by P. Faure
From the Minoan era, in the middle of the
second millennium BC, and still today, Crete
has been famous for the variety and wealth of its flora and its aromatic herbs,
in particular. The most celebrated among them, known especially for their
healing properties, are the ladanos, or labdanum, of the Cistus Creticus
Boissieri genus, called po-ni-ki-jo by the Mycenaeans; and the dictamos, a
marjoram, known in Botany as Origanum Dictamnus. This plant, being an attribute
of the goddesses Dictyna and Artemis Vritomartys and of god Eros, was also
called «theangelis» (= gods' messager) after the role Eros usually has played
among the other deities.
