The Mediterranean civilization is best represented by the olive tree, whose history is a mixture of myths, reality, traditions, and folklore. Legend has it that goddess Athena brought the olive tree to Attica after winning a competition with Poseidon for the citizens’ patronage. Poseidon struck the Sacred Rock of Acropolis, and water sprang up, but Athena, taking up the challenge, struck the Rock, and the first olive tree bloomed. The citizens chose her gift because they considered it a symbol of peace and wisdom. Athena was often depicted wearing an olive wreath on her helmet and holding an amphora of olive oil or an olive branch on the city’s coins.
In the Mediterranean, the olive tree is also a symbol of peace. After a series of bloody wars, Hannibal advised the Carthaginians to sue for peace with Scipio on ships wreathed in olive branches. Even in modern times, the American astronauts who landed on the moon put up a commemorative plaque in July 1969 depicting a golden olive branch as a symbol of peace.
The olive tree has significant religious symbolism as well. According to the biblical flood narrative, a dove brought an olive branch to Noah, symbolizing the end of divine wrath. The Romans showed devotion to their gods by adorning their statues with olive leaves. Even today, on Palm Sunday, Orthodox Christians decorate their homes with blessed olive branches to protect their families throughout the year, while olive oil plays a crucial role in many religious celebrations.
In the Roman provinces, the olive tree has always been a symbol of hope. The villagers in some regions of northern Italy believed that they could protect their fields from hail by putting olive leaves in the fireplace and holding a charred olive branch while praying for the disaster to stop.
Despite its positive connotations, the olive tree was not always considered a harbinger of good fortune. The Sibylline Books contained a prophecy that an olive tree would sink into the ground at the onset of war, with only its top visible.
The olive tree’s history spans thousands of years, with cultivation and use dating back to ancient civilizations. Although interest in olive cultivation waned at times, the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet reignited the spotlight on olive oil. The olive has been a symbol of peace, harmony, wisdom, and prosperity since ancient times. The Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all cultivated olives for their aromatic, medicinal, and dietary properties, and used olive oil in lamps and as a base for soap.
Archaeological evidence suggests that olive oil production began as early as the 5th millennium BC in Syria, Palestine, and Crete. The Code of Hammurabi, which dates back 4,500 years, included an entire chapter on laws governing the olive oil trade. In 500 BC, the Greeks brought the first olive trees to Sicily, Sardinia, and Calabria, and olive groves gradually spread throughout Italy.
