It secretes a sweet sap known as manna in July and August which was harvested by the ancients. ASH, MANNAĭescription : A small spring-flowering deciduous tree. These he cast before the princess in the race, slowing her down as she stooped to retrieve them and so won the race. The youth Melanion (meaning he of the apples) prayed to Aphrodite for help, and the goddess presented him with three golden apples. Those who failed the contest would be put to death by her father. The beautiful-princess Atalanta was reluctant to wed, and insisted that her suitors best her in a race. They were referred by Zeus to the shepherd prince Paris, who awarded the apple to Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. Aphrodite, Hera and Athene all laid claim to the prize. At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Eris the goddess of strife, cast a golden apple addressed to the fairest amongst the goddesses. This tree of the golden apples was guarded by the three goddess Hesperides. The earth-goddess Gaia produced first apple-tree as a wedding-present for the goddess Hera. It was associated with love and marriage. (Source: Ovid) APPLE TREEĭescription : The apple-tree was an important orchard fruit of ancient Greece. When he was slain by a wild boar, the goddess created the red anemone flower from his blood. Adonis was a handsome youth loved by the goddess Aphrodite. Sacred to : Aphrodite (probably planted in the "Adonis-gardens") Their seed is carried on the wind, hence the ancient Greek name for the flower, anemone (from anemos, the wind). (Source: Pausanias) ANEMONE, POPPY or WINDFLOWER, GREEKĭescription : A perennial spring-flowering bulb with delicate blood-red flowers. The child conceived was Attis, who grew up to became the consort of the Kybele. Once when the nymph Nana was sitting beneath its branches a nut fell into her lap and impregnated her. The genitals were cast upon the earth where they sprouted and grew into an almond tree. The gods were fearful and castrated it creating the goddess Kybele. In Phrygia there was born an hermaphroditic deity named Agdistis. Sacred to : Attis (born of the almond nut) It flowers in pink-white blossoms in the spring and produces an autumn crop of edible nuts in a tough shell. (Source: Ovid, Plutarch) ALMOND TREEĭescription : A small deciduous tree growing 4 to 9 metres tall. However, just in time, Aegeas caught sight of the sword which he had left Theseus to be a mark of his paternity, and dashed the cup from his hands. The king's wife Medea, recognised the youth, and persuaded Aegeas to let her offer him a cup of wine laced with deadly aconite. Theseus once travelled to Athens to present himself to his long lost father King Aegeas. The spittle of the beast dripped upon the earth, and from it sprang the first aconite plant. Herakles was sent to fetch Kerberos forth from the underworld as one of his twelve labours. The Greek's called it akoniton (without dirt) because it grows on rocky ground, and lykoktonon (wolf-slaying) because it was traditionally applied by their arrows when hunting wolves. Its leaves and roots are extremely extremely toxic and were used by the ancients as a poison. ACONITEĭescription : An herbaceous perennial plant with purplish-blue flowers which grows up to a metre in height. The identification of the plant species are from the Henry George Liddell Greek-English lexicon. Wondered what some of the famous plants of myth looked like? All the plants are illustrated, just click on the thumbnails to view an image montage of each plant. The plants and flowers of ancient Greece were rich in mythology: ranging from the tale of Persephone and the pomegranate seeds, to the flowery metamorphoses of Hyakinthos, the golden apples of the Hesperides, and the tree-morphing nymph Daphne.
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