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." 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
