The Mythology of Fruit
Who would have thought that these simple wonders from the earth could carry so many stories across so many cultures! From China, Iran, Greece, and Norway through to England, Switzerland and more - fruit has often represented abundance, fertility, and plentitude as well as earthly pleasure, overindulgence and temptation.
Specific kinds of fruit have acquired their own meanings in world mythology - here are some of the myths and legends that have gained strong symbolism in various cultures.
Persephone and the Pomegranate - a Greek myth.
Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and Zeus, the king of the gods. One day, while she was picking flowers, she was abducted by Hades to the underworld.
When her father, Demeter, finally got her back he asked her if she had eaten anything while she was there. Persephone admitted that she had eaten a pomegranate seed at the urging of Hades just before she left.
This was a trick by Hades - anyone who ate his food was required to remain in the underworld. Because of this, Persephone was required to spend one-third of each year in the underworld as the wife of Hades, and two-thirds of the year with her mother Zeus.
While Persephone is with Demeter and Zeus on Olympus the ground is fertile and the crops grow - Spring and Summer. When she returns to the underworld, the ground becomes colder and less fertile until her return - Autumn and Winter.
So according to the myth, it was a one pomegranate seed that sealed Persephone’s fate as Queen of the Underworld and the ushering in of Autumn and Winter, when the seeds lie underground awaiting again the fertile warm months of Spring and Summer.
The Story of William Tell - a Swiss myth about apples.
The people of Switzerland were not always as free and happy as they are today. Many years ago a proud tyrant, called Gessler, ruled over them and made their life bitter.
One day a man called William Tell rode into the village of Altdorf with his son by his side. He was reputed to be the best crossbowman in the region. Gessler set up a tall pole in the public square, with his own cap on top, and ordered every man to bow down before it.
But William Tell would not do it. When Gessler heard this, he was very angry - he was afraid that other men would rebel against him. In order to show that disrespect would not be tolerated, he ordered William Tell's boy to stand in the public square with an apple on his head; and then he bade William to shoot the apple with one of his arrows.
William fitted the arrow to his bow, took aim, and struck the apple right in the centre. As he was turning away, an arrow which he had hidden under his coat dropped to the ground. "Fellow!" cried Gessler, "what mean you with this second arrow?" "Tyrant!" was Tell's proud answer, "this arrow was for your heart if I had hurt my child.”
Gessler was very angry and ordered his guards to take William to the prison, but William escaped and killed the evil tyrant, thus setting the country free. He became the symbol for struggle for political and individual freedom.
The Magic Orange Tree - from Haiti
There was once a girl whose mother died when she was born. Her father waited for some time to remarry, and then married a woman who was both mean and cruel. She was so mean that she often did not feed the girl and the girl was often hungry.
One day the girl came home from school and saw three round, ripe oranges on the table. Hmmmm. She took one orange, peeled it, and ate it. Hmmm-mmm. It was good. She then ate the second and the third and was very happy. Then her stepmother came home and she was very angry.
The girl was very frightened and ran through the woods to her own mother’s grave. All night she cried and prayed to her mother to help her. Finally she fell asleep.
In the morning the sun woke her, and as she got up an orange pit dropped to the ground and a green leaf sprouted from it. The girl watched, amazed. She knelt down and sang to the tree. The orange tree grew and the girl kept singing. The tree grew curving branches, beautiful white blossoms and many oranges. The girl was delighted and returned home with her arms full of the fruit.
The girl arrived home and the stepmother twisted her wrist and made her show where the orange tree was. The stepmother leapt on the tree and ate every orange. The girl saw that there would be no oranges left. What would happen to her then? So she sang to the tree again, and it grew very high with the grandmother on top. Then the orange tree and the stepmother broke into a thousand pieces.
The girl searched among the broken branches until she found a tiny orange pit. She carefully planted it in the earth and sang to it softly and it grew again. She picked some oranges and took them to market to sell. The people loved their sweetness and now every Saturday you can see her at the market selling her oranges.
Watemelons, mulberries, olives, pineapples and strawberries are coming - check back soon!
