Pharmacy by the plants

The many plants used by physicians in ancient Greece are currently the subject of increased scrutiny in the search for novel pharmacotherapeutics. In these cross-disciplinary efforts to integrate Classical Studies with Pharmacology, material is often restricted to a portion of the extensive literature, or it is extracted from translations that sometimes do not even accurately reflect the text in the original language, leading to conclusions that may lack the necessary textual support. The Notes and Monographs similar to the Notes and Occasional Papers published by scientific societies during the Enlightenment seek to address these shortcomings. Whether focusing on a plant species or covering more broadly a genus and even a family, they are based on a wide-ranging, if not comprehensive, textual and iconographic corpus submitted to a cross-disciplinary analysis. They result in significant compilations of original material suitable for further medical and pharmacotherapeutic research.

Families

Genera and plant species

Scientific names

Atropa bella-donna L.
Datura stramonium L.
Lycium europaeum L.
Mandragora officinarum Bertol. 
Physalis alkekengi L. 
Physalis officinarum Moench
Physalis somnifera L. 
Solanum nigrum L. 
Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal 

Greek names

ἁλικάκκαβον 
δορύκνιον
λύκιον
μανδραγόρας
στύχνον κηπαῖον
στύχνον μανικόν
στύχνον ὑπνωτικόν

Greek names (transcription)

alikakkabon
doruknion
lukion
mandragoras
struchnon kēpaion
struchnon manikon
struchnon upnōtikon

English names
Alchechengi berry
Ashwagandha
Belladonna 
Black nightshade
Blackberry nightshade
Bladder cherry
Chinese lantern
Deadly nightshade
European black nightshade
European box-thorn