14 research outputs found
Morsures, piqĂ»res et empoisonnements dans lâHistoire Naturelle de Pline lâAncien
This article aims to explain the large amount of space devoted by Pliny in his Natural History to remedies for the effects of bites and poisonous substances. Pliny is a compiler and reports a medical tradition known from the Alexandrian age. The interest of Pliny and other authors in this matter reflects a fear arising especially from two causes : on the one hand, the discovery by Greeks and Romans of Asian and African venomous animals ; on the other hand, the poisons used since Hellenistic times for criminal purposes. There are, however, other factors directly linked to Plinyâs life and beliefs : the use â and abuse â of poison in Neroâs time, the theme of the serpent in contemporary literature, and, above all, Plinyâs adherence to the doctrine of âsympathiesâ and âantipathiesâ. In holding this point of view, Pliny has been influenced profoundly by a Pseudo-Democritus, Bolos of Mendes, the author of a lost book On Sympathies and Antipathies, with extensive discussion of magic, an art associating knowledge of animals, poisons and their remedies