Chapter 12
In: Brill's Companion to Classics and Early Anthropology
Search for other papers by Irene Salvo in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Abstract
This chapter presents the work of the Italian ethno-anthropologist Ernesto de Martino (1908–1965) and its relationship with the classical world. De Martino is best known for his trilogy on South Italy: Morte e pianto rituale: Dal lamento funebre antico al pianto di Maria (Death and Ritual Lament, 1958); Sud e Magia (South and Magic, 1959); La terra del rimorso (The Land of Regret, 1961). He explored funeral rites, magic, and tarantism in Southern Italy thanks to extensive fieldwork. Classical material permeates his entire scholarly production, and he was in contact with such masters of Altertumswissenschaft as Raffaele Pettazzoni, Károly Kerény, and Angelo Brelich. In the archive of his papers in Rome, there is a dossier titled “The Classical World”. In his works, Graeco-Roman religion was a paradigm useful in understanding the ethnographical data, and vice versa. This aspect of de Martino’s scientific profile has been in part highlighted by other scholars (e.g. Di Donato 1999). In particular, de Martino’s treatment of funerary rituals has received a great deal of attention: ancient and modern evidence has been compared and studied philologically (e.g. Mirto 1990 (2016)). Less attention has been given to his treatment of the idea of fascinum/baskania (evil eye) in Graeco-Roman culture and South Italian contemporary folklore. This chapter presents an up-to-date overview of the relationship between de Martino’s ethnography and the use of classical material, as well as a specific investigation of his analysis of Roman fascinum, Greek baskania, and Italian malocchio.