GARLANDS. book of his Natural History, in these words—"The iris also blooms in the summer, and so does the flower called [Greek: strouthion], which is a very pretty flower to the eye, but destitute of scent." Galene of Smyrna also speaks of the same flower, under the name of [Greek: strythion].
There is also the [Greek: pothos]. There is a certain kind of garland with this name, as Nicander the Colophonian tells us in his treatise on Words. And this, too, perhaps is so named as being made of the flower called [Greek: pothos], which the same Theophrastus mentions in the sixth book of his Natural History, where he writes thus—"There are other flowers which bloom chiefly in the summer,—the lychnis, the flower of Jove, the lily, the iphyum, the Phrygian amaracus, and also the plant called pothus, of which there are two kinds, one bearing a flower like the hyacinth, but the other produces a colourless blossom nearly white, which men use to strew on tombs.
Eubulus also gives a list of other names of garlands—
Ægidion, carry now this garland for me,
Ingeniously wrought of divers flowers,
Most tempting, and most beautiful, by Jove!
For who'd not wish to kiss the maid who bears it?
And then in the subsequent lines he says—
A. Perhaps you want some garlands. Will you have them
Of ground thyme, or of myrtle, or of flowers
Such as I show you here in bloom.
B. I'll have
These myrtle ones. You may sell all the others,
But always keep the myrtle wreaths for me.
25. There is the philyrinus also. Xenarchus, in his Soldier, says—
For the boy wore a garland on his brow
Of delicate leafy linden ([Greek: philyra]).
Some garlands also are called [Greek: heliktoi], as they are even to this day among the Alexandrians. And Chæremon the tragic poet mentions them in his Bacchus, saying—
The triple folds of the [Greek: heliktoi] garlands,
Made up of ivy and narcissus.
But concerning the evergreen garlands in Egypt, Hellanicus, in his History of Egypt, writes as follows—"There is a city on the banks of the river, named Tindium. This is a place where many gods are assembled, and in the middle of the city there is a sacred temple of great size made of marble, and the doors are marble. And within the temple there are
