Asclepiades of Samos was a founding author of Greek literary epigram at the beginning of the Hellenistic period (323–30 BCE). His surviving verses consist mainly of witty love poems, whose influence on later authors has been well documented. This presentation examines Asclepiades’ use of magic not just as a realistic element within his erotic scenarios, but also as a metaphor for his own act of poetic creation. Love magic is already documented in the earliest literary text of the Greek canon, Homer’s Iliad, but its importance and pervasiveness in ancient religion can be thoroughly investigated using inscribed amulets and the spells from the Greek magical papyri.
Although the birth of literary epigrams is often traced back to the copying and collection of dedicatory stone inscriptions, the influence of magical inscriptions has not yet been properly considered. This presentation on the metapoetic function of magic in Asclepiades’ poetry offers new insights into the material and cultural origins of the epigrammatic genre.

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