Mythic Plants: Potions and Poisons from the Garden of the Gods

By Victoria Larson

Interested in plant lore and ancient myths? Mythic Plants: Potions and Poisons from the Garden of the Gods (Workman, 2025) is incredibly informative and fun, a wonderful combination for people interested in plants and history, learned yet not too serious, and practically suitable for all ages! 

Author Ellen Zachos brings alive the myths in a completely new and exciting way by telling us stories about how the Greek gods used plants in most of their exploits. Zachos captures a Zeitgeist not only in her knowledge of myths but of the booming interest in horticulture and plants, sustainability and healing in the U.S. and around the world. “Gardeners have lots of reasons for loving plants. We appreciate them for their beauty, for their fragrance, and for their flavors. They give us shade, they feed insects and birds, they help us celebrate the seasons as they leaf out, bloom, fruit, and go dormant. But many plants also have fascinating histories, and in Mythic plants you'll learn how the ancient Greeks used plants for food, medicine, warfare, and rituals. A surprising number of these plants are still used in the same ways today,” says Zachos.

Through her stories, Zachos has us cringing, laughing, and shaking our heads in amazement that the connections between the Greeks and us today are still so strong and vibrant. Related in a humorous and fun manner, the author dives into the history of the plants and their medicinal and curative qualities 3,000 years ago. In Greek mythology, plants were used for tools, intoxication, warfare, food, medicine, magic, and rituals. Some of those plants were real and many of them still exist today and this is where the Zachos really makes the reader sit back in amazement and want more and more.

The myths may seem to be about immortals, but at heart they are intensely human, depicting triumph and failure, desire and despair. And when you combine the mythological with something as real and grounded as plants, it makes those original myths ring true. 

 Exploring these legends through the lens of horticulture brings us closer to understanding why these narratives were so important to the people who created them. Plants bring the stories down to earth. And knowing that some of the plants actually have the powers and properties extolled in the myths makes these accounts more immediate and real.

 So, from mandrakes and apples to barley and grapes, Zachos explains and hearkens the importance of contemporary well-known plants as they were used in ancient Greece but also as they were relayed in the Greek myths.

The plant Moly, featured in The Odyssey is such a case. Circe turned Odysseus’s men into pigs, but Hermes gave Odysseus a plant to save them. Homer describes Moly as having a white flower, bulbous root, and straplike leaves—details that match Galanthus nivalis, the snowdrop, which is native to Greece. Snowdrops go dormant in summer, making them hard for humans to find, though not for gods. The science behind this is fascinating: ancient herbalists knew that plants like mandrake and henbane caused hallucinations and delusions. Snowdrops contain galantamine, a compound still used today to counteract such effects. Circe could have dosed Odysseus’s men with hallucinogens to make them think they were pigs, then used Moly to reverse the intoxication. How amazing is that? 

These stories have lives of their own, and once you’ve heard them, they’re hard to forget. They bubble up when you pick fresh lettuce from your garden or taste a pine-scented retsina on a hot summer day. The gardens of the gods are still alive after thousands of years. They survive in art, in mythology, and in our minds. As do the lessons learned from mythic plants.

 This book is a true resource for plants lovers, gardeners, medical researchers, history buffs, students of mythology and myth appreciators. It is beautifully designed with whimsical illustrations by Lisel Jane Ashlock.

photo by Matthew Carasella

 Ellen Zachos is a Harvard graduate, a Broadway veteran, and a Greek-American horticulturist who has authored eleven books and speaks at horticultural organizations both nationally and internationally.