Liudmila Rusinova

• Since 05/2026: Full member of the graduate program “Glocal Religiosities: Entanglements, Identities, Belongings”
• Since 04/2025: Doctoral Student, Department of Religious Studies, University of Erfurt
• Since 02/2023: Research Assistant (under the chair of Prof. Dr. Jörg Rüpke), Max-Weber-Kolleg, University of Erfurt
• 2020 – 2025: M.A. in Religious Studies, University of Erfurt
• 2014 – 2018: B.A. in Philosophy (cum laude), Russian Christian Humanities Academy 

Men as Targets of Ancient Erotic Magic: Constructions of Male Sexuality and Gender in Magical Texts and Ancient Literature

This doctoral project explores the neglected role of men as targets of erotic magic in the Greco-Roman world (first century BCE–fourth century CE). Using Greek and Demotic magical papyri and curse tablets (defixiones), it reinterprets erotic binding and separation spells through a gender- and queer-theoretical lens. While often viewed as instruments of female erotic manipulation, these texts reveal a more complex ritual landscape, where men, sometimes in same-sex contexts, appear as passive recipients of magical control. The project addresses four core questions: Who were the male targets sociologically, and how were their identities constructed through magical discourse? How were such men portrayed in literary narratives? Why do separation spells contain approximately equal numbers of male and female targets and what social tensions do they encode? Finally, how have gendered assumptions shaped modern translations of these spells? Through close textual and contextual analysis, this study rethinks masculinity, erotic power, and emotional vulnerability in antiquity, challenging dominant models and showing how magic functioned as a site of contested gender roles and desires.

Rusinova, L. (2019). The image of Socrates in Athenaeus’ Δειπνοσοφισταί. In Universum of Platonic thought: Paideia, state, man: Anthropology in the Platonic tradition: Proceedings of the XXVII scientific conference (Russia), St. Petersburg (pp. 123-130).

Rusinova, L. (2018). Woman in Plato’s political philosophy. Acta Eruditorum, 25, 106-108.

Rusinova, L. (2018). An angry ignoramus, a bigamist, an adult erômenos. The Aristoxenus' negative image of Socrates. [Paper presentation]. In Platonian legacy in historical retrospect: Intellectual transformations and new research strategies. Proceedings of the XXVI scientific conference (Russia), St. Petersburg (pp. 305-314).

Rusinova, L. (2017). The gender aspect of Plato’s theory of ideas. Universum platonskoy mysli: Platon i antichnaya nauka, 1, 52