Symbolism of plants: examples from European-Mediterranean culture presented with biology and history of art: FEBRUARY: Sea-daffodil and narcissus
Journal of Experimental Botany
Symbolism of plants: examples from European-Mediterranean culture presented with biology and history of art
Riklef Kandeler 1
Wolfram R. Ullrich 0
0 Institute of Botany, Darmstadt University of Technology , Kirchbergweg 6, D-64287 Darmstadt , Germany
1 Institute of Botany, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences , Gregor Mendelstr. 33, 1180 Wien Austria
In February around Europe, North Africa, and Asia, Narcissus flowers are early signs of spring. Pancratium, the sea-daffodil, is a closely related genus, although its flowering season is in later summer. Through antiquity the Narcissus has been used to symbolize the ambiguous character of February. It carries, for example, meanings between violent death and vanity in Greek mythology and idealized depictions of Pancratium were used in Aegean wall decorations. Many poets have celebrated the Narcissus in verse, notably William Wordsworth, and the elevating spirit of his verses are reflected in many of the sentiments associated with the gift of daffodils in different societies today.
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The two distinctive properties of the sea-daffodil,
Pancratium maritimum (Amaryllidaceae), are specified in its
English common name. In the Mediterranean region it
grows on sandy seashores with its bulbs deep in the sand. It
is closely related to Narcissus, a genus occurring in the
whole northern hemisphere, and shares the distinctive
corona familiar to all daffodils. One distinction is that the
filaments of Pancratium are attached to the corona and
protrude from its edge allowing the anthers to stand upright
(Fig. 1). This feature in particular enables the identification
of this plant on old frescos, in spite of their beautifully
stylized representations.
Symbolism
For the symbolic meaning of Pancratium it is important
that it flowers from July to September, i.e. mainly in late
summer. In The Women’s House at Akrotiri on Thera, the
volcanic island in the Aegean Sea, large stylized plants were
painted on the walls (17th century BC) (Doumas, 1992). The
excavator Spyridon Marinatos (1986) has interpreted these
as sea-daffodils. Baumann (1982) showed that herbarium
specimens of P. maritimum were often mounted to look like
the plants in the frescos, by opening the bell-shaped corolla
on one side and removing the outer parts of the perianth
(Fig. 2). The depicted plants are an impressive 140 cm tall,
wild Pancratium is 60 cm at the most, usually only 30–40
cm. In context with the ceremonial character of the room,
these plants were apparently meant to dominate the space
and thus to set the scene.
Sea-daffodils on the frescos in Akrotiri are associated with
the veneration of a goddess. In continuation of the fresco,
a woman is bending over and holding a ritual apron in her
hand. The scene has been interpreted as the investiture of
a priestess. Priestesses wore fur aprons as known from
presentations found on Crete (Kandeler, 2006). Probably
those priestesses were related to death and the other world.
In the museum at Heraklion, a Minoan earthen
sarcophagus from eastern Crete is exhibited. On its left side two
sea-daffodil plants are painted and, on the right side,
a griffin. A Mycenaean bronze blade shows sea-daffodils,
also without outer perianth, beside a leopard seizing two
wild ducks. In both cases, the plant is connected with death,
particularly with violent death (Baumann, 1982).
Death is also associated with narcissus in Greek mythology
and they were supposed to grow along the river Styx in the
underworld, and were often used as flowers on graves.
According to myth, the pretty young man Narkissos fell in
love with his own image reflected in water. He faded away
with longing and was converted to the flower named after him.
At Zeus’ command, Gaia made a tall and strong-smelling
narcissus grow out of the ground in order to lure Persephone,
the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, away from her
companions and thus facilitate her kidnapping to the underworld.
Both sea-daffodils and narcissus pointed to the
transformation of life, to the inescapability of death. While
narcissus tended to be a reminder of untimely death in the
middle of spring, sea-daffodils announced the imminence of
autumn when the flora generally vanishes. The sea-daffodil,
Fig. 1. Pancratium maritimum, sea-daffodil, on the sea shore in Greece, the flowers showing the corona with the attached filaments.
(Th. Georgiades, Patras).
therefore, was also a plant associated with the vegetation
goddess Persephone (or Ariadne), who each year had to pass
through all the phases of life, including the underworld.
In Christian times, daffodils became a symbol of
resurrection, and today are prevalent for Easter (in German
‘Osterglocke’) (Addison, 1985; Beuchert, 2004; Levi d’Ancona,
1977). Narcissus appeared in medieval book illustrations
and later in altarpieces. On an altar panel-painting by
a Franciscan master craftsman of Go¨ ttingen, the ‘Noli me
tangere’ scene of Easter Mo (...truncated)