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271
The Folk-lore of Plants
·
T. F. Thiselton-Dyer
136
The
chief
flowers
used
by
them
for
strewing
over
graves
were
the
polyanthus,
myrtle,
and
amaranth;
the
rose,
it
would
appear
from
Anacreon,
having
been
thought
to
possess
a
special
virtue
for
the
dead:--
"When
pain
afflicts
and
sickness
grieves,
Its
juice
the
drooping
heart
relieves;
And
after
death
its
odours
shed
A
pleasing
fragrance
o'er
the
dead."
And
Electra
is
represented
as
complaining
that
the
tomb
of
her
father,
Agamemnon,
had
not
been
duly
adorned
with
myrtle--
"With
no
libations,
nor
with
myrtle
boughs,
Were
my
dear
father's
manes
gratified."
The
Greeks
also
planted
asphodel
and
mallow
round
their
graves,
as
the
seeds
of
these
plants
were
supposed
to
nourish
the
dead.
Mourners,
too,
wore
flowers
at
the
funeral
rites,
and
Homer
relates
how
the
Thessalians
used
crowns
of
amaranth
at
the
burial
of
Achilles.
The
Romans
were
equally
observant,
and
Ovid,
when
writing
from
the
land
of
exile,
prayed
his
wife--"But
do
you
perform
the
funeral
rites
for
me
when
dead,
and
offer
chaplets
wet
with
your
tears.
Although
the
fire
shall
have
changed
my
body
into
ashes,
yet
the
sad
dust
will
be
sensible
of
your
pious
affection."
Like
the
Greeks,
the
Romans
set
a
special
value
on
the
rose
as
a
funeral
flower,
and
actually
left
directions
that
their
graves
should
be
planted
with
this
favourite
flower,
a
custom
said
to
have
been
introduced
by
them
into
this
country.
Both
Camden
and
Aubrey
allude
to
it,
and
at
the
present
day
in
Wales
white
roses
denote
the
graves
of
young
unmarried
girls.
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