About Ashes

“Ash. That’s what the remnant of burnt wood is called, which is a composite of contrary substances and qualities. For it contains within itself something earthy on the one hand, and on the other what is as it were smoky or sooty or whatever you want to call. These latter parts of it are very fine and when the ash is soaked in water and strained they are carried off with it; whatever earthy stuff remains behind becomes weak and not biting since it imparted the hot power to the lye water.

“Not all ash has precisely the same mixture; rather, it varies somewhat according to differences in the materials burned. Dioscorides—I have no idea why—says ash has an astringent power, but in fact fig ashes are free from any such quality because unlike oak, holm oak, strawberry tree, Valonia oak, mastic, ivy and anything else like these the fig tree itself doesn’t exhibit an astringent quality in any of its parts, but is mostly full of a strong, hot and acrid sap. Indeed, ash from astringent wood is very astringent and I’ve been known to use it on occasion to stop bleeding when no other drug was available; but no one should ever use fig ash for this, for since it is mixed with something detergent it is extremely acrid and caustic and differs in both respects from ash made of oak wood: first because the smoky material in it is much more acrid; and second because the (as it were) earthy material in it, which in the others is fairly astringent, is in this case detergent like in the ash of spurge.

“Lime is also a species of ash, being composed of finer parts than the ash from wood, inasmuch as stones need to be roasted much more intensely to be turned into ash—but for all that it also has a great deal of fire within it. And for this reason, when it is washed it becomes a drug that dries without biting, even more so if it is washed two or three times. It becomes considerably dispersing when it is washed with sea water. We’ll talk about it when we come to the discussion about things extracted from mines.”

δʹ. Περὶ τέφρας.

Τέφρα. τῶν κεκαυμένων ξύλων τὸ λείψανον οὕτω προσαγορεύεται, σύνθετον ὑπάρχον ἐξ ἐναντίων οὐσιῶν τε καὶ ποιοτήτων. ἔχει γὰρ ἐν αὑτῷ τὸ μέν τι γεῶδες, τὸ δ' οἷον αἰθαλῶδες ἢ λιγνυῶδες ἢ ὅπως ἂν ἐθέλῃ τις καλεῖν. ταυτὶ μὲν οὖν τὰ μόρια λεπτομερῆ τ' ἐστὶ καὶ βρεχομένης ὕδατι τῆς τέφρας καὶ διηθουμένης συναποφέρεται. ὅσον δ' ὑπολείπεται γεῶδες, ἀσθενὲς καὶ ἄδηκτον γίγνεται ἐν τῇ κονίᾳ τὴν θερμὴν δύναμιν ἀποτιθέμενον.

οὐχ ἅπασα δὲ τέφρα τὴν αὐτὴν ἀκριβῶς ἔχει κρᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τῆς καυθείσης ὕλης διαφορὰν ὑπαλλάττεται. Διοσκορίδης δὲ οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως στυπτικὴν αὐτὴν ἔχειν φησὶ τὴν δύναμιν. καίτοι γε ἡ συκίνη πάσης ἀπήλλακται τοιαύτης ποιότητος, ὅτι καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ δένδρον οὐχ ὥσπερ δρῦς καὶ πρῖνος καὶ κόμαρος καὶ φηγὸς καὶ σχῖνος καὶ κισσὸς, ὅσα τ' ἄλλα τοιαῦτα, τὴν στρυφνὴν ἐπιφαίνει ποιότητα κατ' οὐδὲν ἑαυτοῦ μέρος, ἀλλ' ἔστιν ὀποῦ πλῆρες ὅλον ἰσχυροῦ καὶ θερμοῦ καὶ δριμέος. ἐκ μὲν δὴ τῶν στρυφνῶν ξύλων ἡ τέφρα στυπτικὸν οὐκ ὀλίγον ἔχει, καὶ ἔγωγέ ποτε δι' αὐτῆς ἐπισχὼν αἱμοῤῥαγίας οἶδα, μηδενὸς ἑτέρου παρόντος φαρμάκου. τῇ συκίνῃ δ' οὐκ ἄν τις εἰς τοῦτο χρήσαιτό ποτε, πολὺ γὰρ αὕτη γε τὸ δριμὺ καὶ τὸ καυστικὸν ἔχει τῷ ῥυπτικῷ μεμιγμένον καὶ κατ' ἄμφω διενήνοχε τῆς ἐκ τῶν δρυΐνων ξύλων, ὅτι τε τὸ αἰθαλῶδες ἐν αὐτῇ πολλῷ δριμύτερόν ἐστι καὶ ὅτι τὸ οἷον γεῶδες, ἐν ἐκείναις μὲν ὑποστῦφόν πώς ἐστιν, ἐν ταύτῃ δὲ ῥυπτικὸν, ὥσπερ ἐν τῇ τῶν τιθυμάλλων.

ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἡ τίτανος εἶδός τι τέφρας, λεπτομερεστέρα μὲν οὖσα τῆς ἐκ τῶν ξύλων, παρ' ὅσον ἀκριβέστερον οἱ λίθοι κατοπτᾶσθαι δέονται πρὸς τὸ γενέσθαι τέφραν, ὅμως μὴν ἔχουσα καὶ αὐτὴ τὸ οἷον ἐμπύρευμα πολύ. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο πλυθεῖσα ξηραντικὸν ἀδήκτως γίνεται φάρμακον, καὶ μᾶλλον, εἰ δὶς ἢ καὶ τρὶς πλυθείη. διαφορητικὴ δ' ἱκανῶς γίνεται θαλάσσῃ πλυθεῖσα. λεχθήσεται δὲ ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς κᾀπειδὰν περὶ τῶν μεταλλευομένων ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν γίγνηται.

Galen, On Simple Drugs 8.19.2, 12.138–140 K.

Mardi Gras with Galen: a recipe for ancient Roman pancakes

Here’s a recipe (well, sort of) and description of how pancakes were cooked in ancient Rome. Some things to note: Galen points out the word for ‘pancake’ is pronounced differently by Attic and Asiatic Greek speakers, where the α and the η are switched: ταγηνῖται (tagenitai) vs. τηγανῖται (teganitai). The word for ‘pan’, τάγηνον (tagenon), doesn’t seem to undergo this vowel shift. It is cognate with tajine, but a tajine is more like the ancient kribanos, which Galen mentions in relation to the more common kind of cake, itrion (ἴτριον), known as libum in Latin (a nice recipe here; I like this how-to video). Galen associates these cakes with country people and very poor city people who he tells us make their bread out of whatever they have around. I also think it is interesting how long it takes Galen to describe something as familiar (at least to a North American) as flipping a pancake. Flipping a cake must not have been a very common thing to do (I suppose it still isn’t something one does to most cakes).

“Now would be a good time to talk about all those other cakes that they make from wheat flour. The ones called tagenitai [pancakes] by the Attic speakers but teganitai by us Greek speakers in Asia are prepared solely with olive oil. The oil is placed in a pan that is set on a smokeless fire and once it’s hot wheat flour that’s been mixed with lots of water is poured onto it. After it has cooked for a short time in the oil, it sets and thickens like soft cheese solidifying in baskets. At this point the cooks turn it round, bringing the upper side underneath so that it comes into contact with the pan and turning the side that used to be underneath and is sufficiently cooked so that it becomes the top; once the side underneath has set, they turn it round again two or three times until they think it has been cooked through.

“Now, it’s clear that this is thick-humoured, able to block the stomach, and productive of raw humours. That’s why some people mix honey with it and others sea salt as well. This would be a “kind” or “type” (or whatever your want to call it) of flat-cake, like many other such types of flat-cakes made from whatever’s at hand by country people and very poor people in the city. Likewise all those unleavened cakes they bake in a kribanos then remove and put immediately into warm honey so that it soaks them through, these too are a kind of flat-cake, as are all dishes prepared from cakes with honey.”

Περὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων πεμμάτων, ὅσα σκευάζουσιν ἐξ ἀλεύρου πυρίνου, καιρὸς ἂν εἴη λέγειν. οἱ μὲν οὖν ταγηνῖται παρὰ τοῖς Ἀττικοῖς ὀνομαζόμενοι, παρ' ἡμῖν δὲ τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Ἕλλησι τηγανῖται σκευάζονται δι' ἐλαίου μόνου. βάλλεται δὲ τὸ μὲν ἔλαιον εἰς τάγηνον ἐπικείμενον ἀκάπνῳ πυρί, καταχεῖται δ' αὐτῷ θερμανθέντι τὸ τῶν πυρῶν ἄλευρον ὕδατι δεδευμένον πολλῷ. διὰ ταχέων οὖν ἑψόμενον ἐν τῷ ἐλαίῳ συνίσταται καὶ παχύνεται παραπλησίως ἁπαλῷ τυρῷ τῷ κατὰ τοὺς ταλάρους πηγνυμένῳ. τηνικαῦτα δ' ἤδη καὶ στρέφουσιν οἱ σκευάζοντες αὐτό, τὴν μὲν ἄνωθεν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐργαζόμενοι κάτωθεν, ὡς ὁμιλεῖν τῷ ταγήνῳ, τὸ δ' αὐτάρκως ἡψημένον, ὃ κάτωθεν ἦν πρότερον, εἰς ὕψος ἀνάγοντες, ὡς ἐπιπολῆς εἶναι, κἀπειδὰν ἤδη καὶ τὸ κάτω παγῇ, στρέφουσιν αὖθις αὐτὸ δίς που καὶ τρίς, ἄχριπερ ἂν ὅλον ὁμαλῶς αὐτοῖς ἡψῆσθαι δόξῃ.

εὔδηλον οὖν, ὅτι παχύχυμόν τε τοῦτ' ἐστὶ καὶ σταλτικὸν γαστρὸς καὶ χυμῶν ὠμῶν γεννητικόν. διὸ καί τινες αὐτῷ μιγνύουσι μέλιτος, εἰσὶ δ' οἳ καὶ τῶν θαλαττίων ἁλῶν. εἴη δ' ἂν ἤδη τοῦτό γε πλακοῦντός τι γένος ἢ εἶδος ἢ ὅπως ἂν ὀνομάζειν ἐθέλῃς, ὥσπερ καὶ ἄλλα πολλὰ τοιαῦτα πλακούντων εἴδη συντιθέασιν αὐτοσχεδίως οἵ τε κατ' ἀγρὸν ἄνθρωποι καὶ τῶν κατὰ πόλιν οἱ πενέστατοι. τοιγαροῦν καὶ ὅσα διὰ κριβάνου τῶν ἀζύμων πεμμάτων ὀπτῶσιν, εἶτ' ἀφελόντες ἐμβάλλουσιν εὐθέως εἰς μέλι θερμόν, ὡς δέξασθαι δι' ὅλων ἑαυτῶν αὐτό, καὶ ταῦτα πλακοῦντός τι γένος ἐστὶ καὶ τὰ διὰ τῶν ἰτρίων σκευαζόμενα μετὰ μέλιτος πάντα.

Galen, On the Capacities of Foods 1.3 (6.490–492 K.)

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Update 22 February 2021

My nieces (with my sister’s help) decided to try out Galen’s recipe along with some traditional pancakes. They used some very light olive oil and some locally milled whole wheat flour. Here’s a quick video.

Love Doctor: Aretaeus on Love-Sickness and Melancholy

“There’s a story that some incurably melancholic person fell in love with a girl and when the doctors could do nothing to help, love cured him. I think however that he was in love from the start and that he was feeling down and disheartened because of the bad luck he was having with the girl and so seemed to ordinary people to be melancholic. He had no idea at that point that it was love; but when he realized his love for the girl, he stopped feeling down and he got rid of his anger and sorrow and the joy sobered him up out of his sad state. For his mind was restored by doctor love.”

λόγος ὅτι τῶν τοιῶνδέ τις ἀνηκέστως ἔχων, κούρης ἤρα τε καὶ τῶν ἰητρῶν οὐδὲν ὠφελούντων ὁ ἔρως μιν ἰήσατο· δοκέω δὲ ἔγωγε ἐρᾶν μὲν αὐτὸν ἀρχῆθεν, κατηφέα δὲ καὶ δύσθυμον [ἢ] ὑπ' ἀτυχίης τῆς κούρης ἔμμεναι καὶ μελαγχολικὸν δοκέειν τοῖσι δημότῃσιν. οὗτος οὔτε μὴν ἦν ἔρωτα ἐγγιγνώσκων, ἐπεὶ δὲ τὸν ἔρωτα ξυνῆψε τῇ κούρῃ, παύεται τῆς κατηφείης, καὶ διασκίδνησι ὀργήν τε καὶ λύπην, χάρμῃ δὲ ἐξένηψε τῆς δυσθυμίης· καθίσταται γὰρ τὴν γνώμην ἔρωτι ἰητρῷ.

Aretaeus, Causes and Signs of Chronic Diseases 1.5.8, 41,4–11 Hude

A fragrant perfume from the Dynameron of Nikolaos Myrepsos (the Perfumer)

A perfume recipe from the Dynameron of Nikolaos Myrepsos (“the Perfumer”), who seems to have been a Byzantine physician and perfumer of the 13th century. The Dynameron is one of those recipe books that was added to over time, so it’s anyone’s guess where the recipe comes from or what it might have been used to treat. The first edition of the massive Dynameron—it has around 3000 recipes—was completed in 2019 by Ilias Valiakos and published open access with Propylaeum. It is available here.

Note on weights and volumes: one ὅλκή weighs the same as one δραχμή, about 3.4 grams. A ξέστης is about 550 ml. A κύαθος is about 45ml.

“Perfume recipe, the one called ‘fragrant’.

It contains:

• 28 holkai terebinth resin

• 14 holkai clean wax

• 3 holkai each of:

  • juice of hyssop

  • Attic honey

  • deer marrow

  • ammoniac incense

  • galbanum

  • foam of soda

• 0.5 sextarios of old oil

• 1.5 holke of castorion

• 1 kyathon of fine wine.

Grind all these together and prepare it well. Give when needed, use.”

Μύρου σκευασία, τοῦ εὐώδους λεγομένου· ἔχει: Τερμεντίνης, ὁλκὰς κηʹ· κηροῦ καθαροῦ· ὁλκὰς ιδʹ· ὑσσώπου ὑγροῦ· μέλιτος Ἀττικοῦ· μυελοῦ ἐλαφείου· ἀμμωνιακοῦ θυμιάματος· χαλβάνης· ἀφρονίτρου, ἀνὰ ὁλκὰς γʹ· ἐλαίου παλαιοῦ, ξεστίου ἥμισυ· καστόριον, ὁλκὴν αʹ καὶ ἥμισυ· οἴνου καλοῦ, κύαθον αʹ· τρίψας ταῦτα πάντα καὶ σκευάσας καλῶς, δίδου ἐπὶ τῆς χρείας χρῶ.

Nicolas Myrepsos, Dynameron 34.25, 827,1–5 Valiakos

Galen on fear, depression and the health of the body: the story of Maiandros

Taken from a part of Galen’s commentary on Epidemics 6 that is extant in Arabic but not in Greek. I’m following Pfaff’s German translation of the Arabic. Galen is commenting on an aphorism which states that our mental and physical habits—things like daily routine, our home, our sex life and our mental habits—have an effect on our body’s health:

“The kinds of habits that influence our health: diet, shelter, work, sleep, sex, thought.”

ἔθος δὲ, ἐξ οἵων ὑγιαίνομεν, διαίτῃσι, σκέπῃσι, πόνοισιν, ὕπνοισιν, ἀφροδισίοισι, γνώμῃ.

Epidemics 6.8.23

Galen defends and elaborates on the claim using an example from his own experience, where being overcome by emotion led to illness and death.

“I know a great number of people who were overcome by fear of death and whom this fear first made ill and then brought to death. Some were plunged into such fear by a dream; for others, such fear was caused by a premonition, or an omen, or a strange apparition they had, or the fall of a bolt of lightning. Some were brought to it by the sign they found in the entrails of the sacrificial animal, or by an augury of some kind of bird, as happened to the augur, Maiandros. This man was overcome by such a fear of death that he died of it, not to mention the illness he suffered. The story of Maiandros goes like this: he was a man from that part of Mysia which lies near the Hellespont and is a part of our province of Asia. His place of residence in this country was primarily Pergamon. The practice of augury was his occupation. It was his livelihood and his profession. Everyone who consulted him attested to his skill in his occupation. Now it was the custom of this Maiandros every year on his birthday to ask the gods to send him a sign by which he could see how he would fare in the following year. So one year he went out to observe the flight of birds and saw an eagle flying in a way that signified death. It then became certain in his soul that this was a sign from which there was no escape. He went back to the city from the place of the bird’s flight, slumped over, miserable and yellow in colour, so that those who met him asked him whether he was in any physical pain. To those he trusted, he told the truth. Then it came about that he lay sleepless for whole nights and was oppressed by sorrow all day long, so that he completely fell apart. Eventually mild, gentle fevers arose. When the fevers set in, his mind became so confused that he was outside himself and had to stay in bed. Two months after his birthday he died because his body gradually wasted away until it completely dissolved.”

So kenne ich eine große Zahl von Leuten, welche Furcht vor dem Tode überkam und welche diese Furcht zuerst krank machte und dann zu Tode brachte. Manche stürzte ein Traum in solche Furcht. Bei manchen erzeugte solche Furcht eine Ahnung oder ein Vorzeichen oder eine seltsame Erscheinung, die sie hatten, oder das Niedergehen eines Blitzstrahles. Manche brachte dazu das Anzeichen, welches sie in so den Eingeweiden des Opfertieres fanden, oder ein Augurium von irgendwelchen Vögeln, wie es dem Augur Maiandros erging. Diesen Mann überkam eine solche Angst vor dem Tode, daß er schon an ihr starb, ganz abgesehen von der Krankheit. Die Geschichte des Maiandros ist folgende: er war ein Mann aus dem Teile Mysiens, der dem Hellespont nahe liegt, und es ist ein Teil von unserem Lande Asien. Sein Aufenthalt in diesem Lande war meistens Pergamon. Die Ausführung des Auguriums war seine Tätigkeit. Sie war sein Broterwerb und sein Beruf. Jeder, der ihn zu Rate zog, bezeugte ihm seine Fertigkeit in seiner Tätigkeit. Nun war es die Gewohnheit dieses Maiandros, alljährlich an seinem Geburtstag Gott den Allmächtigen und Erhabenen zu bitten, ihm ein Zeichen zu schicken, an dem er erkennen könne, wie es ihm im folgenden Jahre ergehen werde. Und so ging er eines Jahres zur Beobachtung des Vogelfluges hinaus und sah einen Adler, der ih einer Form flog, die den Tod bedeutet. Da ward es ihm in seiner Seele gewiß, daß dies ein Zeichen sei, vor dem es kein Entrinnen gebe. Da ging er von dem Ort des Vogelfluges zusammengesunken, elend und gelb von Farbe nach der Stadt zurück, so daß diejenigen, welche ihm begegneten, ihn fragten, ob er irgend einen körperlichen Schmerz habe. Zu wem er Vertrauen hatte, sagte er die Wahrheit. Dann stellte es sich ein, daß er ganze Nächte schlaflos lag und ihn auch den ganzen Tag der Kummer bedrückte, so daß er ganz zerfiel. Schließlich traten leichte, sanfte Fieber auf. Als die Fieber sich einstellten, wurde sein Geist so verwirrt, daß er überhaupt nicht mehr bei sich war und das Bett hüten mußte. Zwei Monate nach seinem Geburtstage starb er dadurch, daß sein Körper allmählich dahin schwand, bis er sich ganz auflöste.

Galen, Commentary on Hippocrates‘ Epidemics 6.8, 485,25-486,12 Wenkebach/Pfaff

Galen on the Death of Aristotle of Mytilene

Not much is known about Aristotle of Mytilene, a peripatetic from Lesbos. Galen talked to some of the people who were there when he died, which suggests he and Galen were rough contemporaries. This probably puts this Aristotle in the second half of the second century C.E. Moraux (1967) has suggested Aristotle of Mytilene was the teacher of Alexander of Aphrodisias. Galen’s testimony suggests it is at least temporally possible.

“Aristotle of Mytilene, a man who ranked first in Peripatetic speculation, when he was struck by a disease that could be cured by a cold drink, because he had never taken such a drink before, fended off those counseling him to drink it, saying he knew that he would surely suffer a seizure if he drank something cold. For he said he saw this happen to someone else who had a similar bodily condition and temperament to himself and who had become habituated to drinking hot drinks. If he were habituated to drinking [cold] drinks, as some people are, he would certainly not have been afraid of taking it. But since he was also affected by this illness, the attending doctors together compelled him to take it. That is, as I learned, how he died. Those who were there at his end asked me: since I have risked administering cold to some patients when other doctors were cautious—to some patients [I did it] during the entire course of their illness, to others at some appropriate moment—would I have risked doing it in his case, too, or was the man right to keep his sights on his own nature? To them I replied that he was right to keep it in his sights.”

Ἀριστοτέλης γοῦν ὁ Μιτυληναῖος, ἀνὴρ πρωτεύσας ἐν τῇ Περιπατητικῇ θεωρίᾳ, νοσήματι περιπεσὼν ὑπὸ ψυχροῦ πόσεως ὠφεληθῆναι δυνάμενῳ, διότι μηδέποτε τοιοῦτον προσενήνεγκτο πόμα, διεκώλυσε τοὺς συμβουλεύοντας αὐτῷ πιεῖν, ἐπίστασθαι σαφῶς εἰπών, ὅτι σπασθήσοιτο γευσάμενος ψυχροῦ· καὶ γὰρ ἐπ' ἄλλου τοῦτ' ἔφασκεν ἑωρακέναι τήν τε τοῦ σώματος ἕξιν καὶ κρᾶσιν ὁμοίαν ἑαυτῷ καὶ τὸ τῆς θερμοποσίας ἔθος ἐσχηκότος· ‖ εἰ δ' ἦν ἔθος ὥσπερ ἐνίοις πόματος τοιούτου, μάλιστα μὲν ἂν οὐδ' αὐτὸς ἔδεισεν αὐτοῦ τὴν προσφοράν· εἰ δὲ καὶ τοῦτ' ἔπαθεν, ἠνάγκασαν οἱ παρόντες ἰατροὶ πάντως αὐτόν. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν οὕτως ἀπέθανεν, ὡς ἐπυθόμην· ἐρομένων δέ με τῶν παραγενομένων αὐτῷ τελευτῶντι, πότερον, ὡς ἐπ' ἄλλων ἐτόλμησα τοῖς μὲν δι' ὅλης τῆς νόσου, τοῖς δ' ἔν τινι καιρῷ δοῦναι ψυχρὸν εὐλαβουμένων τῶν ἰατρῶν, οὕτως <ἂν> ἐτόλμησα καὶ ἐπ' ἐκείνου ἢ καλῶς ἐστοχάσατο τῆς ἑαυτοῦ φύσεως ὁ ἀνήρ, ἀπεκρινάμην αὐτοῖς ἀκριβῶς αὐτὸν ἐστοχάσθαι.

Galen, De consuetudnibus 1, 4,16–6,6 Schmutte (CMG Suppl. III)

Dream Spells: Dream Spell of Three Reeds

Here is a dream spell from the collection of Magical Greek Papyri. This one is to summon dream sending demons to give you a dream.

Dream Spell of Three Reeds

The picking of the reeds is before sunrise. After sunset, while raising the first reed and facing East, say three times:

“Maskelli Maskello Phnoukentabao Oreobazagra, Rhexikhthon, Ippokhton, Puripeganyx, aeēiouō, Lepetan Azarakhtharo: I pick you so that you might bring me a dream.”

Then, while raising the second reed to the South, say the “Maskelli” spell again, then the vowels, then “Throbeia”,* and while raising the reed whirl yourself around. Facing North and West, say the same words three times, those of the second reed. And raising the third reed, say the same words and the following: “Ie Ie, I pick you for such a deed.”

Here is what is to be written on the reeds: on the first, “Azarakhtharo”; on the second, “Throbeia”; on the third, “Ie Ie”.

Then taking a lamp, one that has not been painted with red ochre, fill it with pure olive oil; and taking a clean strip of cloth, write down all the words. Utter the same things to the lamp seven times. Let the lamp be facing East, let it be placed next to a censer in which you make an incense offering of uncut frankincense. Then once you have prepared the reeds, bound them together with fibres from a date palm and made them into a kind of tripod, set the lamp on it. Let the head of the one performing the spell be crowned with olive branches.

Preparation of the ink with which one must write on the reeds and the lamp wick: Single-stemmed wormwood (?), yellow birdsfoot, 3 pits from Nikolaos dates,** 3 Carian dried figs, goldsmith soot, three young branches of a male date palm, sea foam.

What is written and recited is the following: “I conjure you dream-sender, because I want you to enter into me and show forth to me about the relevant matter: Ieroiethedien Throu, Khaora, Arpebo, Endalela.

*i.e., after saying the vowels aeēiouō, instead of “Lepetan Azarakhtharo,” say “Lepetan Throbeia” (or maybe just “Throbeia”).

**a kind of large date from Syria, cf. Athenaeus Deipnosophistae VII 4, Moralia 723A-724F.

Ὀνειροθαυπτάνη τρικαλαμαία. ἔστιν ἡ ἄρσις τῶν καλάμων πρὸ ἡλίου ἀνατολῆς· μετὰ δυσμὰς ἀνασπῶν τὸν πρῶτον βλέπων πρὸς ἀπηλιώτην λέγε τρίς· ‘μασκελλι μασκελλω φνουκενταβαω ὀρεοβαζάγρα, ῥηξίχθων, ϊπποχθων, πυριπηγανύξ· αεηϊουω λεπεταν αζαραχθαρω, αἴρω σε, ἵνα μοι ὀνειροθαυπτήσῃς.’

καὶ τὸν δεύτερον ἀνασπῶν τῷ νότῳ πάλιν λέγε τὸν ‘μασκελλι’ λόγον καὶ τὰ φωνάεντα καὶ ‘θρωβεια’, καὶ κρατῶν τὸν κάλαμον περιστρέφου· πρὸς τὸν βορρᾶ καὶ τὸν λίβα βλέπων τρὶς τὰ αὐτὰ ὀνόματα λέγε, τὰ τοῦ δευτέρου καλάμου. καὶ τὸν τρίτον ἀνασπῶν λέγε τὰ αὐτὰ ὀνόματα καὶ ταῦτα· ‘ιη ιη, αἴρω σε ἐπὶ ποιὰν πρᾶξιν.’

ἔστιν δὲ καὶ τὰ γραφόμενα ἐπὶ τοῖς καλάμοις. ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ πρώτου· ‘αζαραχθαρω,’ ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ δευτέρου· ‘θρωβεια,’ ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ τρίτου· ‘ιη ιη.’

εἶτα λαβὼν λύχνον ἀμίλτωτον γέμισον ἐλαίῳ καθαρῷ, καὶ λαβὼν ῥάκος καθαρὸν κατάγραφε τὰ ὀνόματα ὅλα. τὰ αὐτὰ ἐπίλεγε πρὸς τὸν λύχνον ἑπτάκις. ἤτω δὲ ὁ λύχνος τῇ ἀνατολῇ βλέπων, παρακείσθω δὲ θυμιατήριον, ἐν ᾧ ἐπιθύσεις λίβανον ἄτμητον, καὶ ποιήσας τοὺς καλάμους, δήσας αὐτοὺς ἐφ' ἓν νεύροις φοίνικος, ποιήσας αὐτοὺς εἰς τύπον τρίποδος, ἐπίθες τὸν λύχνον. ἐστέφθω δὲ ἡ κεφαλὴ τοῦ πράττοντος ἐλαΐνοις.

σκευὴ μέλανος, ἐν ᾧ δεῖ γράφειν τοὺς καλάμους καὶ τὸ ἐλλύχνιον· ἀρτεμισία μονόκλωνος, κατανάγκη, ὀστᾶ φοινίκων Νικολάων γʹ, Καρικαὶ ἰσχάδες γʹ, αἰθάλη χρυσοχοϊκή, θαλλοὶ φοίνικος ἀρσενικοῦ γʹ, ἀφρὸς θαλάσσης.

ἔστιν δὲ καὶ τὰ γραφόμενα καὶ διωκόμενα ταῦτα· ‘ὁρκίζω σὲ τὸν ὑπ<ν>αφέτην, ὅτι ἐγώ σε θέλω εἰσπορευθῆναι εἰς ἐμὲ καὶ δεῖξαί μοι περὶ τοῦ δεῖνος πράγματος, ιερωρϊεθεδιεν θρου· χαωρα· αρπεβω· ενδαληλα.’

PGM IV 3172–3208, 1.176 Preisendanz

Recreating Democritus’ Party Tricks II: Egg Yolks

Revisiting Democritus’ Party Tricks

Here’s an update on my attempt to replicate one of the party tricks or paignia (παίγνια) attributed to Democritus in the London Papyrus 121, col. 5, ll. 1–19.

Since last year, I’ve noticed that several translators have interpreted the word κρόκος to mean egg yolk instead of saffron.

“To make an egg like an apple: after boiling an egg, coat it with a mixture of egg yolk and wine.”

Ὠὸν ὅμοιον μῆλον* γενέσθαι· ζέσας τὸ ὠὸν χρεῖε κρόκῳ μείξας μετ’ οἴνου.

*μήλῳ Wessely

Papyri Graecae Magicae VII 171–172 = VII (Atomists) R127A.2 Laks-Most

I figured it was worth testing the egg-yolk hypothesis experimentally.

In Greek natural philosophical and medical literature, κρόκος normally refers to the saffron crocus, Crocus sativus L., in particular to the dried stigmata from the flowers used as a spice. Since the spice dyes and stains with a strong orange-yellow colour, the name also came to refer to the colour itself, just as κόκκος, the ‘berry’ of the kermes oak, came to be used for the dark red color of plums. At some point, it also came to refer to the yellow part of the egg, much like the English word ‘yolk,’ which comes from old English word geolca, ultimately from OE geolu, ‘yellow.’ (Both yolk and yellow are cognate with the ancient Greek word χλωρός, ‘fresh,’ ‘green,’ ‘yellow,’ which also came to mean egg yolk).

All this means that interpreters have two options when translating κρόκος in our passage: saffron or egg yolk. Maybe because of the egg connection, some interpreters wagered here it means yolk.

It seemed unlikely to me that mixing egg-yolk with wine could produce a dye of any effect, but I decided to try it out using roughly the same procedure I used last year, boiling the eggs and then dying both the shells and the boiled egg whites. I should have used controls, but this is mostly for fun.

The Experiment

I tried to stay as close to the original experiment as possible. I would use red and white wine, brown and white boiled eggs, and paint both the shells and the egg whites with the mixture. I also tested saffron again for comparison.

Testing the egg yolk interpretation: egg yolks, red and white wine, brown and white eggs.

Egg yolks mixed with red and white wine.

Here are the shells painted with egg yolk and saffron. As you can see, none of these looks like apples.

Brown and white egg shells painted and smeared with wine and yolk mixtures.

Then I peeled the eggs and painted the whites — and the yolks too for good measure. The egg painted with saffron and white wine is the most yellow, almost the colour of the yolk. The egg painted with egg yolk and wine also is a bit yellow, but the mixture flowed off pretty quickly without staining the egg at all (see large photo below). Red wine in all cases made the whites blue. If I’d run a control of plain red wine, I imagine the same would have happened. The egg yolks look pretty gross.

Testing yolk vs saffron on cooked egg whites.

Painted and smeared on.

Here the saffron and wine mixture worked much like last time. It produced egg slices that look like peach or apricot. The egg yolk and wine mixture didn’t produce much of anything.

Red wine (top row) makes egg whites go blue, regardless of what is added. White wine with yolk (bottom right) does almost nothing. White wine with saffron (bottom left) turns egg white saffron or peach coloured.

Conclusions

I talked about the results with Glenn Most and André Laks, who went with egg yolks in their translation for the Loeb series. They offered a response that I admit had not occurred to me and is worth keeping in mind: what if the recipe was not meant to work? What if it was designed to fail?

After all, one might suppose that the title, ‘παίγνια’, even if the term is used in an nonstandard way, still has something to do with childish things: games, jokes, ticks, trifles. What if, in this case, the tick is the one played on the person gullible enough to perform it? It’s a least plausible, given some of the tricks:

“To get hard whenever you want. Grind up pepper with honey and rub it on your thing.”

Στ[ύ]ειν ὅτε θέλεις· πέπερι μετὰ μέλιτος τρίψας χρῖέ σου τὸ πρᾶ̣γ̣μ̣α.

Papyri Graecae Magicae VII 186

Could be. Then again, here’s a 2015 patent for a topical preparation to enhance genital sensation using piperine, a primary component of Piper nigrum L., black pepper.

Replication of PGM VII 171-172

A dinner party plate. Can you tell which of these is an egg?

Aromatherapy for Headaches and Heartache

Some late antique aromatherapies for after a New Year’s celebration.

The text below on perfume ingredients comes from a treatise found in an 18th century manuscript at Athens: ms. no. 1494 , fol. 46–52. The treatise is called “On the Capacities of Foods” (Περὶ τροφῶν δυνάμεως), a title it shares with a work by Galen, Symeon Seth, and with sections from the compilers Oribasius, Aetius of Amida and Paul of Aegina. The contents, however, as Delatte points out (Anecdota atheniensia, 466–467), have little in common with the work of Galen or anyone else from the Greek or Latin tradition. It must be fairly late, since many of the ingredients listed below—musk, ambergris, camphor and clove—do not show up in Greek medical texts until very late in antiquity or the early middle ages (Donkin 1999, 2).

On Perfumes

Musk is hot and dry in nature. It is suitable for those who have a moist and cold mixture. It disperses every headache produced from phlegm. It is also beneficial for weakness of the heart, heartache and frailty. It is not suitable for those who have a hot mixture.

Amber [i.e., ambergris*] is hot by nature and strengthens the head. It pleases the heart and the stomach.

Camphor is moist and cold. It is beneficial for hot ailments of the head and the rest of the body. If someone drinks of it more than one should it produces sleeplessness. And it cools the kidneys, diminishes semen and generates incurable ailments in the parts of the body.

Sandalwood is cold and dry. It is beneficial for hot ailments of the liver and strengthens it, and it cools its hot bad-mixture.

Aloewood is hot and dry. It is also beneficial for weakness of the head and the stomach, especially when it is quite cool, and for the blockage of the stomach, also when it is quite cool, and for blockage of the liver and the rest of the parts of the body when they occur because of coolness and moisture.

Saffron is cold and dry. It is not good for the stomach and causes pain and heaviness in the head and causes sleep; but, it pleases the heart.

Clove leaf is hot and dry. They strengthen the stomach and the heart.

Walnuts** are hot and dry. The have the capacity and activity of clove leaf.

Rose perfume is also moist. It stops headache from heat or from drinking too much wine, and both strengthens the heart and is good for frailty.

*ἄμπαρ (amber) is the name for the waxy substance found washed up on beaches, which we recognize to be a secretion from the bile duct of sperm whales. ἤλεκτρον (electron) is the name of the fossilized resin we call amber (also often found on beaches).

**The name “κάρυα βασιλικά” normally refers to walnuts, but this is probably not the correct identification in this case given: (1) the description of them as ‘hot and dry’ (neither walnuts, κάρυα βασιλικά, nor hazelnuts, κάρυα ποντικὰ ἢ λεπτοκάρυα, are normally listed as hot); and (2) the previous entry is καρυόφυλλον, which everyone I’ve consulted believes is “clove leaf.” My guess is it’s a confusion for κάρυα ἀρωματικά or κάρυα μυριστικά, which are likely some other aromatic nut or nut-like spice (e.g. nutmeg or clove).

Περὶ μύρων.

Μόσχος θερμὸς καὶ ξηρός ἐστι τὴν φύσιν· ἁρμόζει δὲ τοῖς ἔχουσι κρᾶσιν ὑγρὰν καὶ ψυχράν. διαλύει δὲ πᾶσαν ὀδύνην κεφαλῆς γινομένην ἀπὸ φλέγματος. ὠφελεῖ δὲ καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀδυναμίαν τῆς καρδίας καὶ τὸν καρδιωγμὸν καὶ ὀλιγωρίαν. οὐχ ἁρμόζει δὲ τοῖς ἔχουσι τὴν κρᾶσιν θερμήν.

ἄμπαρ ἐστὶ θερμὸν φύσει καὶ ἐνδυναμοῖ τὸν ἐγκέφαλον· τὴν καρδίαν καὶ τὸν στόμαχον εὐφραίνει.

καμφορὰ ὑγρὰ καὶ ψυχρά ἐστιν· ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὰ θερμὰ νοσήματα τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τοῦ λοιποῦ σώματος· εἰ δέ τις πίῃ ἐξ αὐτῆς πλέον τοῦ δέοντος ποιεῖ ἀγρυπνίαν. καὶ ψύχει τοὺς νεφροὺς ἐλαττοῖ τε τὴν γονὴν καὶ τίκτει εἰς τὰ μόρια νοσήματα ἀθεράπευτα.

σάνταλόν ἐστι ψυχρὸν καὶ ξηρόν· ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὰ θερμὰ νοσήματα τοῦ ἥπατος καὶ ἐνδυναμοῖ αὐτὸ καὶ ψύχει τὴν θερμὴν δυσκρασίαν αὐτοῦ.

ξυλαλόη ὑπάρχει θερμὴ καὶ ξηρά· καὶ ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὴν ἀδυναμίαν τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ τοῦ στομάχου καὶ τὴν πολλὴν αὐτοῦ ψῦξιν εἴς τε τὴν ἔμφραξιν στομάχου καὶ τὴν πολλὴν αὐτοῦ ψῦξιν εἴς τε τὴν ἔμφραξιν τοῦ ἥπατος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν μορίων τὴν ἐκ ψυχρότητος καὶ ὑγρότητος γινομένην.

κρόκος ὑπάρχει ψυχρὸς καὶ ξηρός· ἀδικεῖ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ ποιεῖ ὀδύνην καὶ βάρος εἰς τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ ὕπνον· εὐφραίνει δὲ τὴν καρδίαν.

καρυόφυλλον ὑπάρχει θερμὸν καὶ ξηρόν· ἐνδυναμοῖ τὸν στόμαχον καὶ τὴν καρδίαν.

κάρυα βασιλικά εἰσι θερμὰ καὶ ξηρά· ἔχουσι δὲ δύναμιν καὶ ἐνέργειαν τὴν τοῦ καρυοφύλλου.

ῥοδόσταγμα ψυχρὸν ὑπάρχει καὶ ὑγρόν· παύει τὸν ἐκ θέρμης πόνον κεφαλῆς ἢ ἀπὸ πολυποσίας οἴνου ἐνδυναμοῖ τε τὴν καρδίαν καὶ ὠφελεῖ εἰς τὴν ὀλιγωρίαν.

Anonymous, On the Capacities of Foods printed in Delatte, Anecdota atheniensia, p. 475–476

Dinner Advice for New Year’s Eve

Cabbage with Vinegar

“If you are at a dinner party and want to drink a lot and enjoy your meal, before dinner eat as much raw cabbage with vinegar as you like, and likewise, after dining eat around five [cabbage] leaves. It will restore you as if you had eaten nothing, and you can drink as much as you like.”

Si voles in convivio multum bibere cenareque libenter, ante cenam esto crudam quantum voles ex aceto, et item, ubi cenaveris, comesto aliqua V folia; reddet te quasi nihil ederis, bibesque quantum voles.

Cato the Elder, De re rustica 156.1

Appetizer suggestion: Rotkohl.

Baked Pork Lung

“To make those who drink a lot also not get drunk: eat baked pork lung.”

Πολλὰ πίνοντα καὶ μὴ μεθύειν· χοιραῖον πνεύμονα ὀπτήσας φάγε.

Attributed to Democritus, from the collection of Magical Greek Papyri (source here)

First course suggestion: Bopis.