THE ANCIENT DRUG OPIUM

The use of papaver somniferum (from the Latin fero ferre = ‘to bear/bring ’ and somnium = ‘sleep’) as a narcotic, goes back to the 13th century BC. The works of ancient authors such as Dioscorides, Celsus, Galen, Theophrastus and Pliny the Elder provide us with detailed information about the morphology of the plant, its processing and the administration of the drug.1 These authors make it clear that opium was mainly employed as anodyne and narcotic but they also documented its use as a drug in the treatment of a variety of ailments, either as one of many ingredients in a medicinal recipe or as the main ingredient. Modern botanical and pharmaceutical analysis of the plant and its active ingredients provide us with some surprising conclusions regarding its effectiveness in the treatment of the medical conditions for which it was prescribed in the 1st and 2nd century. 1 The early history of poppy A 775 mm high statuette (Fig. 1) of a Minoan (13th century BC) goddess with uplifted hands probably provides us with the oldest ancient evidence for poppy and opium. It is known as ‘The Poppy Goddess ’ because it bears on the head three movable pins in the likeness of heads of the sleep-inducing poppy (Kerényi 1976:24; Sakellarakis, 1987:91). It can be seen in the Museum at Herakleion. Greek archaeologists have concluded that: 1. The vertical notches in the capsules are more deeply coloured, and relate to the extraction of the juice. 2. The Minoan goddess appears to have her eyes closed as though asleep. 1 References to the information supplied by these sources will be found throughout this article