Theriaca (poem)

The "Theriaca" (Ancient Greek: Θηριακά) is the longest surviving work of the 2nd-century BC Greek poet Nicander of Colophon.

This article is about the poem by Nicander. For other uses, see Theriaca (disambiguation).

It is a 958-line hexameter poem describing the nature of venomous creatures, including snakes, spiders, and scorpions, and the wounds that they inflict.[1]

Nicander also wrote the companion work Alexipharmaca, which explored other poisons and venoms.

Etymology

The title is the Latinized form of the Greek neuter plural adjective θηριακά (thēriaka), "having to do with venomous animals",[2] which in turn derives from Ancient Greek: θηρίον (thērion), "wild animal".[3] A corresponding English noun theriac also exists.[4]

Content

It has been noted that Theriaca is a poem not solely concerned with its intended subject matter, given its "arcane language".[5] Nicander makes references to a drakōn, however it is likely this term is utilized to refer to an Aesculapian snake rather than a dragon in the contemporary perception of the word.[6]

References
  1. "Nicander of Colophon". University of Chicago.
  2. θηριακός. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project.
  3. θηρίον in Liddell and Scott.
  4. "theriaca". dictionary.com.
  5. Overduin, Floris (December 2014). "The Anti-Bucolic World Of Nicander's 'Theriaca'". The Classical Quarterly. 64 (2): 623. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  6. Senter, Phil; Mattox, Uta; Haddad, Eid. "Snake to Monster: Conrad Gessner's Schlangenbuch and the Evolution of the Dragon in the Literature of Natural History". Journal of Folklore Research. 53 (1): 74. Retrieved 25 March 2021.

Further reading


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