⸻ · ⸻
Book 4, chapter 75: the mandrake
Heuresis, Discovery, hands Dioscorides the mandrake; the dog that pulled it up lies dying. The Vienna Dioscorides, Constantinople, c. 512 (Austrian National Library, Cod. Med. gr. 1, f. 4v) · public domain
4.75.1
De Materia Medica 4.75.1 · Mandrake, and its names4.75.1Mandrake, and its names
A warning before the Greek: mandrake is poisonous, and every part of it can kill. What follows is a record of what ancient doctors believed and did, never a recipe.
· · ·
μανδραγόρας1
mandragóras
Mandrake
. οἱ2
hoi
Some
δὲ3
dè
—
call it
ἀντίμιμον4
antímimon
antimimon
, οἱ5
hoi
some
δὲ6
dè
—
βομβόχυλον7
bombóchylon
bombochylon
, οἱ8
hoi
some
δὲ9
dè
—
καλοῦσιν10
kaloûsin
call it
Κιρκαίαν11
Kirkaían
CircaeaCirce's plant
, ἐπειδὴ12
epeidḕ
since
ἡ13
hē
the
ῥίζα14
rhíza
root
δοκεῖ15
dokeî
is thoughtseems
εἶναι16
eînai
to be
ποιητική17
poiētikḗ
a makerproductive of
φίλτρων18
phíltrōn
of love potionslove charms
. Mandrake. Some call it antimimon, some bombochylon, some call it Circaea, since the root is thought to be a maker of love potions.
Mandrake. Some call it antimimon, some bombochylon, some call it Circaea, since the root is thought to be a maker of love potions.
Interpretation
Mandrake. Some call it antimimon, some bombochylon, and some Circaea, since the root is thought to make love potions.
Entries in Dioscorides open like this: the plant’s name, then the other names people used for it. Kirkaia ties the mandrake to Circe, the witch of the Odyssey who drugged Odysseus’ men, and the reason given is the root’s fame in love magic.
Some manuscripts add one more name here, "others Dirkaia." Wellmann printed it in square brackets: he judged it a copying slip that repeats "Kirkaia," and the reader leaves it out.
4.75.3a
De Materia Medica 4.75.3a · A wine against pain4.75.3aA wine against pain
Doctors used the root to put patients beyond feeling before surgery.
· · ·
Some boil down the roots in wine to a third, and after straining they store it, using one cup for the sleepless and those in great pain, and for those being cut or cauterized in whom they wish to bring on insensibility.