Victor HUGO wrote, "In the early days, God created woman and created a rose for her pleasure." Although countless types of flowers are known today, many still consider the rose to be one of the most beautiful. It is believed that it was transferred from Iran to Babylon, where there are special rose gardens, to the famous Semiramis gardens, thus becoming a symbol of the power of the state.
Rose was also highly valued by the Romans. And it was a symbol of love for them. Satisfied with the "queen of flowers", they often cut fruit and olives to plant roses. Each of its mansions was surrounded by hundreds of rose bushes. They believed that the scent of roses protected a man from drunkenness. Since the wreaths of roses were too heavy to wear, they hung the rose petals on a rope to decorate their foreheads, arms, and necks. Roses were sprinkled on the tables where they ate, and wine jugs were decorated with rose wreaths.
Roses were known and loved in ancient Greece. The first public garden in Athens was founded by Epicurus in 306 BC as he wanted to pluck a rose flower every day. The ancient Greeks offered a rose at the altar to Aphrodite, the goddess of female beauty, love and fertility, while the nuns of Aphrodite wore wreaths of white roses at religious ceremonies, and their paths were sprinkled with roses.
According to mythology, the origin of the red rose is related to the death of the handsome young shepherd Adonis, whom Aphrodite fell in love with. According to tradition, he was mortally wounded by a boar and Aphrodite came to his aid. However, the goddess had to crawl through a dense plan of roses, and then blood gushed out of her injured body and painted all the white roses around her red.
Rose cult was raised to the highest level in the Roman Empire. Rose flower wreath was used in all cases. The military leaders were decorated, the youth entered the battle with a wreath on their heads, the winner was given rose flowers, and the winner's weapon was dedicated to the flower. Later, the rose flower became a symbol of joy, pleasure and love.