Mythic Plants

See the ever-popular Greek myths anew by focusing on the fascinating roles plants play in the stories.

When Prometheus stole fire from the Olympian gods and gave it to mankind, he hid it in a stalk of giant fennel. Ancient Greeks waiting to question the oracles were given cannabis as part of their cleansing rituals. A quince fruit started the Trojan war. The goddess Demeter was so distraught when Hades kidnapped her daughter that she caused winter to blanket the earth, killing all plants.

In Greek mythology, plants were used for tools, intoxication, warfare, food, medicine, magic, and rituals. Achilles used yarrow (now named after him as Achillea) to stanch the flow of blood from his soldiers' wounds. (It still works.) Wine was long used by the gods, but there is evidence that other plants—such as oleander, mandrake, and ivy—were added to wine to create the frenzy for which Dionysus’s followers were well known.

Some of those plants were real and still exist today; some of them are mythological, with powers we can only imagine. Mythic Plants focuses on how the ancient Greeks used plants in their lives, loves, and conquests—particularly on ones we can cultivate today. Includes tips throughout for bringing these ancient plants into your garden.