Blinding as a Means of Becoming Invisible: Reflections on the Context of P.Oxy. LVIII.3931

This article proposes a new interpretation of P.Oxy. LVIII.3931, a blinding ritual for achieving invisibility. The discussion explores how previous scholars have translated the verb ἐπ̣ιπορεύομαι in line 9 of the text. Although prior editors have read it as either "I shall press hard" or "I travel forth," here the case is made for interpreting it as ἐπ̣(ε)ὶ πορεύομαι, "when I go forth." Such an interpretation is consistent with other invisibility spells whose context for invisibility is open-ended, but which also include phrases or clauses referencing the time or circumstance under which the newly acquired invisibility is said to function.