And as he still appeared to be in doubt;—Let us now, said Ulpian, go on to another kind of garland, which is called the στρούθιος; which Asclepiades mentions when he quotes the following passage, out of the Female Garland Sellers of Eubulus—
O happy woman, in your little houseAnd this garland is made of the flower called στρούθιον (soapwort), which is mentioned by Theophrastus, in the sixth [p. 1085] book of his Natural History, in these words—“The iris also blooms in the summer, and so does the flower called στρούθιον, 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 στρύθιον. There is also the πόθος.. 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 πόθος,, 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 colour-less blossom nearly white, which men use to strew on tombs. Eubulus also gives a list of other names of garlands—
To have a στρούθιος . . . . .1
Aegidion, carry now this garland for me,And then in the subsequent lines he says—
Ingeniously wrought of divers flowers,
Most tempting, and most beautiful, by Jove!
For who'd not wish to kiss the maid who bears it?
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.
