Konrad and Alexandra (PDF) - Rolf Gross

Alexandra touched her necklace and with a hostile look replied. "Your logic is excellent, but how can I get rid of Konrad?My entire life depends on this man. I love him."She broke down in tears. "You have put your finger on the problem, I love both of these people, and I could even explainwhy. It is I who gets uncontrollably morose. This terrible Georgian affliction of tragic depression. It is not simple, oldfashionedjealousy. I have to find a way not to react viciously when I see Konrad and Katharina happy, they are bothinnocent. I even attacked you on that first night at the Chinesische Turm and you are not even involved in this drama.And two weeks ago I destroyed two harmless films we went to see, just because Konrad had spent the afternoon helpingKatharina buy a new blouse. They were so happy. It is not right to hurt them with my impetuosity."Claudia took her friend into her arms. "I know so little about passionate love, Alexandra, and passionate jealousy must beeven harder to live down. Are you afraid that Katharina might take Konrad away from you?"Alexandra was silent. Finally, from very far away, she said, "I have examined this question and cannot find a rationalreason for such a fear. Of course, it would be a lie to say that I do not fear such a possibility."Her friend smiled. "Look Alexandra, it seems to me that the moroser you get, the larger becomes the possibility thatKonrad tires of you. In order that Konrad does not leave you out of despair over your fits of jealousy, you have to learn tocontrol your moods and love them both equally."After they had labored for two weeks over their translation, Konrad asked whether they had done a careful literaturesearch on Dioskorides and the medical knowledge of classical antiquity. They had completely forgotten to do that.Alexandra had known of Dioskorides, and in her excitement to have tracked down the forbidden book and to haveClaudia’s help, had delved into the translation without much thinking.They returned to the library and searched the catalogues for translations of the De Materia Medica and the Gynæciorum,a somewhat later treatise by Soranus. The bibliography of the German Soranus translation became their key to the entirefield of antique pharmacology. The two women were overwhelmed by the wealth of ancient knowledge on gynecology.Fortunately, only a few texts addressed the use of contraceptives.They finally decided to cross-reference Dioskorides’ indications, potions, and plants with those of Soranus and the plantsAlexandra had found in Georgian folk medicine with aunt Sophia and Leist’s help.Konrad became their invaluable expert in identifying the plants. Many of the plants still had the same Greek botanicalnames that Dioskorides had used, like artemisia, epimedion, and aristolochia.There were a few surprises: The seeds of the pomegranate, punica granatum—which Hades had given Persephonewhen she arrived in the underworld—turned out to be a very old abortifacent! Konrad had always thought that Hades hadgiven Persephone the seven seeds of the pomegranate for symbolic reasons—who eats of the pomegranate will befruitful and be destined for Hades—it now appeared as if Hades might have given Persephone the seeds to prevent herfrom bearing a dead child in the underworld!"Do you remember Deda’s Easter play? My whole story of Persephone in the underworld will have to be revised. Howcan she bear Brimus, if Pluto made her use pomegranate seeds as a contraceptive?""Oh, very easily," laughed Alexandra, "she only ate the sweet meat off the seeds and spit our the pits when Pluto was notlooking! Persephone was not that dumb.""Well, maybe Demeter’s desperate fight for Persephone’s return every year gains a new aspect: to allow Persephone todeliver her children above ground in sunshine. Maybe underground she did after all use pomegranate seeds!"Not always could Konrad correlate Dioskorides’ plant names with known plants, such was the case with the mysterioussilphion. This plant also appeared in Soranus, and in both texts headed the list of efficient and relatively harmlessabortifacients. What was it? Soranus also called it "Cyrenaica juice" which led Claudia and Konrad to discover that thename also appeared in Herodotus (4.169) who reports that silphion was cultivated in the Cyrenaica. Rose, unable toidentify the plant in his translation of Soranus, made a reference to Plinius’ Natural History (19.15.38) where it ismentioned under the name laserpicium, "quod Graeci silphion vocant, in Cyrenaica provincia repertum–sucus herbaeferula." Yet, a little earlier (19.15.35) Plinius reported that the plant had been "extinct for many years."Konrad was delighted. "Well, of course, it must have been a ferula, a fennel, like ferula asafoetida, which youencountered in Georgian recipes. But it is peculiar that silphion should have been extinct by Plinius’ time, less than thirtyyears after Dioskorides. What happened?"Wanting to examine the Dioskorides manuscript again, they found that a Professor Wellmann had his hands on the copy.Wellmann was less than delighted to be pursued by two female competitors, he was also working on a translation of theMateria Medica. It took the two women several days to convince the suspicious professor, that they were interested onlyin a very narrow selection of medical plants and would delight in using his translation instead of their dilettante work oflove and excitement.Wellmann confessed that his translation was unfinished, that he had nothing to show yet. Finally Claudia invited him fortea to her parents’ house which predictably melted the professor. At this occasion Alexandra charmed the professor intotelling them what he knew about the elusive silphion.Silphion was, in fact, a giant fennel that grew in a small region of the Cyrenaica. Its abortifacient properties were wellknownas early as the fifth century BC viz. Herodotus. Silphion was widely used all over the Mediterranean for that87