[.ca] Greek Fire, Poison Arrows, and Scorpion Bombs: ... (ISBN 0715632574)

good research, bad analysis:
Classical folklorist Adrienne Mayor's Greek Fire, Poison Arrows and Scorpion Bombs is an intriguing, if over-reaching look into the ancient antecedents of chemical and biological warfare. Wide-ranging and well-supported by history, literature and archaeology, it is an excellent reminder that certain seemingly recent ideas and practices are not as modern as they seem. The book is an engaging read for students of classical or military history. However, it lacks focus and suffers from the author's background as a folklorist. Mayor begins not with the historical fact, but with mythology. The first chapter focuses on the poison arrows of the Greek demigod Herakles. Certainly the chapter is well-spent: ancient Greek myth is ancient Greek religion, and discussing the myths of Herakles and his arrows reveals a great deal of the moral attitude the Greeks had towards such weapons. However, it is also here that Mayor has her first stumble by categorizing poison arrows as "biological," when strictly speaking the use of such toxins should be chemical warfare. Indeed, Mayor herself makes the same comparison later on in the book. This might seem to be a minor issue, but such distinctions are important, and it also underlines what Mayor's lack of familiarity with modern security studies. Later in the book, when discussing ancient and modern moral attitudes towards biological warfare, she contrasts the ancient attitude that the defenders of a city under siege are permitted any action with modern treaties dealing with chemical and biological warfare and their clauses permitting research for defensive purposes. Either she is overly vague in making the comparison, or she does not understand the treaties in question: these clause do not allow signatories to legitimately use chemical weapons under any circumstances. Instead, they allow for defensive research, ostensibly to develop countermeasures against these forms of attack. Such clauses are much abused, but their moral and legal standing is still very different from Mayor's description of ancient attitudes on the matter of defensive weapons use. The comparison is like apples and oranges. Mayor returns to these mythological roots of chemical and biological warfare too often for what should be a book about what historical fact, not mythological fiction. The mythological references are interesting and have value in a moral context, but Mayor's folklorist background leads her to sprinkle her text with too much of this material. Furthermore, the inclusion of unconventional animals into the study is questionable. The US military classifies trained animals as "biological weapons systems," but this is not biological warfare in the same sense that germ warfare would be. The sole instance that bears a distinct resemblance to modern techniques is the scorpion bomb - the very name conjures an image of a cluster bomb delivering stinging poisonous fragments onto the enemy. These difficulties aside, there is value in gathering the many examples of ancient uses of poisons, germs and incendiaries into a single study. Greek Fire accomplishes that task very well. The incendiaries are the most obvious of the classical antecedents. The comparison between napalm and phosphorus with greek fire, hot sand and fire arrows is obvious. However, the most fascinating (and perhaps disturbing) part of the book deals with the various poisons used for arrows, especially in the case of the Scythians. In many respects, a cloud of arrows that could produce horrible, lethal wounds would produce the same kind of terror in the enemy as a cloud of chemical nerve toxins would today. The detailed description of how some of these poisons were made in ancient times is certainly horrific enough. If there were such a thing as an amusing tale of poisons, then this book has them by including the stories of the fabled "mad honey" that felled both Xenophon's and Pompey's soldiers. Both encountered the naturally toxic honey native to the region of Pontus, the product of the concentrated toxins in the rhododendron plants of the region. While the idea of hallucinogenic honey sounds funny, even modest amounts of the honey cause powerful hallucinations and painful death. Twice in ancient history, the local population remained silent about the deadly honeycombs, waiting for the hungry soldiers to forage their own demise in the rhododendron forests. While the first recorded catapulting of plague victims' bodies into a besieged city is by the Mongols, Mayor reveals that the ancients also made primitive use of germ warfare. While unaware of the germ origins of disease, the ancients were naturally familiar with some methods by which diseases were transmitted and put these to use in early examples of biological warfare. For example, the ancients knew enough to put carcasses in wells and to try to maneuver enemies into unhealthy marshes and bogs, although once again Mayor over-reaches on the matter and tries to compare fighting on unfavorable ground to putting the enemy in a place where they are likely to be infected with disease. The former is sound, conventional operational practice; the latter is biological warfare. Even worse, Mayor blunders historically and describes the possibility that certain temples kept infectious materials sealed away for use on invaders. However, the problem with this is that it is speculation. The examples all carry the stamp of being a moral device in the classical style of historical storytelling. For example, Mayor puts much weight on the story of Roman soldiers releasing the plague of 165-80 AD by breaking into a temple of Apollo and releasing the contents of golden chest. The tale is an obvious fable, directing moral criticism ad divine retribution upon the Romans for wrongfully sacking that city. A folklorist would naturally be interested in such material. However, a historian would distinguish such stories for what they are and not include them in a study on the historical antecedents of chemical and biological warfare. In the same fashion, a security studies specialist would not misunderstand modern treaties or put maneuvering an enemy to fight on bad terrain with making them camp where they would they would catch malaria. The book would have been excellent as a study of folklore on ancient biological and chemical warfare. However, as a serious history on the subject it is badly muddled by blunders and material that should never have been included. The book does have value as a collection of sources on the subject, and is certainly an entertaining read much of the time, but fails as a meaningful history text on an interesting subject.

Wll worth your time and money!:
This book presents one of the most comprehensive and intersting descriptions on the history and development of chemical and biological weapons I've ever had the pleasure of reading. It is well researched and the source material is identified for further study. The author has a knack for presenting a wealth of information in a most useful format and interesting manner. Even more than the description and history of the weapons is the insight into human nature and the conduct of war. No one who reads this book will doubt the imagination and ingenuity of ancient warriors, nor have any illusions as to the prospects of such weapons in the hands of contemporary armies and governments, not to mention terrorists. I began reading the book as a text to increase my knowledge of the subject but finished with a deeper insight and appreciation for the historical precedents. For anyone interested in this subject, it is well worth your time and money.

Entertaining and Informative:
Mayor's book will change your ideas about the history of biological weapons. She shows how the concept of biochemical weapons goes back to ancient Greek mythology and the time of Homer. Hercules invented the first bioweapon by dunking his arrows in the venom of the Hydra. And those arrows were used in the legendary Trojan War, turning the tide in favor of the Greeks. Homer's hero Odysseus also used bioweapons in the form of toxic plants. The first chapter is on poison weapons in myth and Mayor returns to myth in the epilogue to show that the ancient Greeks understood the ethical dilemmas surrounding such arms. But the other chapters describe real historical examples of various types of biologicial weapons by the Greeks, Scythians, Hittites, Romans, Egyptians, Persians, Africans, Asians, Indians, and Chinese, over 3000 years of historical accounts by contemporary writers. Each chapter considers a different type of bio or chemical weapon, from poisoned arrows and poisoning wells, spreading disease, leaving out food and wine tainted with toxins, to deploying stinging insects and dangerous animals, and creating choking gases and napalm-like incendiary weapons. All these early inventions and tactics have analogues in modern weapons and even in the most advanced experimental weaponry being devised by military scientists at the Pentagon. My only complaint: there could have been more on actual battles in India and China using biological and chemial weaponry. This book will surprise and inform you--you'll never think of biological warfare in the same way again.

Chock full of facts, but wild with conclusions:
No where else have I seen such accounts of ancient warfare. Her descriptions are entertaining and the facts interesting. In the hands of a good writer this subject matter would be wonderful, but alas, the book is poorly written. The author defines chemical and biological warfare so unlike our contemporary concepts that it is difficult overcome while reading. Many of her conclusions and comparisons to modern day warfare are dubious and at times I wondered if the book were a bit tainted with religious bigotry.

An Outstanding and Much Needed Book:
Greek Fire is an extraordinary book. To put the subject of the book plainly, it deals with biological and chemical warfare in the ancient world from myth to history. I had not given much thought to the use of chemical and biological agents in the ancient world, focussing instead on the more familiar weaponry and tactics. The majority of historians and certainly the people we know probably believe that chemical weapons were created in World War I, with the advent of mustard and other gasses. This is very far from the truth and Adrienne Mayor provides us with the missing link in the ancient world: the use of dangerous agents to cause mass destruction. The book is well organized into subjects dealing first with the mythic origin of chemical weapons: Hercules and the Hydra. Ms. Mayor proceeds to discuss poisoned arrows, defeating enemies by poisoning water and diverting streams, winning a victory by poisoning the food your enemies will eat, the use of insects and animals against enemies and creating chemical weapons, such as flame throwers. We learn that the ancients understood that animals such as rats and mice were the cause of plagues, how shamans went out to gather dangerous plants and how they were handled in the preparation of weapons and how real Pandora's boxes existed filled with plague-generating material. Ms. Mayor often includes modern parallels to the ancient stories, including recent events, to show that the use of chemical and biological weapons were (and still are) used to create fear of the weapon. I found it surprising to learn that Winston Churchill ordered poison gas used against the Kurds in the 1920s. This book is a wealth of information about the development and use of chemical and biological weapons in the ancient world, the feeling engendered about the weapons and the clever stratagems employed many times in the use of these weapons. As one reads this book, its importance becomes more evident with each chapter and you wonder why no one has come to realize the long history of terror weapons and how people felt centuries ago is still relevant to our time. Greek Fire is a well-written and its subjects are thoroughly discussed. It is a hard book to put down and will not disappoint.