The history of rose plants seems to be as long as that of human beings; in fact roses might even be older than humans, if the apparent fossil evidence is correct. In a way, humans and roses have grown up together, so it’s no wonder why people all through history have cherished these flowers and included them in so many of their special occasions. People have admired their beauty and granted them special symbolism, and the meaning of roses has been entwined with humanity all through recorded history.
Roses certainly entered the myths of the world quite early on. Different types of roses have figured even in Hindu myths, where the rose occasionally rivals the more usual lotus flower. In Greek mythology, Chloris, the goddess of flowers, was said to have created the rose by turning a dead nymph into a flower and inviting all the gods to bestow gifts of beauty upon her. Rose plants came from a different source in Roman mythology, however. When the suitors of a young woman named Rodanthe became violent, the goddess Diana turned the woman into a rose, with the suitors as her thorns.
Actual cultivation of rose plants seems to have occurred first of all in China, perhaps five thousand or so years ago. But there are preserved wreaths that contain roses that have been found in some ancient Egyptian tombs and in ancient Crete as well. As far back as 1700 BCE people created frescoes on their walls that included pictures of roses. Rose bushes became so prized in the Roman world that peasants were made to grow them instead of food crops, to satisfy the excessive use of roses by the aristocracy.
People in European nations regard rose plants almost matter-of-factly, as an ordinary fact of life. But for several centuries, the plants seemed to have been forgotten, until the knights of the Crusades brought them back from the lands in which they had fought. Then the countries of Europe seemed to make up for lost time, adopting roses as the symbols of royal houses, and learning rose gardening with such enthusiasm that occasionally roses functioned as legal currency. Things have settled down since then, and roses have become as much beloved by ordinary people as they have often been by the aristocracy. As companions through history, human beings and roses have had a long, eventful partnership.
More articles