“Apple Which Takes Longer to Come to Fruitition, Stays Fresh Longer” (A Few Points on Apple)

Folkloristics 7/1 (2022): 55-65
Author: Radivoj Radić
Text:
https://doi.org/10.18485/folk.2022.7.1.3

Apple is the most widespread continental fruit, and man has grown it for more than three thousand years. With passing of time, apple has gained its mythological as well as religious significance in cultures ranging from the Ancient Greece to the Nordic cultures, and its symbolism is also evident in the Christian civilization. Apple is the symbol of love, friendship, knowledge, magic, renewal, fertility, freshness, even imperial rule. It is a holy tree that may even have connections with the underworld, and because of its spherical shape and red color it even possesses the solar symbolism. In Christianity, on some occasions, apple can even be a Eucharistic symbol. It becomes the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ, and when there are no priests present, it is consumed during Eucharist. Due to its significance, various ancient and medieval treatises and encyclopedia contained a lot of information about how to plant, grow, preserve, and graft apples. In addition, apple is the crucial ingredient of many medications, and it also became part of many proverbs of the Serbian people.

Keywords: apple, symbolism, Antiquity, Middle Ages, mythology, religion, breeding, storage, medicine, prescription.