Dutch Tulip

People looked for someone—or something—to blame. After losing money, many Dutch citizens blamed the tulip itself, treating it as though the flower had magically tempted otherwise rational people into reckless speculation. The author compares tulips to the sirens of Greek mythology, who lured sailors to destruction with their enchanting songs. Satirical pamphlets became popular. A number of pamphlets mocked the tulip craze, including: The Fall of the Great Garden-Whore, the Villain-Goddess Flora Flora’s Fool’s Cap Charge Against the Pagan and Turkish Tulip-Bulbs These works ridiculed the investors who had been swept up in the mania and portrayed the tulip as a symbol of greed and foolishness. The symbolism of Flora. Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, is portrayed in these pamphlets as a seductive figure who ruins those who fall for her charms. This reinforces the idea that people were personifying the tulip and blaming it for their own decisions. Professor Fortius’s reaction. The passage describes a dramatic anecdote: Adriaan Vorstius (Fortius) (referred to here as Fortius), who reportedly walked through Leiden striking tulips with his cane. Whether entirely factual or somewhat exaggerated, the story illustrates the public resentment toward tulips after the crash. The comparison to ancient rituals. The author compares this reaction to medieval carnivals and the festivals of Dionysus, where a symbolic figure or god would be sacrificed at the end of the celebration. The point is that societies often channel blame onto a symbolic scapegoat after periods of excess. 

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