The texts on curse tablets are typically addressed to infernal or liminal gods such as Hermes , Charon , Hecate , and Persephone . Sometimes , a sometimes a dead person ( probably the corpse in whose grave the tablet was placed ) had to mediate . The texts on curse tablets are typically addressed to infernal or liminal gods such as Hermes , Charon , Hecate , and Persephone , sometimes via the mediation of a dead person ( probably the corpse in whose grave the tablet was deposited ) .