kimerajamm
Joined: 28 Nov 2010
Posts: 785
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 Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 12:37 pm Post subject: Ancient Greek |
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Saffron played a significant role in the Greco-Roman classical period (8th century BC to the 3rd century AD).[15] However, the first known image of saffron in Greek culture is much older and stems from the Bronze Age. A saffron harvest is shown in the Knossos palace frescoes of Minoan Crete,[2] which depict the flowers being picked by young girls and monkeys. One of these fresco sites is located in the "Xeste 3" building at Akrotiri, on the Greek island of Santorini (known to ancient Greeks as Thera). The "Xeste 3" frescoes have been dated from 1600–1500 BC.[6] Various other dates have been given, such as 3000–1100 BC[18] and the 17th century BC.[19] They portray a Greek goddess supervising the plucking of flowers and the picking of stigmas for use in the manufacture of a therapeutic drug.[18] A fresco from the same site also depicts a woman using saffron to treat her bleeding foot.[6] These Theran frescoes are the first botanically accurate pictorial representations of saffron's use as an herbal remedy.[18] The saffron-growing Minoan settlement of Akrotiri on Santorini was ultimately destroyed by a powerful earthquake and subsequent volcanic eruption between 1645 and 1500 BC.[20] The volcanic ash from the destruction entombed and helped preserve the saffron frescoes.[21]
Ancient Greek legends tell of brazen sailors embarking on long and perilous voyages to the remote land of Cilicia, where they traveled to procure what they believed was the world's most valuable saffron.[22] The best-known Greek legend about saffron is the story detailing the tragedy of Crocus and Smilax: The handsome youth Crocus sets out in pursuit of the nymph Smilax in the woods near Athens. During a brief period of idyllic love Smilax is flattered by his amorous advances, but soon is bored by Crocus' attentions. After he continues to pursue her against her wishes, she resorts to bewitching him, transforming Crocus into a saffron crocus flower, with its radiant orange stigmas remaining as a faint symbol of his undying passion for Smilax.[11] The tragedy and the spice would be recalled later by Ovid:
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