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The Poppy, Opium and Its Use

in Late Minoan III

Remarks on the Discovery of the Minoan Poppy Goddess Idol

by P.G. Kritikos

[Translation in Progress]

The Museum of Heraklion in Crete, which I visited in June of 1959, has a special significance not only for the student of Cretan culture but also for the pharmaco-botanist, who will observe on many of the exhibited statues, frescoes, vases, etc. a variety of plants from that epoch, including many medicinal herbs.

I was particularly struck by an idol of the Minoan goddess "with raised hands" which was discovered in Gazi in 1936. In an article in the Archaiologiki Ephemeris (1936, pp. 278-291) Prof. Sp. Marinatos describes the objects of that excavation and reports in detail the circumstances under which this idol of the goddess was found. In his interpretation the goddess is wearing three poppy capsules on her head. He therefore calls the idol both the "Poppy Goddess" and "Patroness of Healing".

In addition to the work of Marinatos, the dissertation written for the University of Athens by Stylianos Alexiou of the Museum of Heraklion is also concerned with the idol and with "Minoan goddesses with raised hands" in general.

The name 'poppy'[Papaver ] includes a genus of poppy plants [Papaveraceae ], the most common of which are known as:

1. Papaver somniferum L. and

2. Papaver rhoeas L.

The capsules of the first species are notched towards the end of the flowering period. After drying in the sun, the oozing juice is collected with a spoon (or with the finger in earlier times) and, depending on the particular region of cultivation, is made into loaves (Opium cakes) of various shapes which exhibit that superior medicament, opium.

The second species (P. rhoeas L.) flowers profusely in cultivated and uncultivated fields during the spring, forming a wonderful red-green carpet out of the beautiful red blossoms and the encircling green. It is used as a medicament as well.

A careful examination of this Minoan idol leads, in my opinion, to pharmacognostically significant conclusions which I hold worthy of being communicated.

After we returned from Crete, we relayed our remarks concerning the notching of the poppy capsules and the extraction of the juice to Prof. Marinatos, the authority and investigator of ancient Crete and its culture. We take this opportunity to thank Prof. Marinatos. We welcome the fact that Marinatos shares our observations in his explanation of a plate of the idol in his recently published work "Crete and Mycenaean Hellas".

When the opportunity arises I shall also mention some aspects of other finds excavated by Marinatos, the conclusions of which I leave to the archaeologists to draw. Before I set forth my observations, I consider it practical to demonstrate what I regard as indispensable for the foundation of my view and for understanding the conclusions which we have drawn. Therefore, I shall summarize:

1. The history of the poppy and the knowledge (at that time) of extracting the juice (opium) and its use in antiquity.

2. The statements on the use of opium as an intoxicating agent.

3. The Minoan goddess "with raised hands".

1. The History of the Poppy; Extraction of the Juice; Manufacture and Use of Opium in Antiquity

The poppy plant and its sleep-inducing qualities were already known in antiquity. It was viewed as a magical or poisonous plant. The ancient Greeks portrayed Hypnos, the god of sleep, Nyx (night) and Thanatos (death) wreathed with poppies or carrying poppies in their hands.

Similarly, they also decorated statues of Apollo, Demeter, Aphrodite, Cybele and other gods, which either wear poppy wreaths on their heads or carry poppy bouquets with or without stalks of wheat in their hands. The fruit of the poppy with or without stalks of wheat can also be found in pictures, reliefs, vessels, coins and jewelry.

It is reported that Demeter, in despair over the abduction of her daughter, ate of the poppy to forget her pain and sleep.

The papaver growing wild in the fields became the symbol of this goddess. A bouquet of poppy and stalks of wheat is depicted on a ciste at Eleusis.

Both symbolize abundance and fertility.

The poppy was also sacred to Aphrodite.

Hesiod reports that the poppy was brought for cultivation to a city near Corinth and that this city then received the name Mekone (from Gr. = poppy) because of its poppy crop in the surrounding area. This prehistoric name was later replaced by the name Sikyon.

Homer reports that Gorgythion, suddenly robbed of life by Teukros's arrow, leaned his head to the side like a poppy full of seed, nodding in the garden:

[Greek Quote]

Sprengel likewise attributes to the juice of the poppy the grief-allaying anodyne mentioned by Homer , Gr. [nepenthes], which Helen mixes into Telemachus's wine so that he may forget his pain; she herself became acquainted with it through the Egyptian, Polydamna . Nicolas Monardes on the other hand considered it a form of hashish.

In a lecture on nepenthes , E. Emmanuel investigated the various interpretations and inclined toward the opinion of Plutarch, Athenaios, Philostratos and others that the anodyne conceals nothing more than an allegorical reference to Helen's charm and grace, and is not actually some kind of medicament.

Herodotus reports that the Scythians and Massagetae intoxicated themselves on the fumes of hemp seeds spread over hot stones.

Thrasyas of Mantinea cites Theophrastus concerning the tradition that poppy juice brings about a quick and painless death.

Hippocrates mentions the poppy in numerous passages concerning the concoction of pharmaceutical preparations. He distinguishes between the white, fire-red and black poppy. In terms of therapeutic efficacy he mentions the unripe (Gr.), the ripe (Gr.) and the baked (Gr.) poppy.

He also frequently refers to meconium as an anaesthetizing and contracting agent, as well as a purgative.

[To Be Continued]