The Homeric plant moly is a mysterious herb mentioned in Book 10 of the Odyssey. In the early 1980s, a pharmacological thesis to identify the plant was put forward for the first time, regarding the snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis L.) as candidate species. The proposal was inspired by the snowdrop’s acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-inhibiting properties and its alleged morphological reminiscence to other plants called moly by ancient Greek herbalists. Here, we draw from a compilation of literature from various disciplines, together with an understanding of the Homeric epic as a repository of information based on oral traditions, to (i) show that the assimilation of Homer’s moly to Galanthus nivalis is, at the very least, questionable and (ii) frame and support a new synthesis of the pharmacological thesis. We suggest that the uncertainty that revolves around the identity of Homer’s moly can be tied to an unnamed phylogenetic clade of closely related Mediterranean native species with AChE-inhibiting properties. Further, we speculate that Homer’s moly might represent an early record of an ethnobotanical complex, a sort of cultural taxon resulting from the cognitive crossbreeding of closely related taxonomic species that could have been interchangeably used due to their rough resemblance and common AChE-inhibiting properties. Such cultural taxon would have referred to the phytonym moly by the centuries-old oral traditions that ultimately crystallized in the poem. We also venture that sea daffodils (Pancratium spp.) could have greatly contributed to shaping the botanical archetype in the myth as we know it today.

中文翻译：

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寻找荷马的钼：探索早期民族植物学复合体的潜力

荷马植物钼是《奥德赛》第十卷中提到的一种神秘草药。20世纪80年代初，首次提出了鉴定该植物的药理学论文，将雪花莲（Galanthus nivalis L.）作为候选物种。该提案的灵感来自于雪花莲的乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）抑制特性，以及其据称与古希腊草药学家称为钼的其他植物的形态让人联想到的特征。在这里，我们从不同学科的文献汇编中汲取灵感，并结合对荷马史诗作为基于口头传统的信息宝库的理解，以（i）表明荷马的 moly 与 Galanthus nivalis 的同化是在最根本上的。至少，有疑问的和（ii）框架和支持药理学论文的新综合。我们认为，围绕荷马钼身份的不确定性可能与具有 AChE 抑制特性的密切相关的地中海本地物种的未命名系统发育分支有关。此外，我们推测荷马的钼可能代表了民族植物学复合体的早期记录，这是一种由密切相关的分类物种的认知杂交产生的文化分类单元，由于它们的大致相似性和共同的乙酰胆碱酯酶抑制特性，这些物种可以互换使用。这种文化分类单元可能通过数百年历史的口头传统来指代植物名“moly”，这些传统最终在这首诗中得到了体现。我们还推测，海水仙（Pancratium spp.）可能对塑造我们今天所知的神话中的植物原型做出了巨大贡献。