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.
Hardcover
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Summary
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.
Description
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.Critic Reviews
"This book is very interesting and I recommend it... It is not by any means a complete "Ancient Materia Medica," but it's a fun breeze-through. And sometimes a detail slips through into modern gardening: where Cornelian-cherry will root readily, or that quinces, in Greece, have a long enough season to ripen and become soft and edible without cooking, where, here, they don't.
Zachos' tongue is often firmly in her cheek. Lots of pithy comments, but the one that had me howling was the second complete sentence on page 164. Buy this book and read it for yourself."--Washington Gardener
"In Mythic Plants, you can mix your love of mythology with your love of all things green. For the gardener who loves to read about ancient Greek history, beliefs, and practices, this book is a delight. It's full of quick-to-read, browse-able chapters that explain the origins and cultures associated with various plants, and the ways that ancient folks used everyday plants and weeds in their lives. Zachos tells readers how modern science, laws, and knowledge compares to what the Greeks knew and thought, and how it's relevant to your garden today."
--Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm SezAbout the Author
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.
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