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Apple Mythology In Mythology

Decent Essays

Apple in Mythology
Liu Yijing (U1220770L)
IEM Year 4

Apple originated from Central Asia and reached Europe via the Silk Road thousands of years ago. Although it is now cultivated worldwide as a kind of common fruit, the term ‘apple’ itself is relatively special in some cultures due to its religious and mythological meanings. This essay will briefly talk about the role of apple in some cultures from language aspects.

Before mentioning anything specific, the words for apple in different languages are interesting to introduce. For instance, apple is called ‘apfel’ in German, ‘pomme’ in French and ‘mela’ in Italian. These words, which differ from each other, actually have varied Proto-Indo-European roots. Both the German and English come from …show more content…

It first appeared as a wedding present from Gaia, the Greek mother goddess, to Hera, Queen of the Gods. It was later grown in the Garden of the Hesperides, tended by the Daughters of Evening and guarded by a hundred-headed dragon. In the Judgement of Paris, Eris, Goddess of Strife, stole the Golden Apple of Discord, which led to the Trojan War.

However, it is still a big controversy whether the ‘golden apple’ really refers to the apple or other fruit, such as the orange, since the term ‘pomum’ has a wide meaning. Also, many languages used to describe the orange with the idea of ‘golden apple’, although the slang ‘apples and oranges’ means totally different things nowadays.

One more story worth thinking about is search for the Golden Fleece by the hero Jason and the Argonauts. The word for a sheep or goat in the Greek is ‘melon’, which can also mean ‘apple’. Therefore, ‘the Golden Fleece’ can also be understood as ‘the Golden Apple’, and this adventure becomes another pursuance of the golden apple. Moreover, Heracles, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, who managed to fetch the golden apples of the Hesperides in the myth Twelve Labours of Heracles, also accompanied Jason in this

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