Notes

Minerva, Athena

favens, oleaeque Minerva
inventrix, uncique puer monstrator aratri,
et teneram ab radice ferens, Silvane, cupressum;
dique deaeque omnes, studium quibus arva tueri,
quique novas alitis non ullo semine fruges,
quique satis largum caelo demittitis imbrem.

Come, Minerva, inventress of the olive; you, too, youth [Triptolemus, son of Celeus, king of Eleusis, and favourite of Demeter], who showed to man the crooked plough, and you, Silvanus, with a young uprooted cypress in your hand; and gods and goddesses all, whose love guards our fields—both you who nurse the young fruits, springing up unsown, and you who on the seedlings send down from heaven plenteous rain!
—–

Athena, Minerva

75. stare deum pelagi longoque ferire tridente
aspera saxa facit, medioque e vulnere saxi
exsiluisse fretum, quo pignore vindicet urbem;
at sibi dat clipeum, dat acutae cuspidis hastam,
dat galeam capiti, defenditur aegide pectus,
percussamque sua simulat de cuspide terram
edere cum bacis fetum canentis olivae;
mirarique deos: operis Victoria finis.

There stands the god of ocean, and with his long trident smites the rugged cliff, and from the cleft rock sea-water leaps forth; a token to claim the city for his own. To herself the goddess gives a shield and a sharp-pointed spear, and a helmet for her head; the aegis guards her breast; and from the earth smitten by her spear’s point upsprings a pale-green olive-tree hanging thick with fruit; and the gods look on in wonder. Victory crowns her work.

Minerva

Ovid, Met. vi. 75-82; Virgil Georg. i. 12-19 et ibi Serv.

Athena, c’est à dire Minerve

Cf. Virgile, Géorgiques, I, c. 12-19 (et le commentaire de Servius sur ce vers), et Ovide, Métamorphoses, VI, v. 75-82.

Athena

Ovide, Métam., VI, 75-86 (EC).

Minerve

Ovide, Métamorphoses, VI, v. 75–82.

Et tant a esté jadis estimée ceste prærogative…

Elle l’est encore par les botanistes et zoologistes.

Notes

Alcibiadion

A kind of Bugloss mentioned under the name of Alcibion by Nicander, Ther. 541, and Pliny xxvii 5, § 22; called Alcibiadion by Galen, vol. xiii. 149, and Dioscorides, iv. 23, 24.

Alcibion

Alcibium qualis esset herba non repperi apud auctores, sed radicem eius et folia trita ad serpentis morsum inponi et bibi, folia quantum manus capiat trita cum vini meri cyathis tribus aut radicem drachmarum trium pondere cum vini eadem mensura.

In my authorities I have found no description of alcibium, but only that its pounded root and leaves are applied locally, and taken in drink, for snake bite; a handful of the pounded leaves with three cyathi of neat wine, or three drachmae by weight of the root with the same measure of wine

alcibiadion

Pline nomme, sans le décrire, l’Alcibion (XXVII, 22); ailleurs, il le nomme anchusa ou arcebion (XXII, 25). Ce serait, pour Fée, l’ὰλχίστον de Nicander (Thér., 637) : Alcibii radicem echii pariter lege…, notre Echium creticum, L. — Mais Nicandre parle encore d’une autre Alcibie :

Est alia Alcibii cognomine planta…

(trad. de J. de Gorris); Anchusa altera, que certains, dit Dioscoride, appellent Ὰλχισιάσειον ou Όνοχειλέζ de Pena et Lobel, et qui est aussi une borraginée, l’Alkanna tinctoria, Tausch.
Ce nom vient-il d’Alcibiade? ou, comme dit J. Grévin, de ce qu’ « un homme nommé Alcibie la trouva et expérimenta le premier quelle force elle avait contre la morsure des serpens ? » D’autres étymologistes ont proprosé : ἀλχῄ force, et βίοζ, vie. (Paul Delaunay)

alcibiadion

alcibiadion, a boraginaceous plant named after Alcibiades — unless, perhaps, it derives its title from Alcibias, the first to employ it against snake-bites, or, thus belonging to another group, from [gk], meaning strength, and [gk], meaning life

alcibiadon

Voir Léonicérus, De Plini erroribus, Bâle, 1529, 22.

Niccolò Leoniceno

Niccolò Leoniceno (1428–1524), also known as Nicolo Leoniceno, Nicolaus Leoninus, Nicolaus Leonicenus of Vicenza, Nicolaus Leonicenus Vicentinus, Nicolo Lonigo, Nicolò da Lonigo da Vincenza, was an Italian physician and humanist. He was a pioneer in the translation of ancient Greek and Arabic medical texts by such authors as Galen and Hippocrates into Latin.

In 1492, Leoniceno published an article entitled De Plinii et plurium alorium medicorum in medicina erroribus. In this treatise, he “pointed out errors in the medical portions of Pliny as well as in the works of ‘barbarian’ (that is, medieval Arab) physicians.” A physician by training, Leoniceno was concerned that inaccuracies in Pliny’s translations would result in inaccurate medicinal preparations based on Pliny’s work. If Pliny’s translations were indeed flawed, then Leoniceno felt they should be replaced by the original Greek texts.

Alcibiades

Décrit dans Pline, XXVII, xxii.

Notes

clymenos

Periclymenus Geyssblatt
Lonicera caprifolium L.
Ancient Greek: periklumenon

Lonicera

Lonicera

Clymenos

Honeysuckle. Pliny xxv. 7 (?), § 33.

clymenos

Climène, roi d’Arcadie. « Clymenyus a rege herba appellata est ». Pline, XXV, 33. C’est d’après Fée, περιχλνμενον de Dioscoride, (IV, 14), notre Lonicera periclymenum, L., ou chèvrefeuille. Quant au χλιμενον de Dioscoride (IV, 13), c’est, pour Sibthorp, Convolvulus sepium, L. ; pour Sprengel, Lathyrus clymenus, L.

clymenus

Clymenus a rege herba appellata est, hederae foliis,ramosa,caule inani articulis praecincto, odore gravi et semine hederae, silvestribus et montuosis nascens. quibus morbis pota medeatur dicemus, sed hic indicandum est, dum medeatur, sterilitatem pota etiam viris fieri. Graeci plantagini similem esse dixerunt, caule quadrato, folliculis cum semine inter se inplexis veluti polyporum cirris. et sucus autem in usu, vi summa in refrigerando.

Clymenus is a plant called after the king of that name. It has leaves like those of ivy, many branches, a hollow stem girded with joints, a strong smell, and seed like that of ivy; it grows in wooded, hilly districts. I shall say later what diseases it cures if taken in drink; but at the moment I must point out that, while it cures, even men are made sterile by the draught. The Greeks have said that it is like the plantain, with a square stem and seed-bags intertwined like the tentacles of the polypus. The juice too is used in medicine, as it has very great powers of cooling.

clymene

Thus clymene or honeysuckle, named for Clymenus, King of Arcady…

Clymenus

Roi d’Arcadie (Pline, XXV, xxxiii).

Notes

Millefolium

Telephium

Plate caption: Telephium purpurascens
Wundkraut mennle

Sedum telephium L. ssp. telephium
English: orpine

telephium

Invenit et Achilles discipulus Chironis qua volneribus mederetur. quae ob id achilleos vocatur. hac sanasse Telephum dicitur. alii primum aeruginem invenisse utilissimam emplastris, ideoque pingitur ex cuspide decutiens eam gladio in volnus Telephi, alii utroque usum medicamento volunt. aliqui et hanc panacem Heracliam, alii sideriten et apud nos millefoliam vocant, cubitali scapo, ramosam, minutioribus quam feniculi foliis vestitam ab imo. alii fatentur quidem illam vulneribus utilem, sed veram achilleon esse scapo caeruleo pedali, sine ramis, ex omni parte singulis foliis rotundis eleganter vestitam; alii quadrato caule, capitulis marrubii, foliis quercus, hac etiam praecisos nervos glutinari. faciunt alii et sideritim in maceriis nascentem, cum teratur, foedi odoris, etiamnum aliam similem huic sed candidioribus foliis et pinguioribus, teneriorem cauliculis, in vineis nascentem; aliam vero binum cubitorum, ramulis exilibus, triangulis, folio filicis, pediculo longo, betae semine; omnes volneribus praecipuas. nostri eam quae est latissimo folio scopas regias vocant. medetur anginis suum.

Achilles too, the pupil of Chiron, discovered [By “discovering” a plant Pliny seems to mean discovering its value in medicine] a plant to heal wounds, which is therefore called achilleos, and by it he is said to have cured Telephus. Some have it that he was the first to find out that copper-rust is a most useful ingredient of plasters, for which reason he is represented in paintings as scraping it with his sword from his spear on to the wound of Telephus, while others hold that he used both remedies. This plant is also called by some Heraclean panaces, by others siderites, and by us millefolia; the stalk is a cubit high, and the plant branchy, covered from the bottom with leaves smaller than those of fennel. Others admit that this plant is good for wounds, but say that the real achilleos has a blue stalk a foot long and without branches, gracefully covered all over with separate, rounded leaves. Others describe achilleos as having a square stem, heads like those of horehound, and leaves like those of the oak; they claim that it even unites severed sinews. Some give the name sideritis to another plant, which grows on boundary walls and has a foul smell when crushed, and also to yet another, like this but with paler and more fleshy leaves, and with more tender stalks, growing in vineyards; finally to a third, two cubits high, with thin, triangular twigs, leaves like those of the fern, a long foot-stalk and seed like that of beet. All are said to be excellent for wounds. Roman authorities call the one with the broadest leaf royal broom; it cures quinsy in pigs.

telephium

Telephion porcilacae similis est et caule et foliis. rami a radice septeni octonique fruticant foliis crassis, carnosis. nascitur in cultis et maxime inter vites. inlinitur lentigini et, cum inaruit, deteritur. inlinitur et vitiligini ternis fere mensibus, senis horis noctis aut diei, postea farina hordeacia inlinatur. medetur et vulneribus et fistulis.

Telephion resembles purslane in both stem and leaves. Seven or eight branches from the root make a bushy plant with coarse, fleshy leaves. It grows on cultivated ground, especially among vines. It is used as liniment for freckles and rubbed off when dry; it makes liniment also for psoriasis, to be applied for about three months, six hours each night or day; afterwards barley meal should be applied. It is also good treatment for wounds and fistulas.

Telephium

Pliny xxv 5, § 19. Achilleos, with which Achilles is said to have healed Telephus.

telephium

Télèphe, fils d’Hercule, fut blessé et guéri par Achille au siège de Troie. « Telephion porcilacæ similis est et caule et foliis », dit Pline, XXVII, 110. Probablement Sedum telephium, L. (Crassulacée). Columna a voulu y voir Zygophyllum fabago, L.; d’autres disent le Cochlearia. (Paul Delaunay)

telephium

Named for Telephus, son of Hercules, wounded and healed by Achilles at the siege of Troy.

Telephium

Fils d’Hercule, blessé et guéri par Achille au siège de Troie.

Notes

Eupatorium cannabinum

Plate caption: Eupatorium adulterinum
Kunigunt kraut

Eupatorium cannabinum L.
English: hemp agrimony
French: eupatoire
German: Wasserdostkraut

Eupatorium (text)

Eupatorium

Eupatoria

Water-agrimony (Sweet-maudlin). Pliny xxv. 6, § 29. Eupator was king of Syria, son on Antiochus Epiphanes.

Mithridates

Ipsi Mithridati Crateuas adscripsit unam, mithridatiam vocatam (huic folia duo a radice acantho similia, caulis inter utraque sustinens roseum florem).

To Mithridates himself Crateuas ascribed one plant, called mithridatia. It has two leaves, like those of the acanthus, springing from the root, with a stem between them which supports a rose-pink flower.

eupatorium

Eupatoria quoque regiam auctoritatem habet, caulis lignosi, nigricantis, hirsuti, cubitalis et aliquando amplioris, foliis per intervalla quinquefolii aut cannabis per extremitates incisis quinquepertito, nigris et ipsis plumosisque, radice supervacua. semen dysintericis in vino potum auxiliatur unice.

Eupatoria [Eupator was a surname of Mithridates VI, King of Pontus. See § 62 and XXXIII. § 151.] too enjoys the prestige of a royal discoverer. It has a ligneous stem, dark, hairy, and a cubit or sometimes more in height; the leaves, arranged at intervals, are like those of cinquefoil or hemp, and have five indentations along the edge; they too are dark and feathery. The root is useless, but the seed taken in wine is a sovereign remedy in cases of dysentery.

Eupatoria

« Eupatoria quoque regiam auctoritatem habet. » Pline XXV, 29. On a dédié à Mithridate Eupator, roi de Pont : 1° l’Eupatoire d’Avicenne, Eupatorium cannabinum, L. 2° l’Eupatoire de Mésuë, Achillea ageratum, L. 3° l’Aigremoine, Agrimonia eupatoria, L., qui, pour Sprengel, est la véritable Eupatoire de Dioscoride. Cependant, l’Eupatoire décrite par Pline, et vantée par Galien, Paul d’Égine, Avicenne, est l’E. cannabinum. (Paul Delaunay)

eupatorium

a weed named for King Eupator of Pompus.

eupatoire

Mithridate Eupator, roi du Pont, en Asie Miuneuyre (Pline, XXV, xxix)

Notes

names of plants

Fuit quidem et hic quondam ambitus nominibus suis eas adoptandi, ut docebimus fecisse reges. tanta res videbatur herbam invenire, vitam iuvare, nunc fortassis aliquis curam hanc nostram frivolam quoque existimaturis; adeo deliciis sordent etiam quae ad salutem pertinent. auctores tamen quarum inveniuntur in primis celebrari par est effectu earum digesto in genera morborum

It was one of the ambitions of the past to give one’s name [A common phrase in Pliny is nomine adoptare, “to give a name to a thing”] to a plant, as we shall point out was done by kings. It was thought a great honour to discover a plant and be of assistance to human life, although now perhaps some will think that these researches of mine are just idle trifling. So paltry in the eyes of Luxury are even the things that conduce to our health. It is but right, however, to mention in the first place the plants whose discoverers can be found, with their properties classified according to the kinds of disease for which they are a remedy. To reflect indeed on this makes one pity the lot of man; besides chances and changes and the strange happenings that every hour brings, there are thousands of diseases that every mortal has to dread.

Naming of plants

Il est assez singulier que Rabelais soit le premier écrivian qui, à l’occasion de son Pantagruelion (le chanvre) ait donné une dissertation en forme sur l’origine de noms des plants.

les plantes sont nommées en diverses manieres

Rabelais, comme on le verra, classe les plantes en huit catégories d’après leur dénomination: 1° selon le nom de leur inventeur, 2° leur pays d’origine, 3° par antiphrase, 4° par leurs vertus, 5° d’apres leurs particulatitiés, 6° en souvenir des métamorphoses, 7° par simitude, 8° d’apres la morphologie. Cette réparation lui a été suggérée par Pline qui, en son livre XXV, énumère les plantes baptisées du nom des dieux ou des rois, ou de celui de certaines nations, ou trouvées par divers animaux. On trouve d’ailleurs dans Pline (Nobilium herbarum inventores, XXV, ch. 7 et sqq.) la plupart des plantes rangées par Rabelais dans la première catégorie.

les plantes sont nommées en diverses manieres

Toute cette érudition philologique à propos des noms des plantes était très accessible du temps de Rabelais, grâce surtout à un petit livre de Charles Estienne, De latinis et grecis nominibus arborum, fructicum, herbarun, piscium et avium, livre que nous citons d’après l’edition de Paris, 1545. L’intérêt des paragraphes suivants ne réside pas dans l’érudition elle-mêmes, mais dans l’art de l’auteur.

Notes

names of plants

Fuit quidem et hic quondam ambitus nominibus suis eas adoptandi, ut docebimus fecisse reges. tanta res videbatur herbam invenire, vitam iuvare, nunc fortassis aliquis curam hanc nostram frivolam quoque existimaturis; adeo deliciis sordent etiam quae ad salutem pertinent. auctores tamen quarum inveniuntur in primis celebrari par est effectu earum digesto in genera morborum

It was one of the ambitions of the past to give one’s name [A common phrase in Pliny is nomine adoptare, “to give a name to a thing”] to a plant, as we shall point out was done by kings. It was thought a great honour to discover a plant and be of assistance to human life, although now perhaps some will think that these researches of mine are just idle trifling. So paltry in the eyes of Luxury are even the things that conduce to our health. It is but right, however, to mention in the first place the plants whose discoverers can be found, with their properties classified according to the kinds of disease for which they are a remedy. To reflect indeed on this makes one pity the lot of man; besides chances and changes and the strange happenings that every hour brings, there are thousands of diseases that every mortal has to dread.

la denomination

Ce sujet est cher à l’érudition de la Renaissance; ainsi Boaistuau consacrera partiellement le chap. 23 de ses Histoires prodigieuses à la dénomination des plantes. Rabelais a certainement utilisé le livre de Charles Estienne, De Latinis et Graecis nominibus arborum, fructicum, herbarum, piscium et auium (2° éd., 1545); mais ces préoccupations sont inspirées par Pline lui-même, dont le livre XXV de l’Hist. naturelle fourmit une grande partie de la matière.

la denomination d’icelle

Cette énumération de plantes classées, le nom de l’inventeur, du pays d’origine, etc., est inspirée de Pline (Histoire naturelle, XXV) et de Charles Estienne (De latinis et grecis nominibus arborum, fructicum, etc.). Elle évoque par la même occasion de nombreuses légendes, comme celle de Panace, fille d’Esculape, de Télèphe blessé devant Troi et guéri par Achille, etc.

Notes