Citing acts of the mighty Olympian Poseidon, the god of the sea, influence for modern magic can be seen. In attempts to impress Demeter, Poseidon created many animals, including the horse. Today modern magicians produce animals from hats or morph a rabbit into a duck in the image of Poseidon's godly acts. Hades, the god of the underworld can be seen influencing modern magic. His influence comes in the form of the many disappearing tricks of contemporary magicians, for "he has a helmet that makes him invisible" (www.greekmythology.com). .
It can be argued that the powers of these gods and goddesses have influenced the modern day magicians such as Harry Houdini and David Copperfield. These gods and goddesses possess supernatural powers that elevate them to the point of worship to the people. The people worship them because they cannot understand how the gods can do what they do. The power derived from this shroud of mystery can be seen as the earliest influence for one to perform magic. Magic is a phenomenon that impresses people of all ages, and it is this that magicians desire. For example, Harry Houdini is described by Kenneth Silverman as being "a confident braggart and power-hungry" ( Kenneth Silverman, Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss 287). In the light of Houdini, the Greek gods and their subsequent myths can be viewed as a great influence for other of today's magicians to wow billions of people on a regular basis.
The earliest recorded accounts of performed magic come from 2700 BC in the "Westcar" papyrus, which now rests in the Berlin State Museum (www.historyofmagic.com). Through this form of past literature, one is made familiar with the workings of the Egyptian magician Dedi, who performed before Cheops, the builder of the Great Pyramid. Reflections of today's magic are brought forefront in this ancient piece, which states: .
"Then a goose was brought to him with its head cut off.
