What legends are there about violets? A grand roundup of the latest legend stories
Violets are native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean coast. Their flowers are abundant, their colors vivid, their fragrance rich, their blooming period long, and their flower spikes also long. They are loved by many flower enthusiasts and are one of Europe's famous flowers. There is a beautiful legend about the violet, and below let us take a look together!
The flower language of violets
1. Violet flower language: eternal beauty and love; simplicity, virtue, the coolness of midsummer.
2. Blue violet: vigilance, loyalty, I will be forever loyal.
3. White violet: let us seize the opportunity for happiness.
4. Purple violet: falling in love with you in a dream, to me you are forever so beautiful.
The legend of the violet
According to Greek mythology, Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was bidding a reluctant farewell to her lover who was traveling far away. Her sparkling teardrops fell onto the soil, and in the spring of the following year they unexpectedly sprouted and grew branches, blooming into beautiful, fragrant flowers one after another. These are the violets.
In ancient Greece, the violet was a symbol of abundance and fertility. Athens used it as a mark on its emblem and flag. The Romans also valued violets highly and planted them among garlic and onions. The Cretans used them for skin care; they soaked violet flowers in goat's milk and used it as a lotion. The Anglo-Saxons, however, regarded it as a savior against evil spirits.
Violets are native to southern Europe and are extremely popular and deeply loved in European and American countries. Its flowers have a faint, delicate fragrance. Europeans use it to make perfume, which is highly favored by women. In the Middle Ages in southern Germany there was also a custom of hanging the first newly picked bunch of violets of the year high on a ship's mast to celebrate the return of spring to the world.
In the 19th century, people used violet leaves as a hot compress on the site of malignant tumors to relieve pain. In more recent times, violets made into sweet foods were used for chest-related problems. The perfume industry uses two kinds of violets - Parma and Victoria. Parma's scent is more popular, but the stronger Victoria variety gradually became popular in this century.
Napoleon and the violet
Napoleon had a special affection for violets. His followers used it as the emblem of the Bonapartist faction, believing it would bring success and happiness once again to this frustrated monarch.
On March 20, 1815, when violets bloomed for the first time in southern France, Napoleon successfully escaped from the island of Elba and returned among his admirers. As they welcomed him, they repeatedly shouted: "Welcome, father of the violet!" At this time, people held violets in their hands, wore violets in their hair, and all the shops, public buildings, and even every household were decorated with violets, hoping that this spring flower could bring them good luck and let Napoleon dominate Europe once again.
Unfortunately, this joy did not last long. On June 22, Napoleon was forced to announce his abdication and pass the throne to his young son, Napoleon II. However, this crown prince did not inherit his father's ambition and great enterprise. He did not accept the throne, but instead went to the court of his maternal grandfather——Emperor Francis I of Austria——to live a leisurely life, aloof from the world.
After losing the throne, in the week before he was escorted to Saint Helena, Napoleon suddenly recalled his old feelings for Josephine and went one last time to the Chateau de Malmaison to visit her grave, where he planted a clump of precious violets that bloom all year round.
After Napoleon's death, people found two things in the gold jewel box he never let out of his possession: two withered violets and a lock of light chestnut hair. The latter was the first hair of his beloved son, and the former was the token of love between him and Josephine.