Tares are a weed that usually grows next to wheat.
The Greek term zizánia passed into Latin as zizanĭa , which came to our language as tares . This is the name given to a plant that belongs to the family group of grasses , whose main peculiarity is that its seeds and the flour obtained from them are toxic .
With the scientific name Lolium temulentum , the tares have canes or stems that can exceed one meter in height. Its leaves are about twenty centimeters long and its flowers develop in spikes.
Tares usually grow spontaneously in fields where wheat grows. That is why it is considered a weed. It is common for tares to harbor fungi that poison the plant, with toxins accumulating in its grains. The consumption of these grains and flours that include tares is harmful.
The tares in the Bible
In the same way, we must not overlook that in the Bible, specifically in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, the parable of the wheat and the tares is included. In the New Testament this is the twelfth parable that addresses the issue of respect and tolerance for people who have a different religion.
It is also known by the names of the parable of the tares or the parable of the weeds.
Flour contaminated with tares is toxic.
something harmful
Due to this characteristic of the plant, the notion of tares is often used symbolically in different ways linked to harmful issues. The vice that breaks through good customs and actions is called tares, as is that which spoils something .
There is also talk of “sowing tares” or “making tares” when someone acts so that other people fight or have a conflict. Suppose a worker comments to a co-worker: “I'm angry with the boss because I feel like he doesn't value me.” The interlocutor, instead of trying to reassure him, tells him: “Yes, yesterday I thought I heard that he treated you as incapable with the owner of the company. I think you should rebuke him so that he doesn't continue disrespecting you." This response serves to stir up trouble since it does not help solve the problem, but quite the opposite: possibly the worker angrily confronts his boss due to a simple feeling or suspicion.
"The tares" in Asterix and Obelix
In addition to everything stated above, we cannot ignore that the term in question has also been used within the literary field. A good example of this is the work “The Tares” , which is the 15th album of the French comic series starring Asterix and Obélix, created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.
In 1970, the book was published, which tells how Julius Caesar, tired of the Gallic people always managing to resist the Roman attacks, decided to take matters into his own hands. Exactly he makes the decision to generate “tares” within the inhabitants of the aforementioned town so that this makes them vulnerable and the Roman Empire can subjugate them.
What he will do is send Perfectus Detritus there, a man who has the “ability” to cause problems to arise that confront people.