Hey dear community, first of all I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hope you had a day full of positive experiences! In this post, I would like to talk a little about the symbolism and mythology of a plant and hope you can learn new things.
This wonderful flower also bears the name greater knapweed or scientifically Centaurea and the name can be traced back to the creature Centaur which can also be regarded as a mixture of a horse and humans in Greek mythology and here the name should probably refer specifically to the Centaur Chiron. The centaurea already has a long history behind it and was also very much appreciated in ancient cultures for its medicinal properties and it is assumed that therefore also comes the connection to Chiron, which was known for its healing abilities and according to a legend he used some parts of the plant to make an ointment from which he used to heal a wound after he was hit by Heracles with an arrow. It is not clear whether Hercules fired the arrow accidentally or with purpose on him, but he suffered a lot and with this ointment he could not completely defeat the pain but alleviate it and later and Chiron is said to have once healed the hero Achilles during a battle with the plant and there are more legends about it. The well-known Roman scholar Pliny the elder wrote about the greater knapweed and dealt with the medicinal properties and it was often considered a magical plant with supernatural abilities around which a great symbolic meaning was created and also in the Middle Ages it was appreciated for the medicinal properties and appears in many ancient writings. It is also an important source of food for insects and the flowers that appears from about May are an important source of pollen and nectar and you can find numerous insects there and it is recommended for everyone who is looking for an easy-care plant that is also extremely useful for insects. As always, I would like to mention at the end that in the event of illness, you always have to ask your doctor or pharmacist about the right medicine and possible side effects in order to avoid complications!
Thank you for the visit and I hope you could learn something new about mythology! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.