In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, David Wilson-Okamura <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes >At 05:55 PM 4/15/02 +0100, you wrote: >>Hedera and Acanthus were, I imagine, the same as the plants (ivy and bear's >>breeches) that bear those Latin names today. Colocasia and baccar, however, >>seem to present some difficulties. One translator suggests sowbreads and >>lotuses, another gipsy lilies and wild woodbine, my dictionary indicates >>Celtic valerian (whatever that was)and Egyptian bean while Dryden bags them >>all up as 'fragrant herbs'. > >Robert Coleman's commentary says of baccare: "the plant is again associated >with ivy in 7.25-8. baccar, from Greek bakkaris, may well have been given a >false etymology from Bacchus. Although Pliny lists a variety of medicinal >uses (Nat. 21.132-3), Servius' attribution of magical properties -- herba >est quae fascinum pellit -- may be merely an inference from 7.28. >Identification is uncertain; modern guesses include a species of cyclamen >and Gnaphalium Sanguineum, a relative of the edelwise."
The Greek bakkaris means an ointment made from asaron, said to be hazelwort or _Asarum europaeum_; can any botanist assure us that this plant would _not_ in ordinary times grow together with ivy (4. 19; likewise colocasium should not associate with acanthus), and any specialist in Italian folklore tell us that it protects against evil spells (7. 27)? But then are we sure that Vergil knew what these plants were, or simply picked up names he found attractive and bestowed on them such qualities as it suited him for them to have? Leofranc Holford-Strevens > > >Wendell Clausen comments on baccare at Ecl. 7.27: "an unidentifiable plant, >on which see P. Wagner, RE ii. 2803. Dioscorides describes it as >sweet-smelling and suitable for garlands, De mat. med. 3. 44. 1 euodes, >stephanomatike. In Latin poetry it is found only here and in 4. 19, in both >places ablative, occupying the fifth foot of the line, and linked with ivy. >V. is alone in attributing magical powers to it; 'herba est ad depellendum >fascinum' (DServ. here) and 'herba est quae fascinum pellit' (Serv. on 4. >19) -- both inferences from this text...." > >On colocasia, Coleman says, "'Egyptian beans' are usually identified as the >subtropical Caladium, wich was especially associated with the Nile region >whence its edible roots were exported. Although cultivated in Italy in >Plinty's time (Nat. 21.87), it was not found wild nullo cultu except in >parts of Sicily. This is in fact the only one of the plants here mentioned >that does not grow wild in Italy. The miracle lies in their spontaneous >appearance all over the world, passim; cf. Dion. Per. 941 'At the birth (of >Dionysus) all things fragrant were growing.'" > >Clausen cites "Scholfield on Nicander, Georg. fr. 81-82: 'The plant is the >Indian lotus, Nelumbium speciosum, on which see Theophr. H.P. 4. 8. 7, >Diosc. 2. 106, RE 13. 1518. The "Egyption bean" is its seed...It has a >large pink flower, and an edible root (kolokasion).'" > >Neither plant appears in Abbe, The Plants of Virgil's Georgics. > >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >David Wilson-Okamura http://virgil.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Macalester College Virgil Tradition: discussion, bibliography, &c. >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >----------------------------------------------------------------------- >To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. >Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message >"unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You >can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* Leofranc Holford-Strevens 67 St Bernard's Road usque adeone Oxford scire MEVM nihil est, nisi ME scire hoc sciat alter? OX2 6EJ tel. +44 (0)1865 552808(home)/353865(work) fax +44 (0)1865 512237 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (home) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) *_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_* ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To leave the Mantovano mailing list at any time, do NOT hit reply. Instead, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message "unsubscribe mantovano" in the body (omitting the quotation marks). You can also unsubscribe at http://virgil.org/mantovano/mantovano.htm#unsub
