The Legend of Parthenope
The story of the siren Parthenope is told in Homer’s Odyssey.
It is said that the sirens lured sailors with their song, a voice capable of enchanting and leading them to ruin. Ulysses, curious and determined, wished to hear that song without being overcome by it.
Warned by the sorceress Circe of the dangers ahead, he ordered his crew to seal their ears with wax and had himself tied to the ship’s mast, instructing his men not to release him for any reason.
In this way, Ulysses was able to hear the song of the sirens without yielding to its call.
Disappointed at not having seduced him, the sirens let themselves die against the rocks. One of them, Parthenope, was carried by the sea currents from the coasts of Calabria to the rocks of Megaride, where Castel dell’Ovo now stands.
During that long journey, it is said that the siren’s tears turned into an intense fragrance that drifted through the air and remained upon the land.
That scent brushed the shores of upper Calabria and, even today, some swear they can still sense it on the quietest nights.
From that fragrance, Monarca Amaro is born. Amaro Monarca
A deep infusion, built over time, in which in which 52 herbs and roots they meet in balance. Between them, the the Phoenician juniper, an ancient and dominant presence, gives direction to the character of the bitter, like an invisible thread that holds together strength and measure.