Why are we called the gift of oil?
Our name owes its origin to a legendary tale from Greek mythology….....
The olive tree was the sacred tree of the goddess Athene and Athens, the capital of Greece was in time to take its name from her.
Zeus, the God of the Gods, had decreed that the great city should be given to the god who offered the most valued invention to it's citizens. Poseidon stepped in and offered them the horse.Not to be outdone, Athene with all of her strength, slammed her spear into the foundations of the Acropolis and a beautiful olive tree rose from the crack created.She announced that this new to the world tree would provide not only nutritional and healthy food but fuel for illumination and medicine for healing too.
Zeus declared the wondrous olive tree the winner, accepted "the gift of oil" on behalf of the people from Athene, awarded her the city and went on to name it after her too!