Of all the ingredients of the ancient world none may be more important than olives.
T. Maccius Plautus : 254-184 BC
Roman comedian in his work "Miles Gloriosus", or "The Braggart Captain"
Ιf anyone ever saw a bigger liar and more colossal braggart than this fellow, he can have me on his own. But there's one thing i can say - his olive relish makes for insane eating.
Marcus Porcius Cato : 234–149 BC
Roman senator
Epityrum :
Select some green, black and mottled olives and remove the pits.
Add a dressing of oil, vinegar, coriander, cumin, fennel, rue and mint.
Cover with oil in an earthenware dish, and serve.
Olives have been found all over the ancient Mediterranean in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs including an olive wreath in King Tut's tomb and a fragment from the new kingdom shows King Akhenaten offering an olive branch to the sun god who he worshipped.
And it's during Akhenaten's reign that we get the first mention of olives coming from what is now Greece. The pharaoh was presented with jars of perfumed olive oil from the king of Mycenae and just like the Masinians it's thought that most of the cultures around Greek islands used olives to their benefit. It's thought tht the rise of the Minoan civilization of Crete was due in part to there being a major exporter of olive oil.
The Athena-Poseidon dispute over the name of a city.
Several cities in Greece have taken their names based on some myth of antiquity. Something like this happened with Athens.
According to mythology, Athena and Poseidon quarreled because each of them wanted to make the city of Athens his own. Thus, the two opponents, accompanied by the other gods, climbed the rock of the Acropolis to duel. With them was the king of Athens, Kekropas, who was watching the fight. After its completion, the gods would decide who was most capable of taking over the city under his protection.
Poseidon hit the ground with his trident and immediately salt water was poured out.
Athena then struck hard with her foot, near the marks left by Poseidon's trident and immediately emerged an olive tree full of fruit. It was the first olive tree in the world!
In this way the controversy ended and Zeus ordered the gods to compare the two gifts and decide the best. Of course, the role of King Kekropas was important, who, looking around, noticed that there was plenty of water from the sea that surrounded the city. So he realized that Poseidon's gift was not very useful. On the contrary, the Athena olive tree was the first to ever sprout in the country and could feed the inhabitants and also provide them with oil and timber. Thus, Athena won and the city was named Athens in her honor.
The Athenians, wanting to reconcile the two rival gods, dedicated a sanctuary to them under the same roof. Thus, the Erechtheion was built.
In the western part of the Erechtheion, there was Pandrosion, a sanctuary dedicated to Pandroso. At that point, there was the sacred olive tree of Athena.
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According to Homer, olives were cultivated in Greece for over 10,000 years. Olive trees dominated the stony Greek subcontinent and became pillars of Greek society. They were so sacred that those who cut them were sentenced to death or exile.
Pindar, the greatest lyric poet of antiquity, claims that Hercules, the famous hero of Greek mythology, planted a wild olive tree in the temple of Hera, in Ancient Olympia, when he returned to Greece after completing his 12 feats.
The ancient Greeks considered the olive tree a symbol of the Olympic ideals of Peace, Wisdom and Glory. The prize given to the Olympians was the "kotinos", a wreath from Kallistefano Elea, the olive of Hercules.
The ivory statue of Zeus at Olympia, the work of Pheidias, one of the seven wonders of the world, was also crowned with olive branches.