Guest Author - Susan Taylor
There is a Greek legend about how the name "Orchid" came about. It seems that there was a youth named Orchis who was the son of a nymph and a satyr. He was attending a festival of Bacchus, the God of Wine, one evening and indulged too much in the plentiful beverage. He let his passions get the better of him and accosted Bacchantes the favorite priestess. As satyrs are wont to do, he may have gotten carried away and raped her, but the details were fuzzy. Anyway, in response to his actions, the rest of the guests, enraged by his disrespect, tore him apart. His father begged the gods to make him whole again, but the gods refused. However, taking pity on the father, they did allow Orchids to be made from the remains of his body, thus bringing beauty into the world.
