Perfume has accompanied mankind throughout its history. After perfume in Egypt, today we will discover the history of perfume in Ancient Greece to find out how they used fragrances and how they influenced their production and distribution throughout Europe.
Perfumes in Greece
In Greece there were a great number of gods and everything had an associated myth, a link to the divine. Perfume was no exception. It was the inhabitants of Olympus who were the first to use aromas to adorn themselves and who taught men and women the use of perfumes. It is said that Aphrodite pricked herself on the thorn of a rose, which was white and odorless. She stained it with her blood, turning it red, and Eros, in love with her beauty, kissed it, giving it that intoxicating fragrance.
The development of perfumery in Greece has its origins in Crete and other colonies. Perfumers from these countries settled in Greek cities and the inhabitants were quick to learn this art, becoming great masters of the elaboration of perfumes and unguents, exporting them to Europe. It is believed that they were the first to create liquid perfumes, which they packaged in precious lead, silver, gold and more commonly alabaster containers, all with the decoration typical of their culture.
The Hellenes used a different fragrance for each part of their body. Marjoram for the hair, palm oil for the chest, mint for the arms, thyme for the knees, oregano oil for the feet, etc. They perfumed themselves after bathing or before attending some special event, i.e., just like now. In the Greek gymnasiums there was a part dedicated to personal cleanliness and there they had multiple fragrances to perfume themselves before going out.
They thought that good aroma scared away evil spirits, in fact, the deceased were buried well perfumed and accompanied by a bottle of perfume. They also considered that perfumes had curative properties.
The aromas most used by the Greeks are: myrrh, mint, marjoram, thyme, oregano, myrtle and almond flower. Each and every one of these aromas has, of course, a divine origin.
We leave you some fragrances from our catalog that contain some of these ingredients.
More on the history of perfume:
1 comment
Muy interesante este artículo!! :-)