Ancient people knew how to explain things poetically, and many legends prove this. We have selected a few stories that will make you look at some plants from a different perspective!
Poppy
Probably, the most idyllic pastoral image is the poppy field. And legends about this flower are also interesting. So let's begin with the ancient Greeks. They associated this flower with Hypnos, the personification of sleep, his brother Thanatos, an embodiment of death, and Morpheus, the god of sleep and dreams, due to the poppy's sleep-inducing and sedative ability.
Thanatos was often portrayed with a wreath of poppies in one of his hands that symbolized an eternity of life even after death. For some, this wreath of poppies means a victory over death. Thanatos's twin brother Hypnos lives next to him in the Underworld, and there are a lot of poppies in front of their cave. Morpheus, in his turn, is described as someone surrounded by poppies. According to ancient Romans, when Morpheus wanted someone to fall asleep, he barely touched them with a poppy.
The ancients believed poppies grew up from Aphrodite's tears when she was devastated by Adonis's death. And if you are familiar with Greek myths, you know that there are a lot of legends where Aphrodite accidentally created a flower by crying, but it is still a very poetic explanation.
Chamomile
This daisy-like flower is also associated with sleep because many teas that help with sleep are made of it. The very first documentation of using this flower was found in Ancient Egypt. It was used in medicine due to its sedative and purifying qualities and because it could repel insects during mummification. So it's obvious these flowers had a few appearances in Egyptian legends and myths. Chamomile is connected to Ra, the sun god, because the flower resembles the sun.
Lilac (Syringa Vulgaris)
In England, lilac was considered a flower of sorrow. It is probably because of lilac's color, which widows wore after a year of mourning in North America and some European countries.
However, there's also an English legend about creating the white lilac. A girl had fallen in love with a rich man, who betrayed her. She reacted a little bit too dramatically and died from sadness! Her friends were devastated over her death and covered her grave in purple lilacs, but these flowers turned white the next day!
And there's another legend about unrequited love about lilac. This Greek legend will be helpful with an understanding of the etymology of the scientific name of the plant. Well, Syringa was a beautiful nymph, and Pan, the wild god, was extremely fond of her. And as you can guess, if some Greek god fell in love with you and you can't return the sentiment, there's no way you will make it out alive! And being turned into some plant is the best scenario, which happened to Syringa, who became a lilac.
Deadly Nightshade (Atropa Belladonna)
This plant is well-known for being extremely dangerous. That's why its history is exceptionally twisted! So no surprise, Belladonna had a few appearances in legends.
Let's begin with the Greeks; Atropos was the name of one of three fates. She was in charge of ending lives because it was her duty to cut the thread of someone's life. In the Italian language, Belladonna means 'a beautiful woman', and despite being so deadly, this plant was used in beauty practices. Women used it to make their pupils bigger. But mainly, this plant is associated with witchcraft. For example, the Dionysus cult followers used it as a hallucinogenic that induced trance. According to the legends, the witch Circe turned Odysseus' men into pigs by poisoning them with Belladonna.
Some people also believed that if you ate deadly nightshade, you would meet… the devil. This is how some parents used to scare their kids so they wouldn't eat unknown plants. And as you can guess, not only witchcraft but the devil was associated with this plant. But despite having such a reputation, deadly to say the least, Belladonna was successfully used in medicine.
Tulips
Surprisingly, we don't know Greek or Roman legends about tulips because these flowers grow there. But in the Middle East, this flower was insanely popular!
According to the Persian legend, tulips appeared from the blood of two lovers, Farhad and Shirin. Farhad was a humble stonecutter that fell in love with princess Shirin. Farhad played the flute for her to win her heart, and the princess reciprocated the feelings. As you can expect in such a case, the king wasn't pleased about the relationship with a commoner. So he decided to create some obstacles for lovers. He told Farhad they could be together only if he dug a big canal. Everyone thought that the task was impossible, but Farhad made it. King didn't expect him to succeed, so he lied to Farhad, saying that his daughter was dead. Grief-stricken Farhad took his own life when he received this news. And when Shirin found out about his death, she did the same.
In English tales and legends, tulips are considered cradles for fairies. According to the legend prevalent in Devonshire, fairies didn't have cradles for their babies, so they placed them inside the tulips. One woman noticed it in her garden, so she went every night to admire them. At first, the fairies were slightly scared of such attention, but then they realized this woman was kind, so they made her tulips even prettier and gave them a gorgeous scent. Also, they blessed the woman with success in everything until her death. Unfortunately, the subsequent garden owners weren't as amiable as that woman. One of them destroyed the garden, and fairies left their homes, and that's why tulips lost their beautiful scent and became the bleak version of themselves.
As you can guess, there are various legends about plants, so if you like folklore, we encourage you to read some stories about your favorite flowers!
