N AT U R E F L O R A
THE ALLPOWERFUL ROOT Thanks to the expertise of ancient authors and plant collectors, we know how a number of roots were used millennia ago to relieve all kinds of illnesses. B Y O R E S T E S D AV I A S / I L L U S T R A T I O N S G E O R G E S F I K A S
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n the few surviving lines of his lost tragedy “Rhizotomoi” (Root cutters), the playwright Sophocles (496-406 BC) describes the notorious sorceress and healer Medea, naked, chanting and averting her eyes as she collects in a bronze vessel the silvery secretion oozing from the root of a plant sliced open with a bronze sickle. As other surviving literary sources also make clear, this disturbing theatrical scene depicts practices not unlike the methods of actual root cutters of that era. We know that the years during and just prior to the Peloponnesian War were a time of terrible adversity, and we know, too, that in times of crisis, people sought solace more in magic than rationality – two disparate approaches to healing that coexisted and were in perpetual conflict throughout the long history of the Greek therapeutic arts. Who were the root cutters? They were experienced collectors of usually wild herbs and roots, who sold their products directly to physicians, or who served as suppliers to medicine sellers. This quite profitable enterprise was, as we would now say, a “closed profession,” as the collectors jealously guarded their 88
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empirical knowledge about where, how and when to gather therapeutic plants from those who did not belong to their “guild.” One of the earliest Greek root cutters was the semi-mythical philosopher, seer and poet Epimenides of Crete (7th/6th century BC), said to have successfully cleansed an Athens guilty of sacrilege after the Cylonian Affair (632 BC), when a failed coup led to a massacre outside a temple. The poet is also known for his herbal blend called “alimon,” a small draught of which he drank every day in order to never feel hungry. A number of other interesting figures belonged to the magical-mythical circle of root cutters, as well, including the centaur Chiron, Achilles’ tutor; the healing god Asclepius; the witch Circe; the soothsayer-healer Melampous; and Machaon and Podaleirios, the physician-sons of Asclepius, who served in the Trojan War. Among the most distinguished historical practitioners of this age-old tradition was the physician Diocles of Karystos (375-295 BC), who reported on medicinal plants, their uses and how to collect them in the now-lost treatise “The Art of
Root-Cutting.” Fortunately, lengthy extracts from this work are thought to be preserved in the contemporary writings of Theophrastus (371-287 BC); they’re definitely in Dioscorides’ early pharmacopeia (“De Materia Medica,” 1st century AD), where he describes in detail the healing powers of many roots. Another well-known root-cutter was Crateuas (1st century BC), personal physician to Mithridates VI, King of Pontus and a great opponent of Rome. Following a request from Mithridates, who understood his enemies sought to poison him, Crateuas, using dozens of herbal ingredients, concocted the famous Mithridatium. This honey-based mixture, taken in small daily doses dissolved in wine, was believed to be an antidote for all poisons. Crateuas also authored his own “Art of Root Cutting,” which had a powerful, far-reaching influence. In this pioneering work, the author not only described the properties of the medicinal plants he used, but also included color illustrations, thus providing an invaluable reference guide to ensuing practitioners. The importance of roots in ancient Greek medicine related not only to their active ingredients but to their symbolic significance as well. Produced within the embrace of the all-nurturing, all-providing Earth Goddess, they also constituted (in the hands of the chthonic goddess Hecate) effective weapons for the healing of body and soul. Moreover, the sacred serpent, thanks to his underground explorations, knew all the secrets of the roots and had the power to use them for the benefit of the many patients who frequented Asclepius’ healing sanctuaries (asclepieia) seeking to be cleansed and cured. Among the numerous roots used by ancient Greek physicians, seven of the most prized are presented below. With all the stresses of modern living, and with all the health problems often associated with them, some of these curatives may again prove useful. It might, therefore, be to our advantage to welcome, once more, nature’s roots as Mother Earth’s generous gifts to humankind.
