AREADNE 2020: Olives On Tree

AREADNE 2020
Research in Encoding And Decoding of
Neural Ensembles

Nomikos Conference Centre
Santorini, Greece
16-20 June 2020

Olives On Tree

Olive trees are less common on Santorini than elsewhere in Greece, but they retain their status as a central cultural symbol, stretching back to the importance associated with Athena's gift of an olive tree to the newly-built city in Attica during her competition with Poseidon to become its namesake and protector. Poseidon, with his gift of a spring that turned to brine, lost ignominiously. Athena, with a gift that provided both shade and a cooking staple, won the competition and has been honored since. In this photo, we see a young tree, growing in a planter near the edge of a hotel's property, that is fruiting with olives. The silvery undersides of its elongated simple leaves are in contrast with the dark, upper surfaces colored in characteristic olive drab.