Olive Tree: One of the Iconic Trees of Greece
The one tree that I found in every town or city of Greece that I visited was the Olive tree. Particularly in old sites, the trees looked so old, looking as if they existed for centuries. For Greeks Olive tree is a symbol of wisdom and peace. It is the sacred tree of their Goddess Athena.
The story of how the tree came to existence is like this:
Zeus decided the city (before it the name Athens) would be given to the one who would give the most useful gift to its people. Poseidon gave them the horse. Athena struck the bare soil with her spear and caused an olive tree to spring up. People were mighty pleased with the olive that Zeus gave the city to Athena. The city was then named after her.
Curious tourists like me halted to make a note of the tree and its interesting features. Most of the trees bore fruits, some in their raw state and ripe ones scattered on ground. I was like: OMG so much olive gone waste!
My curiosity went a little further, I plucked one ripe one and bit into it, I expected it to be sour. This was in Parthenon in Acropolis and Oh! God! It was bitter. I ran around searching for a dust bin to pop it out. I never tried one for the rest of the tour, the ones served at table tasted so good. In its natural state it is best to capture in photographs.
Some quotes on Olive:
Nobel prize winner Greek poet Odysseas Elytis wrote “Greece is a vine, an olive tree and a boat”
Thomas Jefferson wrote: “The olive tree is surely the richest gift of Heaven”
Aldous Huxley wrote: “…I like them all, but especially the olive. For what it symbolizes, first of all, peace with its leaves and joy with its golden oil.”
Federico Garcia Lorca wrote: “Angels with long braids and hearts of olive oil.”
Thursday Challenge: Trees
2nd picture is the best…
Lots of insights and a great journey talk . Nice one
nice read
Interesting Post about Olive Trees !
Thanks for the warning about their taste if plucked from tree. Did anyone take your picture then?
I really like olives, but hadn't seen the tree so far! Thanks for my daily dose of knowledge for the day 🙂
Great quotes…it must be a great experience seeing so many of them right in front of you… 🙂 Nice clicks as well…
It was nice knowing the history behind these famous trees 🙂
Amazing, Thanks for sharing
Great to know about Olive trees. Even in the Bible, there are lots of references to Olive oil.
I remember learning about an olive branch being a symbol of peace and an olive crown being a sign of victory.
I believe that's my first time seeing olive trees. Interesting looking trees.
Thank for showing them to me, Indrani. 🙂
Breathtakingly beautiful 🙂 😀 :*
"The olive tree is surely the richest gift of Heaven" Richest gift of Heaven in heaven like country.
The trees on the first photo looks straight out of the lord of the rings movie. So old and majestic.
Lovely photos, Indrani!
Had never seen an Olive tree before 🙂
Had read that Olympic Games early winners were made to wear crowns made of of Olive-leaves 🙂
Never seen an olive tree before…..
at first they looked like a huge bush… lovely photos :… haven't seen these around my area
First time seeing Olive trees… and nice to know why it is important to Greece!
I think everyone do the same (try to taste) when seeing something in natural state 🙂
I'm not a big fan of olives though I'm trying to acquire a taste for them. The tree sure is beautiful and the fruit look more like plums. Too bad the one you sampled was so bitter.
luv the first photo best
have a nice Thursday
much love…
I love olive trees, they are so beautifull. Lovely pictures too!
I've not seen an olive tree before. Lovely!
Olives are a store house of nutrition.Love the quotes and pictures!
The Olive trees have a beauty & majesty about them !
Nice pictures of olive trees so impoortant for Greece ànd Spain. Greetings from the Costa del Sol in Spain
we have a park lined with olive trees.
Ohh! Bitter in taste!!! But, it looks delicious in the photograph! really, the photographs are very beautiful, Indrani… Didn't know much about olive, thanks a lot for letting us know the facts.
TC! Keep smiling 🙂
looks eerie these olive trees
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beautiful and unique trees!
Ah, such beautiful trees and one of the things I remember best about my time in Greece!! Thank you for sharing your trip, Indrani! And thanks for the wonderful memories!!