Many of the most significant fruits in world mythology, such as the apple, have different meanings to different cultures. Sometimes the same fruit can represent different things in different myths within the same culture. This section examines each of the major fruits found in mythology and provides examples from the myths of various cultures.
Apple Apples are brimming with symbolic meanings and mythic associations. In China they represent peace, and apple blossoms are a symbol of women’s beauty. In other traditions, they can signify wisdom, joy, fertility, and youthfulness.
Apples play an important part in several Greek myths. Hera (pronounced HAIR-uh), queen of the gods, owned some precious apple trees that she had received as a wedding present from Gaia (pronounced GAY-uh), the earth mother. Tended by the Hesperides (pronounced hee-SPER-uh-deez), the Daughters of Evening, and guarded by a fierce dragon, these trees grew in a garden somewhere far in the west. Their apples were golden, tasted like honey, and had magical powers. They could heal the sick or injured, they renewed themselves as they were eaten, and if thrown, they always hit their target and then returned to the thrower’s hand.
For the eleventh of his twelve great labors, the hero Heracles (pronounced HAIR-uh-kleez), also known as Hercules, had to obtain some of these apples. After a long, difficult journey across North Africa, he enlisted the help of the giant Atlas (pronounced AT-luhs), who entered the garden, strangled the dragon, and obtained the fruit. Heracles took the apples to Greece, but Athena (pronounced uh-THEE-nuh) returned them to the Hesperides.
A golden apple stolen from Hera’s garden caused the Trojan War, one of the key events in Greek mythology. Eris (pronounced EER-iss), the goddess of discord or conflict, was angry not to be included among the gods asked to attend a wedding feast. Arriving uninvited, she threw one of the apples, labeled “For the Fairest” onto a table at the feast. Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite (pronounced af-ro-DYE-tee) each assumed that the apple was meant for her. They asked Paris (pronounced PAIR-iss), a prince of Troy, to settle the matter, and he awarded the apple to Aphrodite. In revenge, Hera and Athena supported the Greeks in the war that led to the fall of Troy. People still use the phrase “apple of discord” to refer to something that provokes an argument.
World History
