Mint - How Mint Became the Herb of Hospitality

Mint. That name conjures up the memory of commercials watched when I was a child. Wrigley's Spearmint Gum, Double Mint Gum - "that's the state'mint' of the great mint, double mint gum." Advertising jingles aside, mint is used to flavor mouthwashes, toothpastes, candy canes, ice creams and desserts. It is also used as a tea to calm and settle the tummy.

Mint is often made popular with children as they study a well-known myth about Hades, the God of the Underworld, falling in love with a nymph named Menthe. His wife, in a not surprising jealous rage, trampled Menthe under her feet. Hades changed her into a plant which gives off a wondrous scent when it is crushed.

Sometime after that sad event, mint gained its reputation as the herb of hospitality from another story in Roman/Greek Mythology. The story was written by Ovid, a Roman poet, and recorded in Metamorphoses, Book VIII, lines 611-724.

The story is centered around a couple named Philemon and Baucis. It is a beautiful love story of devotion: Long ago, two strangers were walking through a village. At one thousand homes the strangers asked for aid. At one thousand homes, the villagers ignored them and offered neither food nor drink. Finally an old couple, Philemon and Baucis, offered them a meal. The old ones were not prepared for the visit, but did their best to hurry through the preparations while keeping their guests engaged in happy conversation. Philemon pulled out a bench, and Baucis threw a blanket over it to make it more comfortable. There was a hanging bucket full of water which the guests were invited to use to refresh themselves with before dinner. The table legs were leveled with a handy broken pot, and before she set it, Baucis wiped the surface with fresh mint. A mattress of soft sedges on the floor was covered with their best cloths, which were quite worn, but transformed the rushes into a comfortable couch.

The first course consisted of black and green olives, cherries, and wine as well as radishes, endives, and cheese. The second course favored the strangers with nuts, figs, dates, plums apples and grapes. (This list shows you how hard-working and truly prepared the couple was.) The strangers turned out to be the gods Zeus and Hermes in disguise. They told Philemon and Baucis to follow them up a hill, and they did so. When they turned around, their village was gone and all that remained was their home which was transformed into a temple. Then the Gods said to them, "Ask of us, virtuous old man, and you, wife, worthy of a virtuous husband, what you wish." All they asked for was to live out the remainder of their days caring for the temple, and that they could die in the same hour so they would never have to live without each other. Their wish was granted. When they were very old, and as they stood discussing death, they were turned into two trees, close together.

And that is how mint became the symbol of hospitality.

Diana is a master gardener, family herbalist, and essential oil enthusiast. Learning, and implementing knowledge is a joy. Sharing knowledge brings satisfaction.

Ignorance is far more costly than preparation.
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