If you say “pomegranate” to a Spanish or French speaker, he will probably think of a deep-red coloured apple. With this thought, he would be partially right and partially wrong as well. Let´s see why.
The pomegranate, which grows on a small tree from 5 to 8 meters tall, is a berry between a lemon and a grapefruit in size with a rounded hexagonal shape, and that has thick reddish skin. Here we have the reason why the Spanish or French speaker would be partially right; the colour of its skin is red, not a deep one but red after all. However, the colour is not the reason why the fruit is called “pomegranate”, to know the origin of this name we have to go back to its etymology.
The name “pomegranate” derives from Latin “pomum”, which means “apple”, and “granatus”, which means “seedy”, resulting “apple of many seeds”. The reason why the Romans called them “apple” is not clear and besides, most of the languages have omitted it from their translations just leaving the second part of the word as the French “grenade” and the Spanish “granada”. In contrast with the first part “apple”, we have the second one “seedy” that alludes to the many seeds this fruit has, which can vary from 200 to about 1400. A curiosity about this is that the French word for pomegranate, “grenade”, was used in English to name a small round bomb-like device that was tossed into enemy trenches, where it exploded sending its seeds of death, that is, bits of shrapnel, into enemy bodies.
Another thing worth saying about the pomegranate is that is one of the oldest fruits known by man. It has been mentioned in many ancient texts, such as the Homeric Hymns and the Book of Exodus and is valued by many cultures for its beauty and uniqueness. An artist who thought so was Botticelli, who introduced one of them in his painting Madonna of the Pomegranate in 1487. In planning this painting, Botticelli may have seen Roman depictions of the goddess Proserpine (to the Greeks Persephone) bearing a pomegranate. Each spring she returned to the good Roman earth bringing new abundance and the green skyward dance of sprouting crops. As Byron wrote in Giaour “pomegranate’s blossoms strew/Their bloom in blushes ever new.”Perhaps the fruit has gained this distinction of a royal fruit due to the its princely blossom crown. What do you think?
Hope you enjoyed it!
5 Comments:
Wuauuu!! thanks for teaching me another way to kill people xD
Very interesting :) I have always wanted to know why artists painted certain things in their works, and you have shown me one of them. Thanks! :D
Now I can figure out why English language has not ommited the term "pome" in that word...It could be mistaken for bombs! =O
The bombs are interesting to comment on but my question is: why pomegranates are the first fruits known by human?I think it would be an interesting thing to research on in the future
Pablo as you asked me, I have searched for it! What I have found is that there are evidences that the pomegranate was one of the first fruits to have been cultivated by man dating between 4000 B.C. to 3000 B.C. for the first time in Persia. It gradually moved towards China in 100 B.C. then finding its way to India, North Africa and Europe. Besides, ancient Romans tanned pomegranate skins and used them as leather and when the Pomegranate reached Egypt it was respected and called the "Eternal Fruit". This fruit has also been found in "Bronze Age" tombs. So I think it´s quite ancient, don´t you?
I have to recognize that I am very surprised. Congratulations lola, good work I am very proud of having you in my team!!!
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