Part 3: Historic Value of Essential Oils—Greece

Around 2000 BCE, the first civilizations in Europe were emerging in Greece, and with their development came an interest in perfumery and other plant-based treatments. The learned Greeks soon found themselves in Egypt to study medicine. Men like Homer (lived around 850 BCE), Hippocrates (460–370 BCE), Herodotus (484–425 BCE), and Plutarch (46–120 AD) took the traditions of the Egyptians and began to learn more about aromatics and plants. Their research permeated throughout Greek culture, influencing the practices of the time. The Greeks also worked on increasing the sophistication of extraction methods. There is written documentation of solvent extractions that used wine and fat mediums to pull the volatile compounds from plants.