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Tree cult
(395 words)

[German version]

In Greece and  Italy, a particular tree was often closely connected with a deity or a hero: examples are the oracular oak of Zeus at Dodona (Hom. Il. 16,233-235), and Athena's sacred olive tree on the Acropolis, on which the fate of the city was supposed to depend (Hdt. 8,55). Others are the monk's pepper tree of Hera on Samos (Paus. 7,4,4), the ficus Ruminalis, which stood on the Forum as a monument to the wolf that fostered Romulus and Remus (Plin. HN. 15,77), and Apollo's bay tree, which was supposed to have been the result of the metamorphosis of the nymph Daphne [2]. The relat…

Cite this page
Baudy, Gerhard (Constance), “Tree cult”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e214150>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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