![Theriaca 002](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Theriaca_002.jpg)
The "Theriaca" ( grc, Θηριακά) is the longest surviving work of the 2nd-century BC
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
Nicander of Colophon
Nicander of Colophon ( grc-gre, Νίκανδρος ὁ Κολοφώνιος, Níkandros ho Kolophṓnios; fl. 2nd century BC), Greek poet, physician and grammarian, was born at Claros (Ahmetbeyli in modern Turkey), near Colophon, where his famil ...
.
It is a 958-line
hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...
poem describing the nature of
venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...
ous creatures, including
snakes,
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
s, and
scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...
s, and the wounds that they inflict.
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 (''thēriaka''), "having to do with venomous animals", which in turn derives from grc, θηρίον (''thērion''), "wild animal". A corresponding English noun
theriac
Theriac or theriaca is a medical concoction originally labelled by the Greeks in the 1st century AD and widely adopted in the ancient world as far away as Persia, China and India via the trading links of the Silk Route. It was an alexipharmic, ...
also exists.
Content
It has been noted that ''Theriaca'' is a poem not solely concerned with its intended subject matter, given its "arcane language". Nicander makes references to a ''drakōn'', however it is likely this term is utilized to refer to an
Aesculapian snake
The Aesculapian snake (now ''Zamenis longissimus'', previously ''Elaphe longissima''), is a species of nonvenomous snake native to Europe, a member of the Colubrinae subfamily of the family Colubridae. Growing up to in length, it is among th ...
rather than a dragon in the contemporary perception of the word.
References
Further reading
*
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed.,
Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century', no. 226, 1979,
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York, ; full text available online from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
Ancient Greek poems
2nd-century BC works
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