FLORAL SYMBOLS. 103 



parison. The asphodel was also an emblem of sorrow, and the 

 Greeks used it at their funerals. 



We cannot wonder that so fragrant and lovely a plant as the myrtle 

 should become a symbolical teacher. It was most anciently the em- 

 blem of peace and quietude, and gave a living freshness to the annun- 

 ciation of the angel mentioned by Zechariah, who said, as he stood 

 among the myrtle-trees, "We have walked to and fro through the 

 earth, and behold, all the earth sitteth still and is at rest." From 

 being an emblem of peace, on account of its quiet beauty and per- 

 fume,' it afterwards became an emblem of war, in consequence of the 

 hardness of its wood rendering it very suitable for warlike instru- 

 ments : — 



The war from stubborn myrtle shafts receives. 



Virgil. 



From the supple nature of its branches, together with the odour 

 emitted by its leaves, it was largely used for entwining into wreaths, 

 garlands, and crowns. These were worn at the Roman festivals, and 

 the myrtle-boughs were steeped in the wine, to improve its flavour 

 and fragrance ; and hence the myrtle became a recognized emblem of 

 festivity. By the magistrates of Athens, it was worn as a symbol of 

 office. By the Greeks, it was dedicated to Venus, either because it 

 grows near the sea, whence she is said to have arisen, or because the 

 sweet and unfading nature of its foliage made it a suitable tribute to 

 the goddess of beauty. The Greeks planted the myrtle abundantly 

 in those lovely groves which have been so renowned in song, and 

 where he who wandered was greeted by such a succession of delightful 

 odours, that he might believe himself transported to some sweet land 

 of enchantment, where every breath was sacred to poetry and love. 

 The myrtle was sacred as a symbol of love and beauty, and the first 

 temple erected to Venus was surrounded by a grove of myrtles. 

 When the ancient poets or painters represent Venus rising from the 

 ocean, they tell us that the Hours or Seasons, who were the offspring 

 of Jupiter and Themis, present her with a scarf of many colours, 

 and a garland of myrtles. There is an old fable concerning Eratos- 

 tratus, who burned the famous temple of Diana at Ephesus, on the 

 same night as Alexander the Great was bom. He was a Naucratian 

 merchant, and during one of his voyages, there arose a terrible storm. 

 Fortunately, he had in his possession a small statue of Venus, whose 



