WHAT DID THE GREEKS GIVE US?

Term Paper Title	WHAT DID THE GREEKS GIVE US?
# of Words	821
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.28

WHAT DID THE GREEKS GIVE US?

�I am daughter of the sun...I am the olive tree, the blessed one."  K. Palamas.

The olive tree is inevitably linked with Greek history, culture and life, as is olive oil, the product of its fruit.  Greeks have always considered the olive tree and its fruit as a gift from the gods.  Homer referred to olive oil as "liquid gold."

Since ancient times, olive oil has been a central feature of Greek life.  The origins of the olive tree cultivation are lost in prehistory.  Special urns and storage pits unearthed among the ruins of Knossos in Crete indicate that in 2000 B.C. the ancient people of the region utilized olive oil and olives pretty much the same way as their descendants do today.  Greek mythology presents it as a sacred tree blessed by Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom.

Among Aristotle�s works, the �Antenaeon Politeia� also illustrates the importance of olive oil in ancient Greek life. For the ancient Greeks, the olive tree represented, among other things, power and peace:  power because of its longevity and its ability to flourish on the most barren terrain and peace because of its solitary tranquility.  For this reason, the winners of the ancient Olympic Games, who represented the same ideals of strength and peace, were awarded a wreath made from a branch of wild olive.

Today Greece is the world's most important exporter of superior olive oil. The love and high esteem of the Greek olive grower for the olive tree is passed on from generation to generation and from family to family. With the birth of a child an olive tree is planted which will grow and develop along with the child. When the child starts school at the age of six, the olive tree is ready to produce its fruit. The blessed tree grows up with the family, only it will have a much longer life and will still be around to be tended by the next generation, and the one after that.  Each year, it yields its annual crop of olives in return for the labor and love expended on it.

Those interested in healthy living have rediscovered olive oil.  In recent decades the medical value of pure olive oil has once again come to the foreground.  Modern medicine admires the scientific expertise of ancient medical practices.  Today�s doctors and dieticians are drawing our attention to the need to include olive oil in our daily diets, not only as a basic nutritional food, but also for preventive an...

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