LEGENDS OF MYTHOLOGICAL FAME 175 



cured of his wound. Upon this the shepherd pre- 

 pared a vessel full of the healing flowers and set out 

 for the palace, where the king lay dying of leprosy, 

 and in due course that monarch was cured by the 

 healing virtues of the veronica. 



The generic name is an altered form of the Latin 

 Vera icon — true image, bestowed because the flowers 

 of the plant were said in olden days to display in 

 their forms and markings, the representation of St. 

 Veronica's handkerchief, with which she was privi- 

 leged to wipe the face of Our Lord. 



The Legend of the Myrtle. 



Eastern fable tells us that in olden days the rose 

 herself named the myrtle the " Prince of odori- 

 ferous Plants." Like the rose, the myrtle is emble- 

 matic of love, and, according to classic tradition, 

 possesses not only the power to inspire, but also to 

 retain love. So the ancients dedicated the myrtle 

 to Venus, whom they worshipped under the name of 

 Myrtea, and to whom they consecrated a temple, 

 enclosed in a grove of myrtles. The Graces, when in 

 attendance upon Venus, were crowned with myrtle, 

 and votaries, when sacrificing to their goddess, wore 

 myrtle chaplets. 



From one of the myths we learn that when 

 Aphrodite sprang from the foam of the sea she was 

 met by the Seasons, who presented her with a rain- 

 bow-coloured scarf and a wreath of myrtle, and 

 when later, in order to subjugate Paris, and win 

 from Hera and Pallas the prize of beauty, she 

 " bathed in all the blossoms that the Seasons bring," 

 and " clothed her gracious form in raiment that the 



