Althaea officinalis the English common name "mallow". Most of the mallows have been used as food, and are mentioned by early classic writers with this connection. Mallow was an edible vegetable among the Romans; a dish of marsh mallow was one of their delicacies. Prospero Alpini stated in 1592 that a plant of the mallow kind was eaten by the Egyptians. Many of the poorer inhabitants of Syria subsisted for weeks on herbs, of which marshmallow is one of the most common. When boiled first and fried with onions and butter, the roots are said to form a palatable dish, and in
Althaea (mythology) and Deianeira the progeny of Althaea and the god Dionysus. In some accounts, Ancaeus was called her son by the god Poseidon. Althaea is especially celebrated in ancient story about the fate of her son Meleager; they became the cause of each other's deaths. When Meleager was born, the Moirai (the Fates) predicted he would only live until a brand, burning in the family hearth, was consumed by fire. In Aeschylus' "Libation Bearers" Althaea is mentioned by the Chorus of captive slaves, serving women of Clytemnestra, in a recollection of 'hatreds that stopped at nothing'. Meleager grew to be a