Honey In Mythologies

HONEY, honey cake and honey drinks played an important part in all mythologies. Ambrosia (honey and milk) was the food of the Greek and Roman gods and the celestial Nectar, the drink of Mount Olympus. The nectar of the gods, compounded of fermented honey and spices, was considered a delicious and salubrious drink and was poured by Hebe and Ganymede, the cupbearers of Zeus. It was reputed to impart a divine bloom, beauty and vigor to those who were so fortunate as to obtain it. Nectar possessed wondrous life-giving properties, the power to prevent decay and corruption and secure immortality.

Ambrosia, according to Porphyry (The Cave of the Nymphs), was nine times as nourishing as honey. Nectar was really mead. Plato mentions (Symp., p. 203), how Poros fell asleep in the garden of Zeus, drunk not with wine but with nectar be-cause wine "was not yet." Plutarch also remarks (Symp. IV. 6.) that mead was used as a libation before wine appeared and adds, "even now, those barbarians who do not drink wine, drink mead." Martial compared the nectar of the gods to Falernian wine, mixed with Attic honey.

Zeus, the omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent father of the gods, was brought up on honey. (Fig. 5.) According to the legend, the father of Zeus, Cronos, one of the Titans, married his own sister, Rhea. Cronos ate his children as soon as they were born because it was presaged that one of his offspring would replace him in the heavenly kingdom. Cronos had already devoured the five elder children. Zeus, the sixth and most beautiful of them, was hidden by his mother after his birth in an almost inaccessible grotto in Mt. Ida, on the island of Crete. Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling bands, which looked like a new-born child, and gave it to Cronos, who swallowed it, thinking that it was his son. The daughters of the King, the nymphs Melitta (the bee) and Amalthea (the goat), nursed Zeus on honey and milk. When Zeus grew up he dethroned his father after a ten years' war and became the ruler of Mt. Olympus. The number of legendary tales associating Zeus with bees and honey are in-finite. Homer gave Zeus the epithet, Essenos, the Bee King. On many ancient Greek coins there is a head of Zeus and on the reverse side, a bee. (Fig. 6.) Honey was considered a heavenly gift. Zeus rained honey (honeydew) which had the power to raise the dead. Plutarch called honey the saliva of the stars (saliva siderum).

The Hindus believed that the heaven-born honey which fell on the leaves and grass sweetened even the milk of cows and goats. Kalidasa in the "Hero and Nymph» exclaims:

"Delightful words! they fell like drops of nectar,
No wonder nectar from the moon should flow."

In Hindu mythology the moon had the epithet, Madhukara, honey-giver.

Artemis, the Moon-goddess, was often figured in the shape of a bee. It was an ancient Germanic belief that the moon was supposed to be a huge cup, filled with honey and mead; and the stars were swarms of bees, whose honey fell to the earth upon the oak and sweet ash. The honeydew which settled over the mighty sacred ash, Ygdrasil (representing the tree of the Universe), nourished the bees. The well of Ymir, the source of all wisdom, was under this tree and Odin pawned one of his eyes to obtain a drink from it.

The sweet ash which was believed to feed the bees with honey-dew had noteworthy significance in all mythologies. The word ash (in Latin melia, mel = honey) is derived from the Norse aska, meaning, man. Odin fashioned the first man from this tree. Pliny mentioned that all evil creatures have a fear of the ash and that serpents would rather pass through fire than over its leaves. Mothers used to place the cradles of their infants under an ash tree to protect them from harm. The Finnish shepherds planted an ash stick on the pasture to protect their cattle and the Scotch Highlanders placed a piece of the wood over their cow stables to keep the witches from contaminating the milk. Achilles used an ashen spear and Cupid made his arrows from ash.

The Bushmen call honey moon's water. When the game is shot and does not die, or even arises, they believe it is due to the magic effect of moon's water. The Bushmen have a special drum called goin-goin and while they are beating it they dance and pray that the bees may become abundant and bring home honey, so that their women and children will not go hungry.

There is much evidence in all mythologies of how fond the gods were of honey. Ovid relates in Metamorphosis that Jupiter and Mercury were traveling through Phrygia as plain mortals and no one would admit them, except two charitable souls living in a modest tent, who offered them the food which they most desired, namely, honey, milk and fruit.

Eros (Amor) was often pictured as a honey-thief. Anacreon, the Greek bard (fifth century B.C.), has written an immortal song, Eros, the honey-thief. Theocritus (third century B.C.) transcribed the same poem, Love stealing honey. Lucas Cranach, the distinguished early sixteenth century painter, composed no less than nine pictures of Amor as a honey-thief. (Plate XII.) Albrecht Dürer made the drawing of his Honey-Thief in 15 14. (Plate XI I I.) Many antique gems depict Amor in association with honey. One of them represents Amor floating over waves with spread sails on a honey jar on which there is the image of a bee. (Fig. 7.) On another gem Amor, to protect the bees, chases some birds from a tree. (Fig. 8.) Amor is supposed to have dipped his arrows into honey to produce blissful love. He was often called metaphorically the honey-bird, with "eyes and voice as sweet as honey." In the Idyl of Moschus, the Greek bucolic poet of Syracuse (200 B.C.), Venus thus describes the lost Cupid, whom she is trying to find: "The child is most notable; thou couldst tell him among twenty others; his skin is not white but flame colored; his eyes are keen and burning; an evil heart and a honeyed tongue has he, for his speech and mind are at variance. Like honey is his voice but his heart of gall; all tameless is he and deceitful, the truth is not in him, a wily brat and cruel in his pastime."

It is interesting that Kama, the Hindu god of love, is also closely associated with honey and bees. Kama rides on a bee * and FIG. 8. Roman gem. the string of his bow consists of a chain of Amor protecting the bees, symbolizing the sweetness and sting of love. (Fig. 9.) (Honey and the sting of the bee are contrasted as often as roses and thorns.) Kalidasa, the Hindu poet, refers to Kama and his bow. For instance, in The Birth of the War-God, Kama:

"Weaves a string of bees with deft invention
To speed the missile when the bow is bent."

Then again in the Shakuntala:
"A stalwart soldier comes, the spring,
Who bears the bow of Love;
And on that bow, the lustrous string Is made of bees...."

Possibly the names of the two gods, Amor and Kama, were derived from the same root, amo, I love.

The Hindus, Greeks, Romans and all Slavic races had gods for bees and honey. There were only a few gods in mythologies to whom honey sacrifices were not offered. Zeus, Ceres, her daughter, honied Proserpina, Apollo, Dionysus, Aphrodite, even Hecate of Hades were some of the gods to whom frequent honey offerings were brought. Dionysus was also worshiped as a honey-god. His priestesses carried in their hands the thyrsos, a cane with a crown of ivy. Euripides comments, "the ivy wands distilled from all their tops rich store of honey."

"And as they pass, through every plain
Flows milk, flows wine, the nectar'd honey flows,
And round each soft gale Syrian odors throws."

Virgil, in Georgics I, refers to the honey sacrifices brought to Ceres: "For thee let all the rural youths adore Ceres; to whom mix thou the honeycomb with milk and gentle wine."

In one of his Elegies, Tibullus describes the honey offerings to the household gods:

"Or dulcet cakes himself the farmer paid,
While his fair daughter brought with her from home
The luscious offering of a honeycomb."

Empedocles (490–430 B.C.) mentions the honey sacrifices to Aphrodite:

"And holy offerings of unmixed myrrh,
And sweetly smelling frankincense; and many
A pure libation of fresh golden honey
They pour'd along the floor."

According to the legend, Dedalus, the divine artist and the builder of the famous Cretan labyrinth, made a honeycomb for Aphrodite from the purest gold which looked so natural that it was confused with a real one. (Diodorus Siculus IV. 78.)

Pan, the god of shepherds, Priapus, the god of gardens, and the Nymphs were considered the protectors of the bees and they had also their share of honey offerings. In one of the Idyls of Theocritus, the shepherd professes: "And I will set out eight bowls of milk for Pan and eight bowls, full of the richest honey-combs."

Many priestesses and nymphs, according to Greek mythology, gained their inspiration from honey intoxicants under the influence of which "they raved in holy frenzy." Horace refers to it in the "Ode to Bacchus":

"Give me to sing, by thee inspir'd,
Thy priestesses to madness fir'd:
Fountains of wine shall pour along,
And, melting from the hollow tree,
The golden treasures of the bee,
And streams of milk shall fill the song."

Homer in the "Hymn to Mercury" comments on the prophetic powers with which the priestesses were endowed by indulging in honey drinks:

"From these I have learned true
Vaticinations of remotest things
My father cared not. Whilst they search out dooms,
They sit apart and feed on honey-combs.
Drunk with divine enthusiasm, and utter
With earnest willingness the truth they know,
But, if deprived of that sweet food, they mutter
All plausible delusions;—these to you
I give;—if you inquire, they will not stutter;
Delight your own soul with them;—any man
You would instruct may profit if he can."

The hypnotic effect of honey is frequently mentioned in mythology. Orpheus sang that if anyone fell asleep after eating honey it was difficult to awaken him. Zeus, before he attacked his father, put him asleep with a honey drink:

"When prostrate 'neath the lofty oaks you see him
Lie drunken with the work of murmuring bees,
Then bind him...."

Porphyry (De antr. nymph. 7)

Virgil relates that when his hero Aeneas descended to Hades, he flung a soporific honey cake to Cerberus and that the creature "in a mad rage opened his three mouths and snatched the offered morsel, relaxing his monstrous limbs, extending at vast length all over the cave." Three times each year honey sacrifices were offered to Pluto, the god of the underworld. The Romans had divers names for their religious places. One was called scrobiculus. It consisted of a pit containing an altar on which they poured the blood of a slain beast tempered with honey as a sacrifice to the infernal deity. To Bona Dea (the Earth), a mixture of milk and honey was offered and the container in which it was kept was called the honey-vessel. Chaucer in The Knight's Tale:

"With vessels in her hand of gold full fine,
All full of Hony, Milk, Blood and Wine."

Plutarch mentions (Symp. 5) that the Athenians offered no wine to their gods but only water, sweetened with honey.

To the Fates who spin the thread of human destiny, honey was also offered. The Spartan women believed that the Fates, though invisible, frequently visited a newborn child, especially on the third or fifth night after birth. They left the doors of the house open on these nights and set on the table bread, honey and water to win the favor of the Fates.

The use of honey cake as a sacrificial offering was universal in all mythologies. In Egypt the sacred bull Apis and the sacred crocodile of Thebes were fed on honey cakes. It was an ancient custom in Egypt to consult in all perplexing situations the sacred bull at the oracle of Memphis. Food was offered to Apis; if this was accepted, it was considered a favorable sign, if refused, it was an indication of ill-omen. As an inducement, to tickle the palate of Apis, the food was mixed with honey to secure a propitious ruling.

Among the Greeks, Romans, the Germanic and Slavic races sacrificial offering of honey cake was an established and favorite ceremony.

In the Rig-Veda honey was a super-eminent subject. Vishnu, Indra and Krishna were all called Madhava, honey-born. The two demigods, Aswins, who attended to the welfare of men, were the children of the Sun and the Moon, the givers of dawn, of a new day. They were pictured in a three-wheeled golden chariot, on which they carried honey. Many hymns were sung to the Aswins: "Harness your bounty-shedding golden chariot with swift horses, refresh our strength with trickling honey, bring prosperity to our people and to our cattle. Animate us, prolong our existence, bring us vigor, wipe out our sins, destroy our foes and be always with us." The Hindus prayed at daybreak to the Aswins, the creators of a new day:

"Anoint me with the honey of the bee,
That I may speak forceful speech among men."

The Russians and all the Slays had honey-gods, and images of these deities were only seldom missing in their gardens.

Jovial ( Jove) feasts, carnal pleasures and boisterous revelries, characterized by overindulgence in food and intemperate drinking, were the daily amusement of the heathen deities. Without intoxicating beverages this could not be imagined. Wine, whisky, and beer did not exist in those days, and drinks made from honey were used instead.

Mead (derived from the Hindu word madhu, honey), the drink of the Norse gods, was the nectar of Mt. Olympus. Odin, the chief of the Norsemen, patron of wisdom, culture and heroes, visited Saga, the Goddess of History, and drank mead with her out of a golden goblet.

Odin was supposed to have originated in Scythia and to have subdued with his tribes the whole of Northern Europe. He later became the Anglo-Saxon Woden and the Wotan of the Niebelungen. Odin, after his birth, was exposed as a helpless child. He was stabbed and hung on a tree. Ymir freed him, healed his wounds and gave him some mead from the Wonder-Kettle of Oedroerir, which renewed his strength. But once Odin had tasted mead, he sacrificed his life to obtain the vessel. Odin gave the meal, which was put before him, to his wolves; mead alone was ample food and drink for him.

Odin and all his followers loved mead which they drank from their horns:

"Went there at times a fair maid round the board, upfilling the mead-horns,
Blush'd she with downcast eyne,—in the mirrowing shield her image,
Even as she blush'd too;—how it gladded the deep-drinking champions!"

Odin's principal pleasures were carnage, war, banquets, the ((celestial" boar and mead, which virgins served to him in the skulls of his enemies. It is singular that in Scandinavian languages the word "Skol" (skull) is used when they drink to the health of people. It, undoubtedly, originated from the legend of Odin.

"Their banquet is the mighty chine
Exhaustless, the stupendous boar;
Virgins of immortal line
Present the goblet foaming o'er;
Of heroes' skulls the goblet made
With figur'd deaths and snakes of gold inlaid."

Penrose thus opens the Carousal of Odin:

"Fill the honey'd bev'rage high,
Fill the skulls, 'tis Odin's cry!
Heard ye not the powerful call,
Thundering through the vaulted hall?
Fill the meath and spread the board,
Vassals of the grisly lord!
The feast begins, the skull goes round,
Laughter shouts—the shouts resound."

The Valkyries took the dead heroes to Valhalla, the slain warriors' Paradise, where under a golden roof they continued to live in celestial glory. From the udders of the goat, Heidrun, savory mead was supposed to flow; "From out her teats there runneth forth so much mead that she filleth therewith each day a huge drinking vessel and all are made drunken thereby." (Gudrun mixed her mead with the blood of her spouse.) The meth was inexhaustible, like the celestial boar, which was eaten by day and restored by night.

Alaric and Attila, the descendants of Odin, also favored mead.

"Bid him welcome, maiden; haste,
Let him our metheglin taste."

That it sometimes led to mischief we may see in the Elder Edda:

"For Asi sons the bowl I fill
With mead, the source of many an ill."

It is possible that Attila, the Scourge of. God, when he married the beautiful Ildiko (about 452 A.D.) and died from nose-bleed during the wedding festivities, had indulged in too much mead. When Ossian, the Gaelic poet (third century), referred to a liquor, "the joy and strength of shells," which so delighted his heroes, he probably meant mead. Shells were used by many ancient races as drinking vessels, e.g., the Caledonians. Their descendants in some parts of the Highlands still use them today. The expression "Feast of Shells" alludes to this custom.

In Nordic mythology, derived from the Eddas, honey is often mentioned. In Finnish mythology, the bees were implored to fly to the sun and moon, into the dwelling of the Creator; to carry honey and health in their mouths and on their wings to the good, and wounds of fire and iron to the wicked.