Moly
Greek mōly
- Known today as
- Unidentified. The snowdrop, Galanthus nivalis, is the most discussed candidate.
- Kind
- Plant, in 1 older authority
- Constituents
- galantamine
- Earliest authority here
- Homer (fl. c. 8th century BC)
- In other databases
- Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search
Moly: what does modern science say?
Andreas Plaitakis and Roger Duvoisin proposed in 1983 that moly was the snowdrop, whose galantamine counters the anticholinergic poisons (like those of the nightshades) that Circe’s drugs resemble. Galantamine is now a drug for Alzheimer’s disease.
Pharmacognosy & Toxicology
- Constituents
- galantamine ChEMBLif moly was the snowdrop, as Plaitakis and Duvoisin proposed in 1983
- Mechanism
- Galantamine inhibits acetylcholinesterase and so counters the anticholinergic poisoning of the tropanes: the one drug that would have protected Odysseus from Circe’s cup, if her cup was thorn-apple. The identification is a conjecture.
- Checked against ChEMBL
- galantamine: ChEMBL’s curated mechanism: inhibitor Acetylcholinesterase.
- Standing
- Galantamine is a licensed drug for Alzheimer’s disease.
- Plaitakis, A., and Duvoisin, R. C. (1983). “Homer’s moly identified as Galanthus nivalis L.: physiologic antidote to stramonium poisoning.” Clinical Neuropharmacology 6. Verified against its record · doi:10.1097/00002826-198303000-00001
The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.
Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.
Moly: what lore surrounds it?
The first protective herb of Western literature: a gift of the gods against enchantment, which turned Circe’s swine back into men.
Moly: what did the older authorities say?
- Homer
- In the tenth book of the Odyssey, Hermes gives Odysseus moly, black at the root with a milk-white flower, to protect him from the drugs of Circe; it is hard for mortals to dig, but the gods can do all things.
Sources
- Homer, Odyssey X. Verified against its record · doi:10.1093/oseo/instance.00280463
- Plaitakis, A., & Duvoisin, R. C. (1983). Homer’s moly identified as Galanthus nivalis L. Clinical Neuropharmacology 6(1): 1–5. Verified against its record · doi:10.1097/00002826-198303000-00001
Verification
- Checked
- October 1, 2026
- Passes
- Every sentence read against its sources, in the fifty-entry sample
- The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
- Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database
- The mechanism read against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37): curated mechanisms and measured activity
- Sources
- 3 cited: 3 verified against its record. 2 with the abstract on file.
- Corrections
- None were needed.
What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.
Cite This Entry
Version 1 · first published September 25, 2026
- Chicago
“Moly.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 25, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/moly.
- MLA
“Moly.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 25 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/moly. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
- APA
Moly. (2026, September 25). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/moly
Club members keep entries on a shelf with private notes, print the plates as cards, and receive an entry by email each week. Create a free account before January 1, 2027 and all of it is yours for good. About the Club
See Also
Also in Homer
Nepenthe in Homer · Sulfur in Homer · Peony in Homer · everything Homer names →
Nearby in the alphabet
Moonwort (The small fern Botrychium lunaria) · Mithridate (the forerunner of theriac) · Morel (hollow spring mushroom) · Mistletoe (especially when found on oak) · Motherwort (of the mint family, a tall, prickly-calyxed herb of waste ground) · The Miraculous Medal · Mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) · Mint, oil of (Oil of garden or spear mint)
Historical description, not medical advice.