Volume 5, Issue 1 January - April 2021 [pp. 52 - 75]
Squill and Gorgo
From the “common” history of two magical symbols
Christina Papadaki
Postdoc researcher, Department of Mediterranean Studies of the University of the Aegean, Rhodes, Greece
A classical view wants myths not to be just “fairy tales” in which the truth is hidden, but truth that is expressed in a “primitive” form. In this context, there is no fairy tale that does not contain elements that try to give, even in simple and figurative form, a general explanation of the world or exorcise the stress that arises when logic fails to explain the vague origin of our existence. Inspired by a Cretan variant of the legend of Alexander the Great, quoted here, the article examines the story of the well-known in all over Mediterranean squill that never dries, because, according to our “fairy tale”, the immortal water fell on it. The addition to the story of the most legendary king of antiquity, of such an ordinary plant raises, if nothing else, a reasonable question. However, its choice is justified by the properties and the role it played in botany, medicine and the magic of ancient and modern times.
Key words: Squill, Gorgo, magic, Minoan Crete
COPYRIGHT: © Themes in Archaeology, 2021 - ISSN 2653-9292
Author for correspondence: papadakichristina@gmail.com
The original article is in the Library of the Themes in Archeology
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International .
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