Mythic Plants

Auteur

Ellen Zachos is an expert forager and longtime foraging instructor. She is the author of six books, including The Wildcrafted Cocktail and Backyard Foraging. She is co-host of the Plantrama podcast and can be found online at backyardforager.com.

Texte du rabat

In a beautiful, fully illustrated package, this modern, witty take on familiar Greek myths with a focus on the wild and wonderful role plants have played in the stories over centuries is *Song of Achilles meets *The Secret Life of Trees.

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. This book will focus on how the ancient Greeks used plants in their lives and loves and conquests - focusing particularly on ones we can cultivate today. Includes tips throughout for bringing these ancient plants into your garden.

Résumé

In this beautifully illustrated book that's Song of Achilles meets Secret Life of Trees, readers will discover the plants cultivated by the Greek Gods–many of which can still be experimented with today–for a myriad of uses. 

In Greek mythology, plants were used for tools, intoxication, warfare, food, medicine, magic, and rituals. 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. 

Mythic Plants focuses on how the ancient Greeks used plants in their lives and loves and conquests—some of which we can still use.

Includes tips throughout for bringing these ancient plants into your garden.  

Contenu
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
 
Intoxicants
Barley
Cannabis
The Flying Herbs
The Grape
Mandrake
The Poppy
 
 
It’s All in the Dosage
Aconite
Dittany
Medicinal herbs
Pennyroyal
Poison Hemlock
Yarrow
 
A Culinary Odyssey
The Acorn
Asphodel
The Cornelian Cherry
The Fig
The Lotus
Silphion
 
Shape Shifters
Laurel
The Linden
Moly
The Mulberry
The Pine
Plant Metamorphoses
 
Gifts of the Gods
Fennel
Ivy
The Rose
The Oak
The Olive
Three Trees
 
Divine Trickery
The Apple
Myrtle
The Narcissus
The Pomegranate
 
Love Potions and Libido Killers
The Chaste Tree
Lettuce
Myrrh
The Quince
 
Epilogue
 
Appendix – Ancient Authors