The science behind the myth: Homer's "Odyssey" - Matt Kaplan

Prevodilac: Ivana Krivokuća Lektor: Tijana Mihajlović

Homer's "Odyssey",

Homerova „Odiseja“,

one of the oldest works of Western literature,

jedno od najstarijih dela u zapadnoj književnosti,

pripoveda o avanturama grčkog heroja Odiseja

recounts the adventures of the Greek hero Odysseus

during his ten-year journey home from the Trojan War.

tokom njegovog desetogodišnjeg putovanja ka kući iz Trojanskog rata.

Though some parts may be based on real events,

Mada je moguće da su neki delovi zasnovani na stvarnim događajima,

the encounters with strange monsters, terrifying giants and powerful magicians

susreti sa neobičnim čudovištima,

zastrašujućim divovima i moćnim čarobnjacima

are considered to be complete fiction.

smatraju se potpunom fikcijom.

Ipak, da li u ovim mitovima možda postoji više od onog što se čini na prvi pogled?

But might there be more to these myths than meets the eye?

Let's look at one famous episode from the poem.

Pogledajmo jednu čuvenu epizodu iz speva.

In the midst of their long voyage,

Usred svoje duge plovidbe,

Odysseus and his crew find themselves on the mysterious island of Aeaea.

Odisej i njegova posada se nađu na misterioznom ostrvu Eja.

Starving and exhausted, some of the men stumble upon a palatial home

Izgladneli i iscrpljeni, neki od ljudi naiđu na dvor,

where a stunning woman welcomes them inside for a sumptuous feast.

gde ih zadivljujuća žena prima na raskošnu gozbu.

Of course, this all turns out to be too good to be true.

Naravno, ispostavlja se da je sve to previše dobro da bi bilo istinito.

The woman, in fact, is the nefarious sorceress Circe,

Žena je zapravo opaka čarobnica Kirka,

and as soon as the soldiers have eaten their fill at her table,

i čim su vojnici pojeli svoje sledovanje na stolu,

she turns them all into animals with a wave of her wand.

ona ih sve pretvori u životinje potezom svog štapića.

Fortunately, one of the men escapes,

Srećom, jedan od ljudi pobegne,

finds Odysseus and tells him of the crew's plight.

pronađe Odiseja i ispriča mu o nevoljama posade.

But as Odysseus rushes to save his men,

Međutim, dok Odisej juri da spasi svoje ljude,

he meets the messenger god, Hermes,

sreće glasnika bogova, Hermesa,

who advises him to first consume a magical herb.

koji ga savetuje da najpre pojede čarobnu biljku.

Odysseus follows this advice,

Odisej posluša njegov savet,

and when he finally encounters Circe, her spells have no effect on him,

a kada se konačno susretne sa Kirkom, njene čini ne deluju na njega,

allowing him to defeat her and rescue his crew.

što mu omogućava da je porazi i spasi svoju posadu.

Naturally, this story of witchcraft and animal transformations

Naravno, ova priča o veštičarenju i pretvaranju u životinje

was dismissed as nothing more than imagination for centuries.

vekovima je pobijana kao ništa drugo nego plod mašte.

But in recent years, the many mentions of herbs and drugs throughout the passage

Ipak, poslednjih godina, česta pominjanja bilja i lekova u odeljku

have piqued the interest of scientists,

podstakla su interesovanje naučnika,

leading some to suggest

navodeći neke od njih na razmatranje

the myths might have been fictional expressions of real experiences.

da mit možda predstavlja fiktivni izraz stvarnih iskustava.

The earliest versions of Homer's text

Najstarije verzije Homerovog teksta

say that Circe mixed baneful drugs into the food

kažu da je Kirka pomešala pogubnu drogu sa hranom

such that the crew might utterly forget their native land.

tako da bi posada sasvim zaboravila svoju rodnu zemlju.

Kako se ispostavilo, jedna od biljaka koja raste u mediteranskoj oblasti

As it happens, one of the plants growing in the Mediterranean region

is an innocent sounding herb known as Jimson weed,

je biljka poznata pod bezazlenim imenom tatula,

whose effects include pronounced amnesia.

čija dejstva obuhvataju izraženu amneziju.

The plant is also loaded with compounds that disrupt the vital neurotransmitter

Biljka je takođe prepuna jedinjenja koja remete značajan neurotransmiter

called acetylcholine.

pod nazivom acetilholin.

Such disruption can cause vivid hallucinations,

Takvo ometanje može izazvati snažne halucinacije,

bizarre behaviors,

bizarno ponašanje

and general difficulty distinguishing fantasy from reality,

i opšte poteškoće u razlikovanju fantazije i stvarnosti,

just the sorts of things

nešto što bi zapravo moglo učiniti

which might make people believe they've been turned into animals,

da ljudi poveruju da su se pretvorili u životinje,

which also suggests that Circe was no sorceress,

a što takođe ukazuje da Kirka nije bila čarobnica,

but in fact a chemist who knew how to use local plants to great effect.

već, u stvari, hemičarka koja je znala kako da delotvorno upotrebi domaće biljke.

But Jimson weed is only half the story.

Tatula, pak, čini samo polovinu priče.

Unlike a lot of material in the Odyssey,

Za razliku od mnogih materijala u Odiseji,

the text about the herb that Hermes gives to Odysseus is unusually specific.

tekst o biljci koju Hermes daje Odiseju je neobično specifičan.

Called moly by the gods,

Bogovi su je zvali moli,

it's described as being found in a forest glen,

a opisuje se da se nalazi u šumskoj dolini,

black at the root and with a flower as white as milk.

crnog korena i sa cvetom belim poput mleka.

Like the rest of the Circe episode,

Kao i ostatak epizode sa Kirkom,

moly was dismissed as fictional invention for centuries.

moli je vekovima otpisivana kao proizvod mašte.

But in 1951, Russian pharmacologist Mikhail Mashkovsky

Međutim, 1951. godine, ruski farmakolog Mihail Maškovski

discovered that villagers in the Ural Mountains

otkrio je da su seljani na planini Ural

used a plant with a milk-white flower and a black root

koristili biljku sa mlečno belim cvetom i crnim korenom

da bi sprečili oduzetost kod dece koja boluju od dečije paralize.

to stave off paralysis in children suffering from polio.

The plant, called snowdrop,

Ta biljka, zvana visibaba,

turned out to contain a compound called galantamine

ispostavilo se da sadrži jedinjenje pod nazivom galantamin,

that prevented the disruption of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine,

koje sprečava ometanje rada neurotransmitera acetilholina,

making it effective in treating not only polio

što ga čini delotvornim ne samo u lečenju dečje paralize,

but other disease, such as Alzheimer's.

već i drugih bolesti, kao što je Alchajmerova.

Na 12. Svetskom kongresu neurologije,

At the 12th World Congress of Neurology,

Doctors Andreas Plaitakis and Roger Duvoisin

doktori Andrea Platakis i Rodžer Duvosin prvi su izneli na razmatranje

first proposed that snowdrop was, in fact, the plant Hermes gave to Odysseus.

da je visibaba, u stvari, biljka koju je Hermes dao Odiseju.

Although there is not much direct evidence that people in Homer's day

Iako ne postoji mnogo direktnih dokaza da su ljudi u Homerovo vreme

would have known about its anti-hallucinatory effects,

znali za njena antihalucinogena dejstva,

we do have a passage from 4th century Greek writer Theophrastus

imamo jedan pasus grčkog pisca Teofrasta iz 4. veka

stating that moly is used as an antidote against poisons.

u kome se navodi da se moli koristi kao protivotrov.

So, does this all mean

Dakle, da li sve ovo znači

that Odysseus, Circe, and other characters in the Odyssey were real?

da su Odisej, Kirka i ostali likovi u Odiseji bili stvarni?

Not necessarily.

Ne nužno.

But it does suggest that ancient stories may have more elements of truth to them

Ipak, to ukazuje da antičke priče mogu imati više istinitih elemenata u sebi

than we previously thought.

nego što smo pre mislili.

And as we learn more about the world around us,

I dok saznajemo više o svetu oko nas,

we may uncover some of the same knowledge

možda ćemo otkriti neka ista znanja

hidden within the myths and legends of ages passed.

skrivena u mitovima i legendama prohujalih vekova.