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| THE INTRIGUING APPLE. Image from colourbox.com |
We already know that our first parents, Adam and Eve, did not actually ate apples especially since the Bible does not actually identify the fruit but merely described it as of the tree of knowledge of good and evil [see Genesis 2:17]. Now, where in the world can we see a tree like that? I guess we'll never be able to find one because it grew only in Paradise, in the garden of Eden. And we cannot access it anymore for winged creatures and the flashing sword have been stationed to guard the way to the tree of life [see Genesis 3:24]!
So how did the apple become a symbol of knowledge, immortality, temptation, fall of man and sin? How did it become infamously inserted into the story of man's fall from grace?
Perhaps it is because as late as the late 17th century, the word apple was applied to every foreign fruit that was introduced into Europe. European artists therefore made use of the apple for various purposes and one of such is its use in paintings that depicted the Genesis story.
But the apple did not get into such a story easily. There were other involvements of the apple previously in various cultures, myths and legends which contributed to its being made a favorite fruit for artists.
Some of these comes from Greek literature and mythology:
[1] There was the so-called Garden of Hesperides, where a a Tree of Life grows and which produce golden apples. This Garden was owned by Hera who was gifted by Gaia with the Tree of Life for accepting Zeus, Gaia's son, as her husband. She entrusted it to the Hesperides, which comes from Hesperus, taken from Venus, or evening star, for they are considered children of the Night [Nyx] and Darkness [Erebus]. Aside from the Hesperides, this Tree of Life was guarded by a dragon named Ladon. Heracles [Latin, Hercules], had to get fruits from this Tree as part of his Labours.
[2] It was also from this Tree that the goddess of Discord, Eris, took an apple which she inscribed with the word, Kallistei, meaning "to the most beautiful", and rolled it into the wedding party of Peleus and Thetis, out of disgruntlement, because she was the only one who was not invited there. Understandable since it was a wedding - no one would invite someone with a reputation for discord. But that act brought discord for three goddesses claimed being the most beautiful: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They asked Zeus as to who really was most beautiful but Zeus was wise enough to do it for it would put him into a very odd position for Hera was her wife, Athena, her daughter, and Aphrodite, of course was goddess of beauty and love. So he told them that it would be better that a human should decide and he selected a young man named Paris. Hera and Athena tried to bribe him but Aphrodite was clever enough to know what the young man wanted, the most beautiful woman alive and it was no other than Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships. So Paris awarded the apple, which has become famous as the apple of discord, to Aphrodite. To make the story short, let us just say that the Trojan War followed for Paris took Helen from her husband who naturally would not easily give up the most beautiful woman alive!
[3] The golden apples also helped a young man win a marriage with the fastest woman of his time. The woman was Atalanta and in order to avoid marriage, she challenged every suitor to a race promising that if she is beaten, she would marry the winner while the man who loses would be killed. But she was so fast no one could defeat her. Melanion, also Hippomenes, was given by Aphrodite with three golden apples so that he could use them to distract Atalanta. So while they raced Melanion would roll one golden apple ahead of Atalanta. Atalanta was so distracted by the enticing golden apples and she couldn't help but pick it up when Melanion drops one. So he was able to win the race, not because of his speed but because of his cunning.
There are also legends in Norse mythology and Celtic mythology about apples.
One of most famous fairy tales of all times, Snow White, tells about how a young princess got almost killed by a poisoned apple. Luckily she was not able to swallow it and it got stuck in her throat. When the carriage carrying her glass coffin bumped, the apple got dislodged form her throat and she was revived.
There are many other stories, legends and accounts where the apple gets centerstage one of which is the legend about the Swiss hero, William Tell, who was believed to have shot an apple that was put on top of his son's head before shooting the tyrant who made him do it with another arrow.
Anyway, the fruit that our first parents ate in Paradise would seem to be far from being an apple for in various passages of the Bible, apple is used to identify someone that is lovable, favored or desirable, that is, the apple of one's eye, such as Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 17:8; Proverbs 7:2; and Zechariah 2:8.
So we stop [stopped long time ago] telling kids that Adam and Eve ate apple. Perhaps we also ought to find another name for that lump or protrusion in front of the human neck which is technically called laryngeal prominence but commonly referred to as Adam's apple.
Have you any other case against or defense in behalf of apples?
So how did the apple become a symbol of knowledge, immortality, temptation, fall of man and sin? How did it become infamously inserted into the story of man's fall from grace?
Perhaps it is because as late as the late 17th century, the word apple was applied to every foreign fruit that was introduced into Europe. European artists therefore made use of the apple for various purposes and one of such is its use in paintings that depicted the Genesis story.
But the apple did not get into such a story easily. There were other involvements of the apple previously in various cultures, myths and legends which contributed to its being made a favorite fruit for artists.
Some of these comes from Greek literature and mythology:
[1] There was the so-called Garden of Hesperides, where a a Tree of Life grows and which produce golden apples. This Garden was owned by Hera who was gifted by Gaia with the Tree of Life for accepting Zeus, Gaia's son, as her husband. She entrusted it to the Hesperides, which comes from Hesperus, taken from Venus, or evening star, for they are considered children of the Night [Nyx] and Darkness [Erebus]. Aside from the Hesperides, this Tree of Life was guarded by a dragon named Ladon. Heracles [Latin, Hercules], had to get fruits from this Tree as part of his Labours.
[2] It was also from this Tree that the goddess of Discord, Eris, took an apple which she inscribed with the word, Kallistei, meaning "to the most beautiful", and rolled it into the wedding party of Peleus and Thetis, out of disgruntlement, because she was the only one who was not invited there. Understandable since it was a wedding - no one would invite someone with a reputation for discord. But that act brought discord for three goddesses claimed being the most beautiful: Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. They asked Zeus as to who really was most beautiful but Zeus was wise enough to do it for it would put him into a very odd position for Hera was her wife, Athena, her daughter, and Aphrodite, of course was goddess of beauty and love. So he told them that it would be better that a human should decide and he selected a young man named Paris. Hera and Athena tried to bribe him but Aphrodite was clever enough to know what the young man wanted, the most beautiful woman alive and it was no other than Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships. So Paris awarded the apple, which has become famous as the apple of discord, to Aphrodite. To make the story short, let us just say that the Trojan War followed for Paris took Helen from her husband who naturally would not easily give up the most beautiful woman alive!
[3] The golden apples also helped a young man win a marriage with the fastest woman of his time. The woman was Atalanta and in order to avoid marriage, she challenged every suitor to a race promising that if she is beaten, she would marry the winner while the man who loses would be killed. But she was so fast no one could defeat her. Melanion, also Hippomenes, was given by Aphrodite with three golden apples so that he could use them to distract Atalanta. So while they raced Melanion would roll one golden apple ahead of Atalanta. Atalanta was so distracted by the enticing golden apples and she couldn't help but pick it up when Melanion drops one. So he was able to win the race, not because of his speed but because of his cunning.
There are also legends in Norse mythology and Celtic mythology about apples.
One of most famous fairy tales of all times, Snow White, tells about how a young princess got almost killed by a poisoned apple. Luckily she was not able to swallow it and it got stuck in her throat. When the carriage carrying her glass coffin bumped, the apple got dislodged form her throat and she was revived.
There are many other stories, legends and accounts where the apple gets centerstage one of which is the legend about the Swiss hero, William Tell, who was believed to have shot an apple that was put on top of his son's head before shooting the tyrant who made him do it with another arrow.
Anyway, the fruit that our first parents ate in Paradise would seem to be far from being an apple for in various passages of the Bible, apple is used to identify someone that is lovable, favored or desirable, that is, the apple of one's eye, such as Deuteronomy 32:10; Psalm 17:8; Proverbs 7:2; and Zechariah 2:8.
So we stop [stopped long time ago] telling kids that Adam and Eve ate apple. Perhaps we also ought to find another name for that lump or protrusion in front of the human neck which is technically called laryngeal prominence but commonly referred to as Adam's apple.
Have you any other case against or defense in behalf of apples?
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