry! (Mythic Verse, Vol. 1)

READ

Mythology

Greek/Roman

Type

Text, Religious

Medium

Metal