Why does roses represent beauty?

Question

it's red yeah, but why beauty?

Answer 1

The rose has always been valued for its beauty and fragrance and has a long history of symbolism and meaning. The ancient Greeks and Romans identified the rose with their goddesses of love (Aphrodite and Venus). In Rome a wild rose would be placed on the door of a room where confidential matters were discussed. The phrase sub rosa, or "under the rose", means to keep a secret—derived from this ancient Roman practice.

Early Christians identified the five petals of the rose with the five wounds of Christ. Despite this interpretation, their leaders were hesitant to adopt it because of its association with Roman excesses and pagan ritual. The red rose was eventually adopted as a symbol of the blood of the Christian martyrs. Roses also later came to be associated with the Virgin Mary.

Rose culture came into its own in Europe in the 1800s with the introduction of perpetual blooming roses from China. There are currently thousands of varieties of roses developed for bloom shape, size, fragrance and even for lack of prickles.


about the colors:
Red: love
Pink: grace, gentle feelings of love
Dark Pink: gratitude
Light Pink: admiration, sympathy
White: innocence, purity, secrecy, friendship, reverence and humility.
Yellow: Yellow roses generally mean dying love or platonic love. In German-speaking countries, however, they can mean jealousy and infidelity.
Yellow with red tips: Friendship, falling in love
Orange: passion
Burgundy: beauty
Blue: mystery
Green: calm
Black: slavish devotion (as a true black rose is impossible to produce)
Purple: protection (paternal/maternal love)

In some pagan mythologies, no undead or ghostly creatures (particularly vampires) may cross the path of a wild rose. It was thought that to place a wild rose on a coffin of a recently deceased person would prevent them from rising again.
Since the earliest times, the rose has been an emblem of silence:
In Greek Mythology, Eros presents a rose to the god of silence.
In a Celtic folk legend, a wandering, screaming spirit was silenced by presenting the spirit with a wild rose every new moon.
Roses were used in very early times as a very potent ingredient in love philters.
In Rome it was often customary to bless roses on "Rose Sunday".
In Scotland, if a white rose bloomed in autumn it was a token of an early marriage.
The red rose, it is believed by many religions, cannot grow over a grave.
According to some Biblical legends, the original rose growing in the Garden of Eden was white, but turned red as it blushed with shame upon Adam and Eve's fall from grace.
Rose leaves thrown into a burning flame are said to give good luck.
If a maiden had more than one lover, it is believed in one mythology, she should take rose leaves and write the names of her lovers upon them before casting them into the wind. The last leaf to reach the ground would bear the name of the lover whom she should marry.
It is believed that if a rose bush were pruned on St. John's Eve, it would be guaranteed to bloom in the autumn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose

Answer 2

I am sorry to be the one to break this to you but roses come in many colors, and each color can be an indication of your intentions. Always long stem, they are very elegant regardless of color, can be trimmed and kept for a while and is a constant reminder of the individual who sent them. Quanity and color are often the result of the occassion. And to answer your question, beauty is not only skin deep, as the rose it has petals, it also has something you dont see. Fragrance. Therefor the phrase" Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder". Hope this helped.