Devoir de Philosophie

erbs Greek The mythic power of herbs to transform people and to restore life to the dead features prominently in several Greek myths.

Publié le 26/01/2014

Extrait du document

erbs Greek The mythic power of herbs to transform people and to restore life to the dead features prominently in several Greek myths. Gaia, the Earth Mother, the oldest goddess in Greek mythology, found an herb that would protect the Gigantes (Giants), some of her children, in their war with the Olympian gods. Zeus, the supreme god among the Olympians, who were themselves descendants of Gaia, obtained that herb and used it to help him defeat the giants in their war against the gods. The herb moly helped Odysseus resist the efforts of the goddess-sorceress Circe to turn him into a swine 70 Herbs when he landed on the island of Achaea. The heroine Moria used an herb known as balis to restore her brother to life after he had been bitten by a snake. Dittany, a creeping herb of the mint family that is native to Greece, was known as the herb of Venus and was also the sacred herb of Artemis, goddess of childbirth and chastity. Some historians suggest that women in ancient Greece used dittany, also known as ditamy, to bring on menstruation.

Liens utiles