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The narcissus, a flower that has always inspired poetry and charm. For the Greeks it was an extreme symbol of beauty, for the Persians, however, it represents the eyes.
Mediterranean and mythical origins
The genus Narcissus has several species within it, which can range very wide but which should have the Mediterranean as its epicenter. Right on the coasts of the legendary sea, these flowers have spread more and more in the rest of the world, succeeding subsequently in touching even China and the USA. Always loved, narcissus bulbs were found even in the tomb of Ramses II, the legendary pharaoh who could not give up their beauty even when he was dead.
These flowers are linked precisely to this latter characteristic, so much so that the myth of their birth rests its foundations precisely on the exaggerated beauty. According to the Greeks, in fact, Narcissus was originally a boy with incredible beauty who, however, did not want to indulge himself in any man or woman and for this he was punished by the gods. The young man observed himself by a body of water and, bewitched by his own image, understood that he was in love with himself and that he could never fully satisfy his love, he killed himself. From the earth bathed with his blood, the narcissus was born.
The eyes of poetry
Although they are abundantly present both in the Anglo-Saxon and in the Chinese world, the daffodils are without a shadow of a doubt among the most loved flowers of the Arab-Persian literature, so much so as to be mentioned by every great poet of his. Always associated with Nowruzand spring, however, they became large once associated with the eyes, part of the body historically much appreciated in this part of the world.
The most famous of these authors is certainly Abu Nuwas, legendary poet who lived between the VII and VIII in Baghdad, who describes these flowers as: “eyes of silver with pupils of molten gold united with an emerald stalk”. Another great poet to mention them is the Indian Mirza Ghalib, who stated that: “Allah has given the eye of the narcissus the power to see”; moreover, it is impossible not to mention the legendary Rumi who treated it several times. According to a popular tradition, even the prophet Muhammad found himself praising this flower, claiming that possessing it is as much a cure for the soul as bread is for the body.
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