In ancient Greece peonies were highly regarded for their medicinal properties, and were seen as a symbol of healing. This myth is probably the one which gave the peony a bad name as the bringer of bad luck. The second myth associates the name peony to an alluring nymph named Paeonia, whose beauty caused Apollo to swoon at her feet.Īphrodite, goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, passion and procreation, not known for her loyalty, and who was at the time, even though married to Hephaestus, Greek god of blacksmiths, having a fling with Apollo, the sun god, out of spite turned the nymph Peaonia into a flower. Zeus, king of all gods, jumped in at the nick of time and saved the day, feeling compassion for Paeon, who had intended no wrong, he saved him by turning him into a beautiful flower, the peony. How could Asclepius, god of medicine and healing, be outsmarted by his pupil? In a fit of jealousy he threatened to kill Paeon. Paeon was a healer, working under the instruction of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Once aboard ship, the men began to regain their senses, remembered the friendly island people, and wanted to head back, Odysseus, who by now, had had enough of these goings on, tied up his men and set sail immediately, never to return. He came across them chilling with the natives, at once he realized what had happened, and refusing the native’s offer of these magical, intoxicating lotus flowers, rounded up his men, and herded them back to the ship. Time passed, Odysseus became increasingly worried about his men and dispatched another group of men, to see what was going on with the first group, time, again, passed and Odysseus thought to himself ‘if you want a job doing properly, do it yourself!’ and set out to find his men. The locals, being of a generous and laid back nature, at once, on meeting these strangers, offered them lotus flowers, which the sailors happily accepted, ten minutes later, they had not a care in the world.
Odysseus removing his men from the company of the lotus-eaters.
0 kommentar(er)
