Saffron-dressed, Saffron-veiled.
Saffron is a rare and worthy spice, born of a purple crocus, it is the tiny red stamen that sits in the middle of the bloom. The stem is used in cooking, where it imparts a rich depth, and in dyeing fabric, where it blossoms into a warm yellow. A skilled master can coax orange or a dusky red out of the spice.
It is saffron that traditionally colors the monk’s robes in Buddhism and some sects of Hinduism.
And in Greece it was Eos, the Dawn, who wore the bright yellow of saffron the most. It describes her horse, her throne, her dress, and even her very countenance.
But it was not solely applied to her.
It eventually applied to many deities, including Hekate, Artemis’ entourage, and various beauties of the mortal kind. Hesiod gave the epithet to the nymph Telesto, and to Enyo. Ariadne’s hair was said to be saffron-colored, and the daughters of Keleos who helped Demeter in her grief were also saffron-haired. Iphigeneia wears it before her sacrifice. Medea wears Venus’ krokopeplos. Even Helen, troublesome beauty, comes from Mycenae with her crocus-bordered veil, which was a gift from Leda. Antigone wore the yellow veil until the days of tragedy which overwhelmed her family.
The crocus was also associated with the Erinyes. But the Muses also wore it. As did Dionysos, and while occasionally one finds descriptions of men wearing the color, it was largely associated with women and girls.
Homer tells us that a carpet of crocus bloomed underneath Hera and Zeus when they consummated their marriage. For him, the crosus is one of those plants that grows where the Gods reside, where they have blessed the land, and is born by those who the Gods have blessed.
Ovid tells us that Crocus was transformed into the flower. Another account has Crocus being the beloved of Mercury, fatally wounded in a discus competition, and memorialized by the messenger God.
In Thera, a Minoan fresco seems to show women collecting saffron stamens and offering them to a goddess. In Athens, the peploi offered to Athena were sometimes dyed with saffron. And the dye was also considered fortunate as a color for the bridal veil. This was likely because then, as now, saffron was expensive. A veil dyed with saffron was a sign of the family’s wealth.
It seems that the wearing of a saffron robe may have had something to do with the initiatory rites of young girls and women on their way to become brides, but it is hard to specify without a lot more time for study.
In our personal practice we have many advantages. Turmeric or safflower can replicate the color of saffron for a much easier price, and the internet makes buying saffron itself much more affordable (though $20 US/ounce is as cheap as I can find it!) In cooking, recipes do not call for large amounts of the stems.
Dyeing with it, however, is expensive and time-consuming. In itself, it could make for a grand devotional offering to one of the many Gods mentioned above.
And of course, there are so many recipes that call for it. One can make a tisane from saffron. There’s poached pears, pastries, and even steak can be made with saffron. Many of these would make suitable offerings to the Gods who wear the saffron-veil.
Cleland, Liza, et al. Greek and Roman Dress from A to Z. Routledge, 2007.
Dodd, David and Christopher Faraone. Initiation in Ancient Greek Rituals and Narratives: New Critical Perspectives. Routledge, 2013.
Giesecke, Annette. The Mythology of Plants: Botanical Lore from Ancient Greece and Rome, Getty, 2014.
Hard, Robin. The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology. Routledge, 2003.
Hehn, Victor. Cultivated Plants and Domesticated Animals in their Migration from Asia to Europe: Historico-linguistic studies. London, 1885. John Benjamins, 1976.
Llewellyn-Jones, Lloyd. Aphrodite’s Tortoise: The Veiled Woman of Ancient Greece. Classical Press, 2003.
March, Jenny. The Penguin Book of Classical Myths. Penguin UK, 2008.
Still, Carly. “Dying for Color,” The Cloisters Museum and Garden. http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/visit-the-cloisters/in-season/2015/dyeing-for-color
De Morgan, Evelyn. “Eos” 1895, oil on canvas, in the Columbus Museum of Art. From Wikicommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eos.jpg
Fresco of Saffron Gatherers, Akrotiri, Santorini, Greece. c. 1600 BCE. From Wikicommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saffron_gatherersSantorini-3.jpg
The Yajna ritual with fire diety facing the Ganges, a group puja, Rhishikesh, India. By Sahil Travayegeur, May 2008. Via Wikicommons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:(An)_aarti_ritual_near_ganga_rhishikesh-India_2008.jpg
(the orange-yellow robes, and the bright orange the Sadhu is wearing are all dyed with saffron.)
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