Nicander

Nicander differentiates venomous animals by distinct symptom-complexes—neurotoxic-looking, hemorrhagic, necrotizing, thirst-producing, delirium-producing, sexually stimulating/genital, etc. A modern history of toxicology likewise notes that his descriptions distinguish symptomatically between what we would call hemolytic and neurotoxic effects

Venoms

The actual Nicandrean symptoms behind these entries are concentrated roughly in Theriaca 150–490 for the snakes and 715–836 for spiders, scorpions, insects, and other venomous creatures

Creature	Greek/name	Nicander’s characteristic effects	Possible experiential / ritual significance*
Asp	ἀσπίς	Almost painless bite → sensory failure, weakness, heaviness/darkness of the head, lethargy, sleep → death	Sleep / loss of consciousness / quiet death
Viper	ἔχις / ἔχιδνα	Severe systemic poisoning; weakness, discoloration, vomiting bile, cold sweating, chills; Nicander emphasizes its destructive venom	Violent bodily ordeal
Cerastes / horned viper	κεράστης	Less immediately painful; local callous wound, livid blisters, groin/ham involvement, weakness; suffering can persist nine days	Prolonged ordeal / liminality
“Blood-letter” snake	probably αἱμορροΐς	Hemorrhage from nose, mouth/throat, ears; bloody urine; wounds spontaneously open	Blood / purgation, although Nicander himself does not assign a ritual meaning
Sepedon	σηπεδών	Necrotic/destructive venom; hair and eyelashes fall out, skin eruptions and discoloration	Corruption / dissolution of body
Dipsas	δίψας	🔥 Heart/fever → overwhelming thirst → compulsive drinking	Thirst / overwhelming compulsion
Chersydrus	χέρσυδρος	Dry, swollen skin, putrid sores, fiery pain, migrating swellings	Putrefaction / transformation
Amphisbaena	ἀμφίσβαινα	Interesting reversal: its skin is medicinal, used for chilblains and slackened/weakened sinews	Venomous animal → medicine
Scytale	σκυτάλη	Nicander describes its form/ecology; less distinctive poisoning syndrome in the surviving passage	—
Hydrus / water-snake complex	ὕδρος etc.	Dark swelling, terrible smell, mental disturbance, wasting, visual mist, screaming/choking, urinary retention, sleep/snoring, vomiting and eventually severe thirst	Altered consciousness / sensory disturbance
Cenchrines (“spangled lion”)	κεγχρίνης	Rapid eruption of putrid/non-healing sores; consuming poison; abdominal dropsy	Dissolution / swelling
“Grape” spider	σταφυλῖνος	🔥 Genitals become taut; penis projects/erection, discharge; then numbness of hips/knees	Sexual arousal followed by bodily impairment
Other spiders	various	Nicander distinguishes several by appearance and symptoms: tremor, fever, delirium, etc.	altered states vary
Red scorpion	σκορπίος, red type	Burning fever of mouth, convulsions/fire-like distress, intense thirst	Heat / thirst / excitation
Black scorpion	black type	🔥 Mental agitation, victim loses rational control and laughs inexplicably	Delirium / altered consciousness
Greenish scorpion	green type	Shivering followed by eruption	Cold → bodily transformation
Livid scorpion	livid type	Particularly dangerous wound around groin	genital/groin association
Honey-colored scorpion	honey-colored type	Extremely deadly	death

Nicander sometimes gives medicinal value to the venomous animal itself, not merely an antidote to its venom. The amphisbaena skin is explicitly beneficial for chilblains and weakened sinews.

Of Note:

Thirst: the δίψας (dipsas) is the quintessential thirst-producing snake. Nicander Theriaca 334–358 describes its bite as inflaming the heart, producing fever and parching the lips; the victim drinks uncontrollably until the abdomen catastrophically distends. Nicander even gives an origin-story explaining why the dipsas transmits thirst.

Priapism / erection: the dark/smoky “grape” spider (σταφυλῖνος, in the spider section) at Theriaca 715ff., especially ~720–725. Nicander says the victim’s skin and genitals become taut and the penis projects, accompanied by discharge, followed by numbness/weakness of the hips and knees. That’s a remarkably explicit toxicological description

Nicander

Venoms

See Also