[12] Arius Didymus mentions that the Dorians referred to marriage as telos, a detail that might explain this somewhat unusual choice of words by the writer.

Though previously ignored as being of minor significance, magic has been proven to be widely practiced throughout the ancient Greek world in conjunction with official religious beliefs.

That said, magic remained a marginal practice, largely performed in secret, and associated with the underworld and the daimones (lesser guiding spirits, navigating between the gods and the humans).

[17] It was not uncommon for professional sorcerers to provide their guidance for payment, helping individuals with the composition of their curse,[13] which may have also been the case for the Pella tablet.

[18] Katadesmoi or defixiones were spells written on non-perishable material, such as lead, stone or baked clay, and were secretly buried to ensure their physical integrity, which would then guarantee the permanence of their intended effects.

This should not, however, be taken to indicate that only those of middling or low social status practiced magic in the Ancient Greek world; quite wealthy individuals would also use lead katadesmoi (curse tablets) for love, revenge, and to bind their opponents in athletic contests.

But please keep this (piece of writing) for my sake so that these events do not happen and wretched Thetima perishes miserably [...] but let me become happy and blessed.The Pella curse tablet is dated to the first half of the 4th century BC.

[5] Among the typical Northwest features of the curse tablet are the apocope in the proverbs κατ- and παρ-, the dative pronoun εμίν for εμοί, the temporal adverbs in -κα[28] (τόκα, ὁπόκα, which cannot be Thessalian, i.e. Aeolic),[32] the genitive pronoun ὑμῶμ for ὑμῶν, contraction of a: + o: to a: (πασᾶν for πασῶν), and an indication of spirantization of aspirates (γενέσται for γενέσθαι);[33] the last two and the apocope also being features of Thessalian.

[26] The variety displays instances of alternative spellings between <Ε, Ι, ΕΙ> and <Ο, Υ>, such as in words διελέξαιμι for διελίξαιμι, ἰμέ for εἰμί, πάλειν for πάλιν, and ἀνορόξασα for ἀνορύξασα.

Among these examples may be the word ΔΑΠΙΝΑ (δαπινά), a potential alternative spelling of ταπεινά,[34] which displays the occasional phenomenon of voicing the unvoiced consonants; also shared with Thessalian.

[22] Additional features, like the dative case in δαίμοσι and the assimilation of /g/ in γίνο[μαι, may be an indication of some Attic-Ionic influence on this Doric variety.

[5][18] The discovery of the Pella curse tablet, according to Olivier Masson, substantiates the view that the ancient Macedonian language was a form of North-West Greek:[36] Yet in contrast with earlier views which made of it [i.e. Macedonian] an Aeolic dialect (O. Hoffmann compared Thessalian) we must by now think of a link with North-West Greek (Locrian, Aetolian, Phocidian, Epirote).