M YR TL E. 
{Love) 
@ l5==i jpHE Myrtle, like the rose, is generally considered 
.jpl l symbolic of love , and by the Greeks and 
Romans was consecrated to Venus, round whose 
tempi is they planted groves of it; and, when the votaries 
of this goddess sacrificed to her, they, like her attendant 
Graces, wore myrtle chaplets. 
The Myrtle is supposed to derive its name from Myr- 
sine, an Athenian maiden, and favourite of Minerva, 
said to have been metamorphosed into the myrtle; at 
any rate, it owes its origin to a Greek word signifying 
perfume. 
Amongst the ancient writers who speak of its symbolism 
is Pliny : he records that the Romans and Sabines, when 
they were reconciled, laid down their weapons under a 
myrtle-tree, and purified themselves with its boughs. 
When Harmodius and Aristogiton set forth to free their 
country from a tyrant, their swords were wreathed 
with myrtle. 
