二）女巫的毒药
同古希腊人一样，早期的古罗马贵族讨厌大蒜味，拒绝食蒜。只有下等的工人和奴隶才吃大蒜，籍此增强他们的体力和活力。全身散发着蒜味的被视为下等人，不被允许进入神庙。
士兵们在战前吃大蒜，以激发他们的士气。古罗马的将军们相信大蒜带给军队勇气，每征服一个国家，他们就命士兵在那里种植大蒜，象征着勇气已经转移到阵地上。凯撒大帝是贵族出身，却非常喜欢吃大蒜，不知这是否与他南征北战的经历有关。
古罗马著名的抒情诗人贺拉斯（Horace，公元前65年- 公元前8年）在《长短句集》（Epodes）的第三篇里明确地表示了自己对大蒜的厌恶，现翻译如下：
颂歌三 至梅塞纳斯
“如果有人在任何时候用邪恶之手折断了年迈的父亲的脖子，就让他吃大蒜，比毒芹更毒。哦!割草者强壮的肠子！我的腑脏内愤怒翻腾的是何种毒？难道注入在这些草药内的毒蛇的血欺骗了我？还是卡尼迪亚将这种有害的食物穿在身上？当凌驾于所有阿尔戈英雄之上的美狄亚，崇拜着他们帅气的领袖杰森时，她用此物膏抹了他，因为他将要轭束那些不曾驯服的公牛。为了报复杰森的情妇，她把此物涂抹在送给情敌的礼物上，然后骑着翼龙飞走了。干渴的阿普利亚上空的任何一个星座的炽灼程度都无法与此物的愤怒之火相比，德伊阿妮拉的礼物在辛劳的赫拉克勒斯肩膀上灼烧的热度，都不如它强烈。滑稽的梅塞纳斯，如果你胆敢对这类东西产生渴望，我希望您的女人会拒绝您的亲吻，并且躺在床铺最远的一端。”
（ODE III.
TO MAECENAS.
If any person at any time with an impious hand has broken his aged father's neck, let him eat garlic, more baneful than hemlock. Oh! the hardy bowels of the mowers! What poison is this that rages in my entrails? Has viper's blood, infused in these herbs, deceived me? Or has Canidia dressed this baleful food? When Medea, beyond all the [other] argonauts, admired their handsome leader, she anointed Jason with this, as he was going to tie the untried yoke on the bulls: and having revenged herself on [Jason's] mistress, by making her presents besmeared with this, she flew away on her winged dragon. Never did the steaming influence of any constellation so raging as this rest upon the thirsty Appulia: neither did the gift [of Dejanira] burn hotter upon the shoulders of laborious Hercules. But if ever, facetious Maecenas, you should have a desire for any such stuff again, I wish that your girl may oppose her hand to your kiss, and lie at the furthest part of the bed.）
这首诗是献给罗马帝国皇帝奥古斯都的谋臣盖乌斯.梅塞纳斯(Gaius Cilnius Maecenas，公元前70年－公元前8年)的。梅塞纳斯是诗人艺术家的保护人，诗人维吉尔和贺拉斯都曾蒙他提携。
贺拉斯把大蒜视为一种比毒芹还毒的植物，只有下等人（割草者）的肠胃才能消化得了这种粗鄙的食物。上等人（诗人自己）如果不小心吃了大蒜，准保肚子里翻江倒海，像中了毒那般难受。诗中的卡尼迪亚是拉丁语文学作品里最著名的女巫之一，有人说她的原型是贺拉斯的一位卖香水的情人，两人分手时闹的不愉快，诗人故意在作品中将情人丑化成一位拥有超自然能力的邪恶的女巫。卡尼迪亚用大蒜来点缀她的服饰，旨在给人们带来恶运。诗歌中还引用了两个希腊神话，第一个是美狄亚的故事，第二个是大力神赫拉克勒斯和第三任妻子德伊阿妮拉的故事。
美狄亚的故事先后出现在欧里庇得斯（Euripides，公元前480年－前406年,古希腊三大悲剧大师之一）的剧作《美狄亚》（创作于公元前431年），阿波罗尼俄斯（Apollonius）的长篇叙事诗歌《阿尔戈英雄纪》（Argonautica, 创作于公元前三世纪），以及奥维德（Ovid, 公元前43年-公元17/18年）的《变形记》(Metamorphoses)里。
美狄亚是岛国科尔喀斯（Colchis）的公主，被爱神之箭射中，疯狂地爱上了率领阿尔戈英雄前来寻找金羊毛的杰森（Jason）。根据《阿尔戈英雄纪》的版本，为了帮助杰森，美狄亚使用了她储存在容器里的草药。其中一种功力强大的草药是从被宙斯绑在高加索山悬崖上的普罗米修斯（Prometheus）流出的鲜血中长出来的。她将这种草药泡在水里，用药水抹遍杰森的身体，还擦拭在他的武器上。有了药水的相助，杰森制服了鼻孔喷着烈焰的黄铜蹄公牛，并杀死了由毒龙牙齿变成的武士。杰森又把美狄亚提供的药液洒在看守金羊毛的巨龙身上，使其陷入昏睡，成功盗得金羊毛。
这对夫妻和一众阿尔戈英雄一起逃离科尔喀斯，美狄亚亲手杀死了前来追杀他们的兄弟。他们回到杰森的故乡伊奧科斯（Iolcos )，该国的现任国王是杰森的叔叔，靠阴谋篡了哥哥的王位。为了助丈夫夺回王位，美狄亚成功欺骗了伊奧科斯的公主们。她用秘制的草药在一个大锅里煮了一只老羊，结果从锅里跳出了一只活泼的小羊。公主们信以为真，为了帮助父亲恢复青春，将他大卸八块后扔进滚烫的魔法锅中……国王死后，王位留给了杰森。但希腊人对他们这种弑君篡位的行为非常不满，夫妻俩被迫流亡到科林斯。在科林斯，美狄亚怀孕并生下了两个孩子。一对共患难的夫妻却无法共贫贱，杰森对美狄亚的爱情消失了，迷上了美丽的底比斯公主格劳斯。为了迎娶新欢，他狠心地抛弃了自己的结发妻子。
悲剧《美狄亚》以美狄亚被杰森无情抛弃为开篇。她设计了一系列报复计划，包括用剑砍死杰森和新娘等，最后她决定借助于自己最擅长的草药知识。她首先找到雅典国王埃勾斯（Aegeus），说自己能够用草药治好他的不育症，她就这样为自己找到了庇护所。接着，她织了一件礼服和金色花环，作为新婚礼物送给新娘，礼物上涂抹着毒药水。新娘穿上嫁衣、戴上金冠后，出现中毒症状，痛苦地呻吟，头上的金冠忽然冒出熊熊烈火，把她的全身烧着了，惨不忍睹地死去。为了给杰森最致命一击，美狄亚又亲手用宝剑捅死了两个儿子，然后乘着从祖父赫利俄斯（Helios）那里借来的龙车飞到了雅典城……
以上这两部作品里的美狄亚不太像今人思维定势里的女巫，更像一位精通草药知识、敢爱敢恨且心狠手辣的女人。书中也几乎没有描写她的超自然能力。故事很接地气，你可以理解为一位疯狂的姑娘爱上了一位勇敢英俊的男子。她的人生前半段是喜剧，后半段是悲剧。读完这些故事，你会对感情有一种新的感悟：疯狂是比毒药还可怕的东西，与其追求惊世骇俗的有始无终的爱情，不如平平淡淡地执子之手、与子偕老。
几百年后，奥维德在他的《变形记》中将美狄亚的草药与咒语、秘诀等联系在一起，也就是说，草药在她唱歌或诵经后才能发挥超能量。美狄亚可以进入位于冥界的忘川河（Lethe）附近的草地，她传授给杰森往巨龙身上洒药水的技巧，还教他背诵三遍咒语，不但可以催眠、并且令大海风平浪静、奔流的河水变成死水一潭等 – 这些都是神灵才拥有的魔力。美狄亚还在她的药水里加入了无生命的物质和动物身上的某些部位，比如，在帮助杰森的父亲恢复青春时，她在草药里掺进了从远处收集来的石头和沙子、猫头鹰的翅膀和其他部位、一只活了九世的乌鸦的脑袋、狼人的内脏和唾沫等。通过这些诡异的细节，奥维德将她打造成了拥有超自然能力的阴险邪恶的女巫。
再来说说大力神赫拉克勒斯与妻子德伊阿妮拉的故事，他们的感情纠葛是这样的：两人新婚不久后橫渡一条大河，半人马涅索斯将德伊阿妮拉驮在背上送她过河，走到河中心的时候要非礼她。赫拉克勒斯看到了，等他们上了岸，用毒箭射死了涅索斯。涅索斯为了复仇，临死前要德伊阿妮拉收集自己的血液，欺骗她说，这些血如果涂在变心的男人的衣服上，会令他回心转意。 后来德伊阿妮拉怀疑丈夫爱上了伊俄勒，她将那些血液涂在了一件罩衫上，让仆人将这件有毒的罩衫交给了大力神。当他穿上它時，那些复仇的血液开始吞噬他的皮肤，而且衣服紧紧地黏在他的骨头上，竟然无法脱去。最后，赫拉克勒斯自愿选择死去，他让人为他建了一個柴堆，让熊熊的烈火为他除去痛苦。
在献给恩主梅塞纳斯的颂歌里，诗人贺拉斯认为味道刺鼻的大蒜就是美狄亚使用的毒药。大蒜的杀伤力非常强大，连伟大的英雄赫拉克勒斯都无法抵挡热辣蚀骨的痛苦。诗人劝诫梅塞纳斯远离大蒜。
古罗马诗人维吉尔（Virgil, 公元前70年－公元前19年）的《牧歌》（Eclogues ）第二卷，科瑞东唱：“喔，残酷的亚历克西斯，难道你不在意我的歌吗？难懂你对我豪无仁慈，最终将我逼死？现在连牛都躲在了清凉的树荫里，连那绿蜥蜴都躲在了灌木丛里， 连特丝提力丝都在为炎暑中收割的人捣她的芬芳的野蒜和百里香。而当我追寻着你的足迹，炙热太阳下的那一小片丛林以尖锐的蝉声重复着我的声音。也许忍受阿玛莉丝的怒气和侮慢更好吧？也许梅纳卡斯也不错？尽管他黑了一些，而你的肌肤如雪。可爱的少年啊，不要过分自信你的容貌。白色的女贞花飘落后，暗色的风信子才被采收。”
（O cruel Alexis, care you naught for my songs? Have you no pity for me? You will drive me at last to death. Now even the cattle court the cool shade; now even the green lizards hide in the brakes, and Thestylis pounds for the reapers, spent with the scorching heat, her savoury herbs of garlic and thyme. But as I track your footprints, the copses under the burning sun echo my voice with that of the shrill cicadas. Was it not better to brook Amaryllis’ sullen rage and scornful disdain? or Menalcas, though he was dark and you are fair? Ah, lovely boy, trust not too much to your bloom! The white privets fall, the dark hyacinths are culled!）
歌中的特丝提力丝是一位农妇，正在为地里割禾的农人准备以野蒜与百里香为调味料的午餐。
尽管古希腊和古罗马的贵族们拒绝食蒜，他们仍将大蒜视为一种备受赞誉的良药。古希腊名医希波克拉底（Hippocrates，公元前460年－前370年），古罗马时期的军医迪奥斯科里德斯（Dioscorides、公元40年－90年）,以及古罗马医学家盖伦（Galen, 公元129年－200年）都认为大蒜是万灵药，可以治疗消化系统不适、肠道感染、高血压，并且止疼、壮阳、延缓衰老等。
古罗马博物学家和政治家老普林尼（Pliny the Elder ，公元23－79）声称大蒜可以治疗61种疾病，他在《自然史》第19卷第34章对大蒜做了如下介绍：
“人们（尤其居住在乡间的人们）普遍认为大蒜可以治疗多种疾病。大蒜外皮由精细的膜组成，作为蔬菜时，膜通常被丢弃；内有几片蒜瓣，每片蒜瓣也有一层外皮。它的味道刺鼻，蒜瓣越多，味道就越刺激。和洋葱一样，它散发出令人讨厌的气味，但煮熟时异味就消失了。可以从不同的成熟期来鉴别大蒜种类，成熟期早的大蒜六十天内就可供使用。也可以从蒜头的大小来区别品种。 Ulpicum，即被希腊人统称为“塞浦路斯大蒜”的，就属于此类，某些人叫它‘粘齿龙’，尤其在非洲的农村人口中享有崇高的美食地位。它的个头大过普通大蒜，用油和醋搅打时，产生令人吃惊的大量的乳脂状泡沫。
（Garlic is generally supposed, in the country more particularly, to be a good specific for numerous maladies. The ex- ternal coat consists of membranes of remarkable fineness, which are universally discarded when the vegetable is used; the inner part being formed by the union of several cloves, each of which has also a separate coat of its own. The flavour of it is pungent, and the more numerous the cloves the more pungent it is. Like the onion, it imparts an offensive smell to the breath; but this is not the case when it is cooked. The various species of garlic are distinguished by the periods at which they ripen: the early kind becomes fit for use in sixty days. Another distinction, too, is formed by the relative size of the heads. Ulpicum, also, generally known to the Greeks as "Cyprian garlic," belongs to this class; by some persons it is called "antiscorodon," and in Africa more particularly it holds a high rank among the dishes of the rural population; it is of a larger size than ordinary garlic. When beaten up with oil and vinegar, it is quite surprising what a quantity of creaming foam is produced.）
“有些人建议不要在平地上播种Ulpicum和大蒜，认为应当把它们种植在开挖的小土丘中，每个小土丘相距三英尺。他们建议，在每片蒜瓣之间应留有四个手指的距离，每次看到发出三片叶子，必须锄蒜头。锄蒜头的次数越多，收获的尺寸就越大。当它们开始成熟时，茎杆向下弯曲，并被泥土覆盖，这样可以有效地预防叶子长出。在寒冷的土壤中，春季比秋季更适合播种。”
There are some persons who recommend that neither ulpicum nor garlic should be sown on level ground, but say that they should be planted in little mounds trenched up, at a distance of three feet apart. Between each clove, they say, there should be a distance of four fingers left, and as soon as ever three leaves are visible, the heads should be hoed; the oftener they are hoed, the larger the size they will attain. When they begin to ripen, the stalks are bent downwards, and covered over with earth, a precaution which effectually prevents them from running to leaf. In cold soils, it is considered better to plant them in spring than in autumn.
“为了消除所有这些植物的强烈气味，建议在月亮位于地平线以下时种植大蒜，并在月亮与地球位置相近时进行收割。除了这些预防措施，我们还发现一位叫梅纳德的希腊作家，他建议人们吃完大蒜后立即食用在煤火上烤熟的甜菜根，他认为这样可以有效地消除大蒜的异味。有人认为岔路神节（5月2日）至农神节（12月17日）期间是种植Ulpicum和大蒜的最佳时机。大蒜也可以从种子中生长出来，但在此情况下成熟非常缓慢。第一年，蒜头与韭葱头一般大；第二年才分成蒜瓣；第三年蒜头才成熟。但有些人认为以这种方式种植的大蒜是最好的。切勿让大蒜结籽，应将大蒜茎干扭曲，以促进大蒜生长和形成更大的蒜头。”
（For the purpose of depriving all these plants of their strong smell, it is recommended to set them when the moon is below the horizon, and to take them up when she is in conjunction. Independently of these precautions, we find Menander, one of the Greek writers, recommending those who have been eating garlic to eat immediately afterwards a root of beet roasted on hot coals; if this is done, he says, the strong smell of the garlic will be effectually neutralized. Some persons are of opinion, that the proper period for planting garlic and ulpicum is between the festival of the Compitalia and that of the Saturnalia. Garlic, too, can be grown from seed, but it is very slow, in such case, in coming to maturity; for in the first year, the head attains the size only of that of a leek, in the second, it separates into cloves, and only in the third it arrives at maturity; there are some, however, who think that garlic grown this way is the best. Garlic should never be allowed to run to seed, but the stalk should be twisted, to promote its growth, and to make the head attain a larger size.）
“如果打算将大蒜或洋葱保存一段时间，则应将头部浸入盐水中，使其温热；如此一来，虽然失去了繁殖功能，但可以更好地保存。有些人满足于将它们挂在燃烧的煤上方，并认为这足以防止它们发芽：众所周知，大蒜和洋葱离开地面时会发芽，发出幼芽后它们就干瘪了。也有人认为，保存大蒜的最佳方法是将其存储在糠中。有一种大蒜在田间自发生长，被称为“ alum”。（注：瑞典的植物学家林奈将其命名为Allium oleraceum）。为了保护落在那里的种子不被无情的鸟类啄食，该植株先被煮熟，散落在地面上，以防止其发芽。鸟儿们一旦吃了该植物，就会变得迟钝，甚至可以用手将它们捉住。它们如果在原地呆了片刻，就会很快入睡。还有一种野蒜，通常被称为“熊蒜”（注：林奈将其命名为Allium ursinum），味如小米，蒜头很小，叶子很大。”
（If garlic or onions are wanted to keep some time, the heads should be dipped in salt water, made luke-warm; by doing this, they will be all the better for keeping, though quite worthless for reproduction. Some persons content themselves with hanging them over burning coals, and are of opinion that this is quite sufficient to prevent them from sprouting: for it is a well-known fact, that both garlic and onions sprout when out of the ground, and that after throwing out their thin shoots they shrivel away to nothing. Some persons are of opinion, too, that the best way of keeping garlic is by storing it in chaff. There is a kind of garlic that grows spontaneously in the fields, and is known by the name of "alum." To preserve the seeds that are sown there from the remorseless ravages of the birds, this plant is scattered over the ground, being first boiled, to prevent it from shooting. As soon as ever they have eaten of it, the birds become so stupefied as to be taken with the hand even, and if they remain but a few moments only on the spot, they fall fast asleep. There is a wild garlic, too, generally known as "bear's" garlic; it has exactly the smell of millet, with a very small head and large leaves. ）
