Deciphering the Alexipharmaca’s “Incomplete” Acrostic

Nicander’s Theriaca has recently experienced renewed attention (Clauss 2006; Overduin 2013; 2015; Wilson 2018), but his other surviving poem, the Alexipharmaca, on ingestible poisons and their remedies, garners less interest. The most notable and mysterious feature of the Alexipharmaca is its incomplete acrostic (ΣΙΚΚΝΔΡΟΣ, Al.266-74). Jacques 2007 and Sullivan 2013 emended the text to perfect it (NΙΚAΝΔΡΟΣ), mirroring the acrostic in the Theriaca (Ther. 345-53). But such emendations are not necessary. The acrostic is complete as is, and its experimental form is representative of the Alexipharmaca as a whole. The acrostic, and the entire poem, depend for their meaning on the Theriaca, demonstrating the relative chronology of the two works. Moreover, the very process of decipherment that the passage requires is intrinsic to the Alexipharmaca’s poetic goals and essential for understanding it.

Sullivan notes the thematic connections between the two acrostic passages, and the elaborate array of allusions behind them. He overlooks, however, that while the Theriaca passage is independently comprehensible through its allusions, the Alexipharmaca represents the “antidote” (Sullivan 2013, p.237) and alludes only to the Theriaca. The Theriaca therefore must be prior, a conclusion also supported by the word ἄλλοτε (Al.264) which introduces the Alexipharmaca acrostic, reminding the reader of his acrostic “elsewhere.” Nicander would not likely replicate the acrostic exactly, but instead alter or invert its source material in the same riddling way as in other aspects of the passage. The Alexipharmaca acrostic is consistent with other Hellenistic poetic wordplay but would be very challenging to spot without expecting one. It is intentionally impossible to find without a deep familiarity with the Theriaca.

The riddling nature of the acrostic is representative of Nicander’s poetic style, especially in the Alexipharmaca. The obscurity of his language and references are greatly heightened; whereas earlier Hellenistic poets had emphasized their own labor, Nicander expects the same effort from his audience. Through elaborate riddles like the acrostic, Nicander constructs a relationship with his reader, demanding of them an encyclopedic knowledge of the literary past. Furthermore, using his own work as a clue to his riddles here and elsewhere (e.g. the use of ῥειά (Ther.1)/Ῥεια (Al.7) in the two proems), Nicander canonizes himself alongside his poetic predecessors, such as Hesiod, Callimachus, and Aratus. The resulting self-immortalization cleverly connects the themes of the poems, ostensibly composed to prevent death, and Nicander’s own desire for poetic immortality.

The enigmatic style of the Alexipharmaca resembles that of other ‘Silver’ Hellenistic poets, but it is especially important for understanding this poem. The catalog entries of Alexipharmaca, unlike those of the Theriaca, follow the process a doctor would undertake in diagnosing a patient, beginning with bodily symptoms and proceeding to remedies. The reader must decipher the text in the same way the addressee is invited to decipher the ailments of the poisoned victim. Both audiences must have an extensive background knowledge of the relevant information and use it creatively to reach the right conclusions or the patient—and the poem’s afterlife—will perish.