Mōly, Mōlyos: Ovid and Pliny's "Magic Herb"

Written and Researched by Matthew Winter ‡ Latin translations by Matthew Winter

Lewis and Short's A Latin Dictionary entries mōly, mōlyos as a neuter third-declension noun with two appropriate definitions: according to how it is used by a different author. Two Latin authors have used this obscure botanical word, Ovid and Pliny, and each prospect a different plant. "A plant with a white flower and a black root" (as used by Pliny) and "another plant, a kind of nightshade" (used as well by Pliny). Although the definition does not use Ovid's interpretation, it is assumed that he used moly in a more general sense, as would be defined "a magic herb (particularly fantastical but perhaps not)". A full declension table (lacking the Vocative case) is shown below; it is declined based on similar third-declension Greek-borrowed nouns that decline differently than "normal" nouns.   

mōly	mōlyēs
mōlyŏs	mōlyĕōn
mōlyī	mōlyibus
mōlyn	mōlyīs
mōlyë	mōlyibus

To portray moly used in the more "ambiguous" sense, Ovid provides us with a clear example on how this rare noun was used. Ovid, here, parallels the story of Ulysses giving to Circe a "magic herb" from Homer's Odyssey.

pacifer huic dederat florem Cyllenius album:
moly vocant superi, nigra radice tenetur;
tutus eo monitisque simul caelestibus intrat
ille domum Circes et ad insidiosa vocatus
pocula conantem virga mulcere capillos
reppulit et stricto pavidam deterruit ense. (Ovid, Metamorphoses, 14.291-296). 

"Cyllenius (Hermes), who brings peace, had given this man (who is Ulysses*) a white flower:

The gods call [it] "moly", being supported by a black root;

at once, that prudent man entered the house of Circe with it ("moly") 

and admonition of the gods, and having been called to the hazardous cup,

[Circe] endeavoring to fondle his hair with a twig,

he pushed back and with a drawn-tight sword, frightened away the panic-struck [Circe]."

The snowdrop -- perhaps moly?

In this passage, we note that Ovid is in a way "quoting" the Odyssey (as mentioned earlier), as he retells the story of Ulysses and Circe, and how he [Ulysses] used the "moly" against Circe. It happens that Cyllenius (who apparently is Hermes, or the Greek messenger god) gives Ulysses a "magic herb" with a white flower, florem album (line 291) and black root, nigra radice (line 292). To explain why Ulysses would use the "moly" against Circe, we must first understand the entirety of it. Lines 223-319 tell of Ulysses and Circe, and a good portion of it is told by Marcareus, a companion of Ulysses who warns Aeneas not to approach Circe (and the passage above is part of his dissertation).

It just so happens that Marcareus, after encountering Circe and accepting a drink which is described as a blend "of malted barley, honey, strong wine, and curdled milk, to which she [Circe] secretly added juices, that its sweetness would hide" (Translation by A.S. Kline). He drinks it greedily, and describes what happened. The "dread goddess touched the top of our hair with her wand, and then (I am ashamed, but I will tell you) I began to bristle with hair, unable to speak now, giving out hoarse grunts instead of words, and to fall forward, completely facing the ground. I felt my mouth stiffening into a long snout, my neck swelling with brawn, and I made tracks on the ground, with the parts that had just now lifted the cup to my mouth. I was shut in a sty with the others in the same state (so much can magic drugs achieve!)"

But Hermes protected Ulysses with this herb, so that he could safely restore his friends. Ovid's Metamorphoses is basically a book of transformations, and this particular story was retold because of the humiliated change Marcareus and his companions went through. Webster's 1913 Dictionary describes moly as an English noun. It's definition: "a fabulous herb of occult power, having a black root and white blossoms, said by Homer to have been given by Hermes to Ulysses to counteract the spells of Circe."

Pliny the Elder, as recorded in Naturalis Historia, describes moly to be principally the same plant as Ovid represented it to be, with the black root and white blossoms. "... sive moly" (Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 1.41). "Or moly". The word here was submerged at the end of a long list of (perhaps) plant names, as most of them were unknown(!). 

*We learn that it is Ulysses from a previous part of the story. 

References Sited 

Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles. A Latin Dictionary from Perseus Digital Library. Entry: mōly. Accessed May 23, 2012.

Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia. 1.41. Accessed May 23, 2012 from Perseus Digital Library.

Publius Ovidius Naso. Metamorphoses. 14.291-296. Accessed May 23, 2012 from the Latin Library. 

Webster, Noah. Revised Unabridged Dictionary. Entry: moly. Accessed May 23, 2012