Without herbs there would be chaos and darkness – no delicious meals, aromatic and therapeutic teas or potions. As herbs bring in a festival of smells and flavours to our senses and the magic happens. And, as it is widely known, a sense of smell can produce long lasting memories – we bet most of you can recall smells coming from their childhood.
Aromatic herbs often have various hypothetical and often mythical etymologies. For example mint is supposedly named after a nymph, who fell in love with Hades. Apparently the etymology here is from Greek. Another spectacular plant – sage, is believed to have its name from the same root as ‘safe’ due to its healing properties. And then there comes the star that steals the show – basil.
A number of myths are related to this versatile herb. It is considered a royal plant and a symbol of poverty at the same time; both a poison and a cure; even born on the True Cross and transformed into a monster.
The etymology of basil takes us back to the ancient Greek basileus, that means ‘king’. The relationship between the herb and royalty still remains unclear though. It might be because kings used it in medicines, parfumes and baths. There is a legend about St. Helena, mother of Constantine saying she was led to the True Cross by following a trail of basil.
Another myth connects basil with the basilisk – a tiny, highly venomous serpent. And the etymology suggestively takes after another Greek word basilikon (phyton). According to the legend, the basiliskos aka “little king” from Greek, had a crown-shaped mark on its head and could freeze creatures with its gaze and melt shrubs with its poison.
The word entered the English language circa 15th century, through the French basilic, from Medieval Latin basilicum. To firstly appear in a translation of a book on agriculture by the Roman writer Palladius Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus, Opus agriculturae, also known as De re rustica. The herb followed the word, introduced in England circa 16th century and later the British brought it to North America.
And today our king of herbs is ruling the world in its variations, sweet basil with white flowers, Thai basil with purple ones, lemon basil with strong lemon scent, and just to name some other like cinnamon basil, dark opal and spicy bush basil.
