Dioscurides Pedianus, De materia medica

46 καλοῦσί τινες πήγανον ἄγριον καὶ τὸ ἐν Καππαδοκίᾳ καὶ ἐν τῇ κατʼ Ἀσίαν Γαλατίᾳ λεγόμενον μῶλυ. ἐστι δὲ θάμνος ἀπὸ μιᾶς ῤίζης πολλὰς ἀναφέρων ῥάβδους, ἔχων φύλλα μακρότερα πολλῷ τοῦ ἄλλου πηγάνου καὶ τρυφερώτερα, βαρύοσμα, ἄνθος λευκὸν ἐπ᾿ ἄκρου τε κεφάλια ὀλίγῳ μείζονα τοῦ ἡμέρου πηγάνου, ἐκ τριῶν μάλιστα μερῶν συγκείμενα, ἐν οῖς σπέρμα ὑπόκιρρον, τρίγωνον, πικρὸν κανῶς πρὸς τὴν γεῦσιν, οὖ καὶ ἡ χρῆσις.

46 Some also call 'wild rue' the plant that in Cappadocia and in Galatia in Asia is called mōly. It is a shrub that sends up many rods from a single root, with leaves much longer and softer than those of the other rue, heavy-smelling; a white flower; and at the top little heads a little larger than those of garden rue, mostly made up of three parts, in which there is a yellowish, triangular seed, quite bitter to the taste; it is this that is used.

2 φθινοπώρῳ δὲ ἐκπεπαίνεται τὸ σπέρμα, ἁρμόζον πρὸς ἀμβλυωπίας μετά μέλιτος λεαινόμενον καὶ οἴνου καὶ χολῆς ἀλεκτορίδων καὶ κρόκου καὶ μαράθου χυλοῦ. καλοῦσι δέ τινες αὐτὸ ἁρμαλά, Σύροι δὲ βήσσασαν, Καππάδοκες δὲ μῶλυ, ἐπειὴ κατὰ ποσὸν σῴζει τὴν πρὸς τὸ μῶλυ ἐμφέρειαν, τῇ ῥίζῃ μέλαν καὶ τῷ ἄνθει λευκὸν ὑπάρχον. φύεται δὲ ἐν γεωλόφοις καὶ εὐγείοις χωρίοις.

2 The seed ripens in autumn; it is suitable for dim sight, ground with honey, wine, hen's bile, saffron and fennel juice. Some call it harmala, the Syrians bēssasa, the Cappadocians mōly, since it keeps to some extent a resemblance to moly, being black in the root and white in the flower. It grows on hillocks and in places with good soil.

2 δύναμιν δὲ ἔχει τὰ φύλλα ἀπολζεσθέντα σύν ὄξει καὶ πινόμενα ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα σπλῆνα τήκειν δεῖ δὲ καὶ καταπλάσσειν τὸν σπλῆνα τοῖς φύλλοις λείοις σύν οἴνῳ· βοηθεῖ καὶ στραγγουρίᾳ καὶ λυγμῷ καὶ ἰκτέρῳ καὶ λίθους τούς ἐν κύστει θρύπτει. δοκεῖ δὲ ἀτόκιον εἶναι καθʼ ἑαυτὴν καὶ μετὰ ἡμιόνου ὁπλῆς περιαπτομένη ἀσελήνου δὲ νυκτὸς ἡ ἡμέρας οὔσης φασὶ δεῖν αὐτὴν ὀρύσσειν εἰς ἀτόκιον.

2 The leaves have the power, boiled in vinegar and drunk for forty days, to reduce the spleen; one should also plaster the spleen with the leaves ground fine with wine. It also helps strangury, hiccup and jaundice, and breaks up stones in the bladder. It is thought to be a contraceptive by itself, and when hung on [as an amulet] with a mule's hoof; and they say that for a contraceptive one should dig it up when the night or the day is moonless.

140 γλυκυσίδη· οἱ δὲ πεντόροβον, οἱ δὲ δαίους δακτύλους, τὴν δὲ ῥίζαν παιωνίαν καλοῦσιν, ἄλλοι δὲ ἀγλαοφώτιδα. καυλὸς φύεται δισπίθαμος, παραφυάδας ἔχων πολλάς· φύλλα δὲ ἔχει ἡ μὲν ἄρρην βασιλικῇ καρύᾳ ὅμοια, ἡ δὲ θήλεια ἐπέσχισται τὰ φύλλα ὥσπερ σμύρνιον· λοβούς δέ τινας ἀνίησιν ἐπʼ ἄκρου τοῦ καυλοῦ ἀμυγδάλοις ὁμοίους, ὧν ἀνοιχθέντων εὑρίσκονται ἐρυθροὶ κόκκοι πολλοί, μικροί, ἐμφερεῖς τοῖς τῆς ῥοᾶς, ἐν μέσῳ δὲ μέλανες, ἐμπόρφυροι, πέντε ἢ ἕξ.

140 Glykysidē [peony]: some call it pentorobos, some 'Idaean fingers', and the root they call paiōnia, others aglaophōtis. Its stem grows two spans high, with many side-shoots; the male has leaves like those of the walnut, while the female has its leaves divided like alexanders. At the top of the stem it sends up pods like almonds; when these are opened, many small red seeds are found, resembling those of the pomegranate, and in the middle black, purplish ones, five or six.

ῥίζα δὲ 2 τῆς μὲν ἄρρενος περὶ δακτύλου πάχος, μῆκος δὲ σπιθαμῆς, γευομένῳ στύφουσα, λευκή· ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς θηλείας παραφυάδας ὥσπερ βαλάνους ἔχουσιναἱ ρίζαι ἑπτὰ ἢ ὀκτώ ὥσπερ ἀσφόδελος. δίδοται δὲ ἡ ῥίζα γυναιξὶν ἐκ τοκετοῦ μὴ καθαιρομέναις καὶ καταμήνια ἄγει μέγεθος ἀμυγδάλου πινομένη, καὶ ταῖς κατὰ γαστέρα ὀδύναις βοηθεῖ ποθεῖσα ἐν οἴνῳ καὶ ἰκτερικοῖς καὶ νεφριτικοῖς καὶ κύστιν ἀλγοῦσι· καθεψηθεῖσα δὲ ἐν οἴνῳ καὶ πινομένη κοιλίαν ἵστησι.

2 The root of the male is about a finger thick and a span long, astringent to the taste, white; in the female the roots have seven or eight offshoots like acorns, as asphodel does. The root is given to women who are not cleansed after childbirth, and drunk in the amount of an almond it brings on the menses; drunk in wine it helps pains of the belly, and those with jaundice or kidney disease and those with pain in the bladder; boiled down in wine and drunk, it stops the bowels.

χυλίζεται δὲ καὶ τὰ μῆλα 3 ὁμοίως, ἀνειμένον δὲ γίνεται τὸ ἐξ αὐτῶν χύλισμα· καὶ ὁ φλοιὸς δὲ τῆς ῥίζης περιαιρεθεὶς καὶ διαβληθεὶς λίνῳ κρέμαται εἰς ἀπόθεσιν. ἔνιοι δὲ καθέψουσιν οἴνῳ τὰς ῥίζας ἄχρι τρίτου καὶ διυλίσαντες ἀποτίθενται, χρώμενοι ἐπὶ τῶν ἀγρυπνούντων καὶ περιοδυνώντων κυάθῳ ἐνὶ καὶ ἐφʼ ὧν βούλονται ἀναισθησίαν τεμνομένων ἢ καιομένων ποιῆσαι.

3 The apples too are juiced in the same way, but the juice from them turns out weaker; and the bark of the root is stripped off, threaded on a string and hung up for storage. Some boil the roots down in wine to a third, strain it and store it, using one kyathos [ladleful] for the sleepless and those in severe pain, and for those in whom they wish to produce insensibility when they are being cut or cauterised.

καθαίρει δὲ διʼ ἐμέτων ἄγων ποικίλα· μείγνυται δὲ καὶ κολλυρίοις τοῖς δυναμένοις τὶ ἐπισκοτοῦντα ταῖς κόραις ἀποκαθαίρειν, καὶ ἔμμηνα ἄγει καὶ ἔμβρυα φθείρει προστιθέμενος, πταρμικούς τε ἐρεθίζει καὶ μύας κτείνει σὺν μέλιτι καὶ ἀλφίτῳ φυραθείς, συγκαθεψόμενός τε κρέασι συντήκει ταῦτα. δίδοται δὲ νήστεσι καθʼ ἑαυτὸν καὶ μετὰ σησαμοειδοῦς καὶ θαψίας χυλοῦ καὶ ἄλικος καὶ μελικράτου ἢ πόλτου ἢ φακοῦ ἢ ῥοφήματος· συσσιτοποιεῖται δὲ καὶ ἄρτῳ καὶ ὀπτᾶται.

It purges by vomiting, bringing up matter of various kinds. It is also mixed into eye-salves that can clear away whatever darkens the pupils; applied as a pessary, it brings on the menses and destroys embryos; it provokes sneezing; kneaded with honey and barley-meal it kills mice; and boiled together with meat, it dissolves it. It is given to people fasting, by itself, and with sēsamoeides [sesame-like plant] and juice of thapsia [deadly carrot], and with halix [spelt groats] and honey-water, or porridge, or lentils, or broth; it is also made up with bread and baked.

ἢ μεταποροποιῆσαι· ὅθεν ἀλωπεκίας καταχριόμενος ὁ 4 χυλὸς ἢ ἡ ῥίζα χλωρὰ προστριβομένη ποιεῖ δασυτέρας, ὑπώπιά τε αἴρει καὶ πελιώματα λεία ἡ ῥίζα ἢ ὁ χυλὸς σύν λιβανωτῷ καὶ κηρῷ ἴσοις· δεῖ δὲ μὴ πλεῖον δυεῖν ὡρῶν ἐᾶν, μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ πυριᾶν θερμῇ θαλάττῃ. αἴρει δὲ καὶ ἔφηλιν, σύν μέλιτι δὲ καταχρισθεὶς καὶ λέπρας ἀφίστησι, φύματά τε ῥήττει μετὰ θείου καταχριόμενος ὁ χυλός. χρησίμως δὲ καταχρίεται καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν χρονίας ἐχόντων διαθέσεις περὶ πλευρὸν ἢ πνεύμονα ἡ πόδας ἢ ἄρθρα. χρησιμεύει δὲ καὶ πρὸς ἐπαγώγια ἐπὶ τῶν μὴ ἐκ περιτομῆς λειποδέρμων οἴδημα ἐγείρων ὅπερ καταντλούμενον καὶ τοῖς λιπαίνουσι μαλαττόμενον τὸ ἐλλιπὲς τῆς πόσθης ἐκπληροῖ.

or to alter the pores. 4 Hence the juice smeared on, or the fresh root rubbed on, makes patches of alopecia grow thicker with hair; and the root ground fine, or the juice, with equal amounts of frankincense and wax, removes black eyes and livid bruises; but one must not leave it on more than two hours, and afterwards foment with hot seawater. It also removes freckles; smeared on with honey it also clears lepra [scaly skin disease]; and the juice, smeared on with sulphur, bursts growths. It is also usefully smeared on those who have chronic conditions of the side or lung or feet or joints. It is also useful for drawing forward [the foreskin] in those who lack foreskin not as a result of circumcision, by raising a swelling which, when bathed and softened with emollients, fills out what is lacking of the foreskin.

4 συμφυτευθεὶς δὲ ἀμπέλοις πρὸς τῇ ῥίζη τὸν ἐξ αὐτῶν οἶνον καθαρτικὸν ἐργάζεται· περιρραίνουσι δὲ καὶ οἰκίας αὐτῷ καθάρσιον εἶναι νομίζοντες, ὅθεν καὶ ὀρύσσοντες ἵστανται πρὸς ἕω, εὐχόμενοι Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ Ἀσκληπιῷ, φυλαττόμενοι δὲ ἀετόν· ἐφίπτασθαι γάρ φασιν οὐκ ἀκινδύνως· δίδωσι γὰρ τὸν θάνατον ὁ ὄρνις, ἄνπερ ἴδη τὴν ὀρυγὴν τοῦ ἐλλεβόρου. συντόνως δὲ δεῖ ὀρύττειν διὰ τὸ καρηβαρίαν ἐκ τῆς ἀποφορᾶς γίνεσθαι, ὅθεν εἰς προφυλακὴν οἱ ὀρύττοντες προεσθίουσι σκόρδα καὶ οἶνον πίνουσιν, ἀβλαβέστερον διατιθέμενοι. ἐξεντερίζεται δὲ ὥσπερ ὁ λευκὸς ἐλλέβορος.

4 Planted together with vines, at the root, it makes the wine from them purgative. People also sprinkle houses with it, believing it to be purifying; and so, when digging it up, they stand facing east, praying to Apollo and Asclepius and watching out for an eagle; for they say it flies over [them] not without danger: the bird brings death if it sees the hellebore being dug. One must dig quickly, because heaviness of the head arises from its exhalation; so, as a precaution, the diggers eat garlic beforehand and drink wine, and so come to less harm. Its core is removed, as with white hellebore.

140 λίθος Μεμφίτης εὑρίσκεται ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ κατὰ Μέμφιν, ἔχων ψήφων μέγεθος, λιπαρὸς καὶ ποικίλος. οὗτος ἱστορεῖται καταχρισθεὶς λεῖος ἐπὶ τῶν μελλόντων τέμνεσθαι καίεσθαι τόπων ἀκίνδυνον ἀναισθησίαν ἐπιφέρειν.

140 The Memphite stone is found in Egypt near Memphis; it is the size of pebbles, greasy and variegated. It is reported that, ground fine and smeared on places about to be cut [or] cauterised, it brings on insensibility without danger.