The olive tree in life, myth, and art
A tribute to one of the symbols of the Olympic Games and of Greece, the olive tree, is offered by a publication from the Academy of Athens, the Research Centre for Greek Folklore, and the General Secretariat of the Olympic Games, a work presented to us in 2004.
Ode to the Olive Tree is the title of the bilingual publication, which brings together contributions from many scholars at various Greek scientific institutions and museums: the Museum of Byzantine Culture in Thessaloniki, the National Research Foundation, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and numerous academics and researchers.
The sections into which this substantial yet elegant volume is divided are: the olive tree in antiquity; the olive tree in Byzantium and Christian worship; the olive tree in folklore and cultural anthropology; olive oil in art; the technology of olive oil production; and the Greek Olive Museum of Arkadi, Crete.
Special emphasis is placed throughout on folklore, which, through lived memory, preserves the symbolic essence of things as well as the traces of human presence in a place.
Myths and traditions, usually shaped by historical reality, and their continuity, move lightly through the pages of the book.
The special significance of the olive tree is tied to its important role in every aspect of it, as tree, fruit, trunk, oil, leaves…
