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Book 4, chapter 75: the mandrake
The mandrake harvest: a dog on a cord pulls up the root while the gatherer turns away. Tacuinum Sanitatis, northern Italy, c. 1390 (Austrian National Library) · public domain
4.75.6
De Materia Medica 4.75.6 · The stupefying fruit4.75.6The stupefying fruit
Even the smell of the yellow fruit was thought to bring on stupor.
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τὰ1
tà
The
δὲ2
dè
—
μῆλα3
mêla
applesfruits
, ἐσθιόμενα4
esthiómena
eaten
καὶ5
kaì
orand
ὀσφραινόμενα6
osphrainómena
smelled
, are
καρωτικά7
karōtiká
stupefying
, καὶ8
kaì
and
ὁ9
ho
the
χυλός10
chylós
juice
ἐξ11
ex
from
αὐτῶν12
autôn
them
too
;πλεονασθέντα13
pleonasthénta
taken to excess
δὲ14
dè
—
, they
καὶ15
kaì
even
ποιεῖ16
poieî
makemakes
people
ἀφώνους17
aphṓnous
speechlessvoiceless
. The apples, eaten or smelled, are stupefying, and the juice from them too; taken to excess, they even make people speechless.
The apples, eaten or smelled, are stupefying, and the juice from them too; taken to excess, they even make people speechless.
Interpretation
The apples, eaten or smelled, are stupefying, and so is the juice pressed from them; taken to excess they even leave people speechless.
The mandrake’s "apples" are its small round yellow fruits. In the Song of Songs (7:13) they are the fragrant dudaim, and in Genesis 30 Rachel trades a night with Jacob for Leah’s mandrakes; the Septuagint translates both with this same plant name.
Karōtika, "stupefying," comes from karos, a heavy, stunned sleep. Being struck dumb is a sign of the poisoning this plant causes, the delirium and stupor that put mandrake among the deadly plants.