Pharmakeia is not just the use of herbs. It is about the use of all potions and herbs. It was used for a variety of reasons, in many ways, by various people, and for a variety of people. The main aims were to heal, treat ailments, contraception, abortion, fertility, poison, and flavour foods. The people who practiced were mainly women as it was seen as a more domesticated field compared to the more male dominated areas of antiquity of say, astrology. Midwives commonly used plants to help with women’s needs and natural cycles. Pharmakeia is also mentioned in myths with Circe and Medea and their events that included the use of potions and herbs. This type of oral tradition was to inform people what herbs were a danger and those that were helpful. The clients were mainly women and Pharmakeia was used by every social class, especially those in power and wanted their competition removed.
One of the many aims of the use of herbs was to help out people with medicinal antidotes. Those who were sick went to a practitioner who knew which herbs were the ones for their condition. Another reason was for fertility, abortion, cooking, cursing, binding, and cleaning out wounds. Healing with herbs is known as sympathetic magic. Certain colours of herbs affected certain diseases and disorders. “A red flannel was used to draw out fever; red flowers were used for disorders of the blood and yellow objects were used to cure jaundice.” As the quote suggests, the certain colours of the herbs can indicate what type of disorders and/or illnesses they can treat. This was important to know in order to not make the person’s condition even worse. The other aim for the use of Pharmakeia was to poison. A lot of hemlock that was ingested could be fatal as well as belladonna (Baumann, 1993) and the more upper class people who were over ambitious, eliminated their enemies through the use of poisons.
The people who practiced were women because was thought to be a non-male profession as this was due to the belief that Pharmakeia was seen as a more domesticated area. The males were more orientated with the sciences and mathematics of astrology and the females were more orientated with cooking, caring, feeding and healing. Therefore, women knew which herbs were for cooking, healing and poisoning. If the women specialised in the child birth area, they were called midwives. They had to know which ones were which in order to not administer the wrong ones to the wrong people. “Eyebright is used as a wash for inflamed eyes” (Muir, 1998 page 72) while “Silverweed should be used cautiously for over activity of the kidneys” (Greenwood 2001, page 106). Therefore, as aforementioned, the colour of herbs helped show which ones treated certain illnesses and here these two quotes suggest that names of herbs and plants can also indicate where they can be used. Also, mythical tales of certain herbs being used to cause harm and the others that were antidotes can also help hand down information to the other generations about which herbs are best used for what.
The clients were from all social levels and walks of life. This was because every one gets sick and women need all the help that they can get when giving birth. If a poor woman was on her seventh child and could not handle and more children, she would go to a midwife and then get a herb or a potion to induce abortion. This was seen as necessary if a person’s life was in danger if they tried to have another child. Though, further on in history, this was seen as going against God’s will. Other more upper class people sought out the uses of Pharmakeia for similar reasons as the other classes. Maybe not so much abortion, but they used Pharmakeia for fertility, poisoning their enemies and those who were in competition with them, and of course, healing illnesses and diseases.
In fantasy literature, there was an over the top usage and reference of Pharmakeia. It was dramatised with the aims of Pharmakeia were mainly of being to poison and used in magic for physical transformations. Circe was fully divine and used Pharmakeia as a base of her magic and sorcery. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus recounts his meeting with Circe. She was seen as a Goddess in an isolated place and she bewitched all of them with herbs in a potion so that they would forget who they were and where their homeland was (Ogden, 2002). This was except for Eurylochus who had waited outside. As the quote suggests that this inverted notion of Pharmakeia was an extreme view of what women were capable of when using herbs, thus sparking distrust in the art or the possibility of suggesting which herbs will affect people in a bad way and the antidotes for them.
Medea was another female who practiced Pharmakeia in fantasy. She was married to Jason who was an Argonaut looking for the Golden Fleece. She helped him to get the Golden Fleece and he made vows before the Gods to be her one and only love and wife. Soon after though, Jason feel in love with a princess and Jason gave her the option to back out of their marriage peacefully. Medea, in her rage, concocted a deadly potion and put it upon a gown and a head piece for Jason’s new wife. Upon putting it on, the princess was struck down with pain and soon died. Her father tried to help her but upon touching her, he too contracted the poison and he also died (Ogden, 2002). This further shows the twisted beliefs about the practitioners and their intentions with the use of Pharmakeia that are expressed in literature. The notion that beautiful women, however enchanting, will use the art of Pharmakeia to bewitch men for their own purposes is heavily emphasised with the constant references to a beautiful woman or a Goddess who uses Pharmakeia for evil purposes. Circe’s aims and intentions with the use of Pharmakeia was to keep the men as pets in the form of pigs and her niece Medea’s aims and intentions with her knowledge of Pharmakeia was to get her revenge out of jealousy. This was an extreme and inverted view of what Pharmakeia was really about. There were some people who used Pharmakeia to poison people but spells were not used to kill people, just the use of herbs and potions. What made them magical was if there were words chanted over the herbs or potion that included the herbs. They did not have clients who came to them for their help with potions, they used it for their own purposes but it was Odysseus who sought the Gods’ help to not be bewitched by Circe. He had a flower that is referred to as ‘Moly’ and with this; he was saved by this flower or herb by not being taken with Circe and have her potion that would have turned him into a pig (Ogden, 2002). Therefore, Odysseus used this type of Pharmakeia as an antidote to not be susceptible to Circe’s ways and avoid drinking her potion and fall under her spell.
Therefore, one can see that there are many uses for herbs in Pharmakeia. There are inverted examples shown in myths and other forms of literature of the uses, people, aims, and intentions in the stories. This may or may not reflect the ancient society and their beliefs about Pharmakeia and to be more specific, the use of herbs. The ancient literature is an extreme view of the abilities of the use of herbs and potions but can provide useful information about what is poisonous and what herbs are useful for antidotes and the like. The working with herbs was more female orientated as it was seen as a more domesticated area and their clients were any one who sought them out for remedies, concoctions, and poisons. Midwives helped out with womens’ natural cycles; however this was not demonstrated in the literature. Herbalsim plays a vital part in antiquity and even in the present.
Bibliography
Baumann, H. (1993). Medicinal and Magical Plants [Electronic Version] , 93-168 from http://library.newcastle.edu.au/articles/2221750.28316/1.PDF.
Greenwood, S. (2001). The Encyclopedia of Magic and Witchcraft. London: Hermes House.
Muir, A. (1998). Healing Herbs. Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications
Ogden, D. (2002). Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds. New York: Oxford University Press.
