How the apple became an important symbol in culture, science and story

Did Eve really eat an apple in the Garden of Eden?

In Genesis chapters 2 and 3, we read that Adam and a woman are put into the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. God tells them not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they will die. But a serpent convinces the woman to take a bite. God is angry and as punishment tells the woman that he will ‘make your pains in childbearing very severe’ and that ‘Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you’. He punishes Adam with the promise of ‘painful toil’ and ‘the sweat of your brow’ until ‘to dust you will return’. It is only at this point that Adam names his wife Eve, ‘because she would become the mother of all the living’. They are both banished from the Garden of Eden.

So, where’s the apple? The fruit of the tree of knowledge is often depicted as an apple, but the Hebrew Bible doesn’t actually name it as such. The apple originated in central Asia and so its familiarity may be one reason it became the focus of this story. Another could be that when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Latin, a confusion arose from the similarity between the Latin words for ‘evil’ and ‘apple’ - both versions of the word ‘malus’. In modern Italian, apple is ‘mela’ while evil can be expressed as ‘male’. So, no, we don’t know for sure that Eve really ate an apple in the Garden of Eden.

Did a poisoned apple kill Snow White?

The idea that apples can represent some kind of a fall persists in the fairy tale of Snow White. When the queen hears the mirror tell her that Snow White is the fairest of them all, the queen makes a poisoned apple - one that looks totally irresistible. She gives herself the appearance of a peasant woman and goes to knock on Snow White’s door. Such is the queen’s deceitfulness that she has made the apple only half-poisoned. When she splits it to share with Snow White, the queen is safe, but Snow White takes a bite and falls down dead.

Well, not quite dead.

After a ‘long, long time’, a prince turns up who persuades the dwarves to give him the coffin with Snow White inside it. Carrying the heavy object, one of the dwarves stumbles, causing the piece of apple to be dislodged from Snow White’s throat. She opens her eyes, sits up, marries the prince and lives happily ever after. So, no, an apple didn’t kill Snow White. But the ending is not so happy for the wicked queen, who, in the original Grimms’ tale, is forced to wear iron shoes that have been heated in burning coals and to ‘dance until she fell down dead.’ Nasty.

Did an apple start the Trojan war?

Here’s another example of the temptation of the apple, this time from Classical Greek and Roman mythology.

One day, a wedding party is thrown to which all the gods are invited - except Eris, the goddess of strife or disagreement. Annoyed by this, Eris throws a golden apple amongst the party guests. This fruit of temptation is inscribed ‘To the fairest goddess’ but the guests can’t decide who this is. So they let Paris - a human Trojan prince - decide. He has to choose between Juno, Minerva and Venus (also known by their Greek names Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, and who in the Greek version offer him gifts in return for him choosing them). He chooses Venus/Aphrodite, and this is why she is often depicted in art with an apple. According to mythology, this led to the start of the Trojan war. So, yes, it’s possible that an apple did - indirectly - lead to the start of the legendary Trojan war.

Why did William Tell shoot an apple off his son’s head?

With war comes the theme of bravery. You probably know the tale of William Tell shooting an apple off his son’s head, but do you know why? His legend comes from the early 14th century.

The story goes that in 1307, William Tell is arrested, along with his son Walter, for not bowing to a hat on a pole. The hat belongs to Albrecht Gessler, the newly appointed Vogt (a kind of feudal lord) of Altdorf, Switzerland. As punishment, Tell and his son are to be executed - unless Tell can shoot an apple off his son’s head in one attempt. Tell takes up his crossbow and the rest is history.

Did an apple fall on Isaac Newton’s head?

When that apple split and fell to the ground - and when later in the story Gessler himself fell to the ground from the impact of Tell’s second crossbow bolt - a force was acting upon them. A force that another apple helped scientist Isaac Newton to understand in the late 1660s. It wasn’t the ‘Eureka’ moment it is often described as - and no, the apple didn’t hit Isaac Newton on the head - but it was a significant moment in Newton’s development of the theory of gravity.

Newton saw an apple fall from a tree of the ‘Flower of Kent’ variety - the tree still stands in the grounds of Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, UK - and it set off a train of thought. Why did an apple always fall perpendicular (at right angles) to the ground? There must be something in the earth drawing it in. And does it actually fall perpendicularly, or does it fall towards the centre of the earth?

Newton concluded that the apple is drawn towards the earth but that the earth is also drawn towards the apple. Expanding this thought, he realised that there could also be a gravitational relationship between the earth and the moon affecting both their movements and orbits.

Why is New York called the ‘Big Apple’?

We've seen apples symbolising scientific innovation - or put simply, a big idea. Elsewhere, the apple came to mean a big prize - a big apple - especially in horse racing. And this is where we get the name ‘Big Apple’ for New York City - a place of big prizes. It was officially adopted as the city’s nickname in 1971.