the Elder, and Aulus Gellius. Peter Walcot's Envy and the Greeks (1978) listed more than one hundred works by these and other authors mentioning the evil eye. Noting that Greeks are an ethnic group indigenous to Greece and the Levant, artefacts can be found from this region. Ancient authors frequently mention the ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος (evil eye). Classical authors attempted both to describe and to explain the function of the evil eye. Plutarch in his work entitled Symposium has a separate chapter describing such beliefs. In his scientific explanation he stated that the eyes were the chief, if not sole, source of the deadly rays that were supposed to spring up like poisoned darts from the inner recesses of a person possessing the evil eye. Plutarch treated the phenomenon of the evil eye as something seemingly inexplicable that is a source of wonder and cause of incredulity. Pliny the Elder described the ability of certain African enchanters to have the "power of fascination with the eyes and can even kill those on whom they fix their gaze". The idea of the evil eye appears in the poetry of Virgil in a conversation between the shepherds Menalcas and Damoetas. In the passage, Menalcas is lamenting the poor health of his stock: "What eye is it that has fascinated my tender lambs?". The Christian Gospels record the fact that Jesus warned against the evil eye in a list of evils although it is often called by another name when translated from the original Greek (Mark 7:23) Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that the evil eye could affect both humans and animals, for example cattle. Protection from the eye The belief in the evil eye during antiquity varied across different regions and periods. The evil eye was not feared with equal intensity in every corner of the Roman Empire. There were places in which people felt more conscious of the danger of the evil eye. In Roman times, not only were individuals considered to possess the power of the evil eye but whole tribes, especially those of Pontus and Scythia, were believed to be transmitters of the evil eye. Many different objects and charms were used for protection from fascination. The protective items referred by the Greeks with a variety of names such as apotropaia, probaskania, periammata, periapta and profylaktika. Greeks placed talismans in their houses and wore amulets to protect them from the