Speaker 3
the idea of having doing sports or bathing in the classical civilized manner was unthinkable without olive oil and its various extracts. You know olive oil is also used in the home as soap and as a base for perfumes and to be used against hair loss and
Speaker 1
stomach aches and as a religious offering and little vials of olive oil are found in various shrines around the Mediterranean. Olive oil was such a great base for perfume because it kind of melts into the skin and leaves this lovely shine. It's not dry like the alcohol based perfumes you can buy today. And of course it contributes its own olive scent to the mix. I use olive oil as an all over moisturizer and my partner Tim says it leaves a delicate scent of dinner. Cynthia, you and Tim are not the first to have noticed olive oil's miraculous beautifying powers.
Speaker 2
After Odysseus got shipwrecked in the Odyssey he slathers himself in olive oil and poof.
Speaker 1
Suddenly he's as handsome as a god. The Prophet Muhammad was said to have used so much olive oil on his body that even his shawl was drenched in it. But like I
Speaker 2
said people weren't just rubbing themselves in olive oil in the ancient world they burned it for light.
Speaker 3
They used it for frying. As a preservative which is still very popular day under oil you know your tuna under oil keeps better. As a contraceptive I'm not sure how that went but it was you know major part and as an aphrodisiac again I can't vouch for the
Speaker 1
active ingredient but it was certainly mentioned by Greco-Roman writers. In the ancient world olive oil was as valuable as petroleum rock oil is today.
