The plants were there, they existed. Long-lived, evergreen, deep-rooted, resilient, fragrant, white, symbolically representing ideals. Plants that touched, adorned, and fermented everyday life in sacred Olympia. Plants with regenerative powers. The mighty oak. The sacrificial poplar. The bendable willow of purity. The intoxicating vine. The intertwining ivy. The erotic myrtle. The revered palm tree. The prophetic laurel. The sacred olive tree...
By reading "Symbolic Plants of the Olympic Games" you will discover what Theophrastus wrote about twenty-four centuries ago - "for there are well-known reports from the mythologists; they say that the olive tree is in Athens, the palm tree in Delos, and the wild olive tree in Olympia, from which the crown is made" - and you will learn a lot about their use, myth, nomenclature, and natural history. Finally, you will enjoy the visual material with the plants of Greece, as depicted in the 18th century by a great painter.
In ancient Olympia, whatever remains spreads, permeates, and comes from the shore of immortality to touch the present and the future. The plants continue to thrive there, as an integral part of the famous landscape.