In the well-known ancient myth about how the Athenians chose their patron deity, the Greek goddess Athena won the sympathy of the city’s people by offering them the olive tree as a gift. This myth, placing the origin of the olive tree in the hands of the goddess of wisdom sometime in a very distant past, is but one of many stories about how important the olive tree is for the Greeks and the Mediterranean in general, from Palestine to Portugal and Tunis to Trieste. For example, on the island of Crete, the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the production of olive oil dates back to the Minoan kingdoms (i.e. around 4,000 years ago); some of the island’s olive groves are actually thousands of years old, having grown under the care of countless generations of Cretans.
A wonderful visual journey through the olive groves of Crete full of memories, emotion, and Greek mentality. "The Olive Tree Will Always Be Here" is the title of the short film, which shows the importance of olive for the Greeks with aesthetic perfection, power and sensitivity. Magical cinematic images from an autumnal Crete and people from a different era.
~Made by Indigo View for a Greek company exporting olive and olive oil products
