SOURCE: “Claudian's Neglect of Magic as a Motif,” in Transactions of the American Philological Association, Vol. 79, 1948, pp. 87-91.

In the following essay, Levy speculates that Claudian essentially ignored magic in his writings because it was associated with Eastern culture and Claudian wished to stress his identity as a Roman.

In an article written in 1941, which has only recently reached this country, Eitrem discusses the use of magic as a motif in Greek and Latin literature.¹ He begins his discussion of Greek writings with the Homeric poems, and ends with the authors of the Hellenistic novel. On the Latin side, his chronological range extends from Vergil to Apuleius. Those interested in later Latin literature may wonder at the absence of Claudian, who usually brings up the rear in any procession of Roman authors. Though Eitrem assigns no reason for his failure to include the “last of the Roman poets...