Alyssa Lopes & Natalie Nguyen
318 2-9-12
Greek Essay
In ancient Greece the people would wear crowns made of laurel leaves called laurel leaf crowns ,the leaves of Daphne and laurel wreaths in Ancient Greece.
The crown pictured here is made of pure gold shaped like laurel leavesand in Greece and Ancient Rome there was a tradition of stamping laurel wreath on coins.Most crowns were made of interlocking branches and laurel leaves in a shape of horseshoe shape.
In Greek mythology Apollo the sun god is represented wearing one of these crowns. The crown also represented winners of their Olympic games. They were awarded this crown to symbol their victory, pride, and honor.
One story in Greek mythologyis aboutApollo and Daphne. Apollo was shot with one of Cupid’s love arrows and he noticed the beautiful Daphne and fell in love with her. He chased her pleading and begging for her to be his. Daphne prayed to destroy her beauty because she didn’t want to be with Apollo. She was turned into a laurel tree. Apollo kissed and hugged the tree and said, “Thou shalt be my tree.”He wove the leaves and branches into a crown and wore the laurel leaf crown to symbolize his love for her.
The laurel wreath has since antiquity been regarded as a powerful symbol of victory not only have they been awarded in Olympics but also for the pan-Hellenic festival the pythian games. These games were sacred to Apollo. The roman empire was greedy for glory, when would come home Persia in triumph they would be pulled by a gold chariot by white horses wearing a laurel wreath, in Greece emperors did wear laurel wreaths on their while kings and queens wore crowns, these laurel wreaths were so popular back then that they would even been put on ancient roman architecture.
Where we can find the laurel wreaths today is anywhere! In Maryland (USA) they have a city called the city of laurel there are times when Olympic winners were awarded a laurel wreath you can also find them in weddings, peace emblems, coins and even funerals they are also found on Olympic medals and even on armed forces have badges of the laurel wreaths on them, the navy also adopted the sign of the laurel wreath to symbol power and success. The laurel leaf has also been shown in more and more gardens as a laurel bush or tree.
