The milfoil or yarrow is a plant belonging to the genus Achillea. According to Brewer, the name of the genus comes:
from Achilles, who was taught the uses and virtues of plants by Chiron the centaur. The tale is, that when the Greeks invaded Troy, Telephus, a son-in-law of King Priam, attempted to stop their landing; but Bacchus caused him to stumble over a vine, and, when he had fallen, Achilles wounded him with his spear. The young Trojan was told by an oracle that “Achilles (meaning milfoil or yarrow) would cure the wound;” but, instead of seeking the plant, he applied to the Grecian chief, and promised to conduct the host to Troy if he would cure the wound. Achilles consented to do so, scraped some rust from his spear, and from the filings rose the plant milfoil, which, being applied to the wound, had the desired effect.
E. Cobham Brewer (1895). Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, page 10. London: Cassell.
Brewer gives no references. The detail of Achilles having been shown healing herbs by Chiron comes from Iliad 11.830–833, but there Homer only writes βοτάνια (herbs). The detail of Telephus being married to Laodice, daughter of Priam, is from pseudo-Hyginus (Fabulae 101), though other writers name other wives. The story of Achilles healing Telephus with the rust from his spear is given by pseudo-Apollodorus (Epitome 3.20), pseudo-Hyginus (Fabulae 101), and Propertius (Elegies 2.1.63), but none of these mention the milfoil. Pliny comes closest:
Achilles too, the pupil of Chiron, discovered a plant which heals wounds, and which, as being his discovery, is known as the “achilleos.” It was by the aid of this plant, they say, that he cured Telephus. Other authorities, however, assert that he was the first to discover that verdigris is an extremely useful ingredient in plasters; and hence it is that he is sometimes represented in pictures as scraping with his sword the rust from off a spear into the wound of Telephus. Some again, are of opinion that he made use of both remedies.
Pliny. Natural History 25.19. Translated by John Bostock and H. T. Riley (1856). Project Gutenberg.
However, this does not contain the detail that “from the filings rose the plant milfoil” as given by Brewer. What is the source of this detail?
