DICKIE, Matthew W(allace) 1941-

PERSONAL: Born November 20, 1941, in Edinburgh, Scotland. Education: University of Edinburgh, M.A., 1964; Oxford University, B.A., 1966; University of Toronto, Ph.D., 1972.

ADDRESSES: Office—Department of Classics and Mediterranean Studies, University of Illinois, Chicago Circle, Box 4348, Chicago, IL 60680. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Swarthmore College, instructor, 1967-68, associate professor of classics, 1972-78; University of Illinois, Chicago, professor of classics, 1978—.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with O. Anderson) Homer's World: Fiction, Tradition, Reality, Coronet Books, 1995.

Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World, Routledge (New York, NY), 2001.

Contributor to Classical Quarterly, and Byzantine Studies.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A book on the Evil Eye in Greece and Rome.

SIDELIGHTS: Matthew W. Dickie is an associate professor of classics at the University of Illinois. His research interests include Homer, lyric poetry, Hellenistic poetry, Greek and Roman morals, Greco-Roman magic, and the history of religions.

Dickie's book Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World is an analysis of the magic performed in ancient Greece and Rome. Dickie proves that magic was performed during this time by sorcerers and sorceresses. He is especially interested in who the sorcerers and sorceresses were, where they came from, and what kind of magic they performed and why. "Dickie has a clear, astringent style, mercifully free of fly-by-night jargon and a narrative drive that makes the most of the story he has to tell," praised Peter Green in the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Bryn Mawr Classical Review contributor David Frankfurter noted, "Dickie's volume will probably be the most exhaustive account of magic in the ancient world for some time to come."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 23, 2001, Peter Green, "Hocus-Pocus," p. 5.

Times Literary Supplement, April 19, 2002, Peter Green, "The Methods of Ancient Magic," pp. 5-6.

ONLINE

Bryn Mawr Classical Review,http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/ (August 29, 2002), David Frankfurter, review of Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World.

Routledge,http://reference.routledge-ny.com/ (August 29, 2002), review of Magic and Magicians in the Greco-Roman World.

University of Chicago Department of Classics and Mediterranean Studies Web site,http://www.uic.edu/ (August 29, 2002), "Matthew Dickie."*