Throughout the centuries, the history of Mediterranean riverine cultures has been marked by a tree that has been cultivated, cherished, and almost worshiped, straddling the line between reality and legend: the olive tree and, naturally, its oil.
This intimate relationship is so ancient that, according to legend, an olive tree had already grown on Adam's tomb and appears in the story of the Great Flood. The dove returning to Noah's Ark carried an olive branch in its beak as a sign of the end of the storm that had ravaged the earth. Since then, the olive tree, together with the dove, has been a universal symbol of peace among peoples, a symbolism that has reached modern times and has been represented by renowned artists such as Picasso, with references even found in Virgil's Aeneid.
For Christianity, it is an almost sacred tree; we should not forget that Jesus entered Jerusalem amidst palms and olive branches, prayed in the Garden of Olives, and some versions of his Passion and death claim that the cross on which he died was made of this tree's wood.
As for Olive Oil, it was already used by the Jews in their anointings, a practice that was continued by Christians. In the Quran, the olive is described as a blessed tree, and its oil as light from light. In ancient Egypt, its cultivation dates back at least two thousand years BC, and according to mythology, the method for producing Olive Oil was devised by Isis, the wife of Osiris. This oil was also used as an ointment for preserving mummies, many of which have been found adorned with crowns made of olive branches.
Olive Oil in the Roman Empire and Ancient Greece
Andalusia, largely coinciding with the Roman province of Baetica, one of the richest and most fertile regions of the Roman Empire, was the land that supplied most of the Olive Oil consumed across its vast territory, resulting in huge quantities of this essential product in their diet and also as fuel for lighting. This is evidenced by the mountain of oil amphorae known as "Testaccio," formed by millions of these containers piled over more than 50 meters high. These remains were deposited over more than three hundred years, and the vast majority came from Baetica, although oil production reached Rome via the Greeks and Phoenicians, with the Romans eventually producing it on a large scale in their villas, rural estates where cereals and vines were also cultivated.
But Olive Oil had other uses in daily Roman life. Those who exercised in the baths would anoint their bodies with oil before training in the palestra or gym to protect themselves from the sun and hydrate. Afterwards, they cleaned themselves with a curved bronze instrument to remove sweat, oil, and dust. This mixture of impurities was highly valued and sold at high prices as it was believed to have medicinal properties.
Greek mythology also makes numerous references to the olive tree, even placing it at the origin of the city of Athens. It is said that control over a colony was desired simultaneously by Pallas Athena and Poseidon. To resolve the dispute, the gods of Olympus asked both to offer humanity a gift to determine who was worthy of ruling the contested province. Poseidon offered the horse as a powerful ally in war, while Pallas Athena made an olive tree sprout from the ground, whose oil would serve as food for humans, light, oil for ointments, and healing for wounds. The gods favored Pallas, in whose honor the city of Athens was founded.
Winners in the Olympic Games received a crown made of olive branches, specifically from the sacred olive of the Acropolis, and their bodies were anointed with Olive Oil. In the earliest Olympics, this prize was made of apple branches until Pausanias, after consulting the Delphi oracle, ordered the use of wild olive branches. The plant was so valued that laws protected it and restricted its use under severe penalties. Anyone daring to cut an olive tree near the Acropolis, even if they owned it, could have all their belongings confiscated or be exiled. Oil merchants even built a temple in Delos in honor of the olive tree and a statue of Hercules Olivarius, as it was believed that children of the gods were born under its branches and it was customary for pregnant women to sleep beneath olive trees to ensure a safe pregnancy and facilitate childbirth.
In Greece, the olive tree was also highly valued for its wood, used for many priestly instruments, statues of gods, and royal scepters, as both the tree and its wood were considered immortal due to their ability to regrow after being cut. Aristotle himself reportedly liked to be anointed with Olive Oil before his speeches.
As can be seen, in antiquity, the olive tree was treated as a tree with almost divine properties, symbolizing immortality and life, victory, fertility, and peace, with its origin attributed to the gods, and its branches representing tolerance among peoples.
