Apocolocyntosis. Mit einem „botanischen“ zweiten Teil von Monika Kiehn

Abstract

The title of Seneca's work "Apocolocyntosis", an obvious parody of the term "apotheosis" (the transfer of a deceased person among the gods), has puzzled scholars for a long time and therefore been extensively discussed. It is clear that Emperor Claudius is being mocked and, according to the title, “coloquintized”, i.e. “pumpkinized”. However, to conclude from this that the title implies, in a mocking way, that Claudius was transformed into a pumpkin, i.e., a hollow fool, after his death, and that this is where the joke lies, is certainly too simplistic.

The following paper aims to demonstrate – not for the first time – that there are good reasons for a less figurative interpretation of the title, but one that is more appropriate to the circumstances and more drastic.

One reason is that in antiquity there were no American pumpkins (genus Cucurbita); only bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) and water melons were known. The first one, however, is called κολόκυνθα in Greek, but in Latin cucurbita. Secondly, the allusion in the title becomes much more subtle, as, in both languages, koloquinte means the poisonous bitter melon (Citrullus colocynthis), which was used as medicine in ancient times. Consumption of this fruit leads to severe, bloody diarrhea and even death.

Nearly all the surviving texts about the circumstances of Claudius' death report poisoning by a mushroom dish. Some also mention subsequent “medical” treatment with a poison, which ultimately led to death. The use of bitter melon seems likely. This would not only explain the title of the work but also fit with Claudius' last words, which Seneca maliciously put into his mouth: "Vae me, puto concacavi me."