Nepenthe, or more correctly Nepenthes, is described by Homer in the
Odyssey as an Egyptian plant which Helen, the wife of Menelaus, had
received from Polydamna, wife of Thonis, King of Egypt. The word is
compounded of _ne_, negation, and _penthos_, pain or affliction. Helen
mixed it for Telemachus in “a mirth inspiring bowl” which would
Clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care,
And dry the tearful sluices of despair.
Its effects would last all through one day. No matter what horrors
surrounded,
From morn to eve, impassive and serene
The man entranced would view the dreadful scene.
Much discussion of Homer’s drug has of course resulted from his
description of these effects. Was it a mere poetic fancy of Homer’s and
was the name his invention, or was there an Egyptian drug known in his
time to which the properties he describes were attributed? Plutarch,
Philostratus, and some other ancient commentators suppose that the poet
is only representing in a materialistic form the charm of Helen’s
conversation and manner. The difficulty about that interpretation is
that he explicitly states that the remedy came from Egypt. Theophrastus
credits the opopanax with similar properties to those which Homer
claims, and Dioscorides is believed to allude to the same gum under the
name of Nectarion, which he indicates to have been of Egyptian origin.
This has been adopted by some old critics as the true nepenthes. Pliny
asserts that Helenium was the plant which yielded the mirth-inspiring
drug, but it is not clear that he means our elecampane. Borage and
bugloss have also had their advocates, Galen supporting the latter.
Rhazes voted for saffron. Cleopatra is assumed to have meant mandragora
when she asked for some nepenthe to make her forget her sorrow while
she was separated from Antony. Opium has of course been selected by
many commentators, but it could hardly have furnished a mirth-inspiring
bowl. Indian hemp or haschish seems to meet the requirements of
the verse better than any other drug. There are also reasons for
choosing hyoscyamus or stramonium. The Indian pitcher plants to which
Linnaeus gave the name of nepenthes are out of the question. A learned
contribution to this study may be found in the _Bulletin de Pharmacie_,
Vol. V. (1813), by M. J. J. Virey.