Intoxication in the Ancient Greek and Roman World

Download or read book Intoxication in the Ancient Greek and Roman World written by Alan Sumler and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-11-22 with total page 173 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intoxication in the Ancient Greek and Roman World considers the psychotropic plants used in the ancient world and ancient attitudes towards intoxication. Alan Sumler surveys primary Greek and Roman sources for noteworthy mentions of ancient intoxicants like hellebore, mandrake, deadly nightshade, thorn apple, opium poppy, cannabis, wine, and other substances and reveals how psychoactive drugs were used in ancient Greek and Roman religion, medicine, magic, artistic inspiration, and recreation. Interpreted through the lens of modern-day scholarship from Classics, philosophy, and ethnobotany, the primary sources illuminate how commonplace psychotropic plants and drugs were in the ancient Greek and Roman world and—given different contexts for psychotropic drug usage—what attitudes these societies held about the appropriateness of intoxication.