Episode 43: Persephone's Plight & Tasty Treasure - Pomegranate
Hello and welcome to another episode of Rooted. This week we are digging into a fruit with almost as many stories as it has seeds- Pomegranate.
Pomegranates are part of the lythraceae family- one we haven’t yet talked about on the show, but includes plants like Henna, crepe myrtles, and loosestrifes. This family is known for having opposite branching with simple or pinnate leaves, and bilaterally symmetrical flowers that are described as looking “crumpled” or kind of tissue paper-y . Most of the family members are actually herbaceous tropical plants, with pomegranate being a notable- and at one time controversial- exception.
Not quite a tree, but a bit too big and spindly to be a typical shrub, these 16-20 ft perennial plants are native to the Mediterranean, but quickly spread to spain and beyond in the 1600s, where they began rooting themselves in culture and cuisine across the globe.
They are best known for their spiky branches, oblong, glossy leaves, deep red 3-7 petaled flowers, and of course their extremely distinctive chambered fruits. They can live for a SUPER long time, with some documented plants in France being over 200 years old!
Weirdly enough, the fruit that pomegranates produce is actually a BERRY- I know. Hard to imagine, but hear me out- a berry is technically ANY fleshy fruit that is produced from one flower with a single ovary and that dies NOT have a pit- and before you try to say that all those tiny seeds are pits, let me describe what is ACTUALLY going on with this bizarre fruit.
For starters, let’s talk about the husk- or the fleshy outer bit before you get to those tiny finger-staining- delicious bits.
The husk of a pomegranate is make up of 2 parts- the hard, pink to deep purple pericarp on the outside, and the white, spongy, mesocarp, which is where the arils (aka seeds) attach..or in this case, embed themselves. This inner mesocarp is also what makes up the asymmetrical changers inside, which are filled with anywhere from 200 to 1400 sarcotestas- or the juicy, finger staining tasty bits that surround the actual seeds of the pomegranate…who knew it was all so complicated.
While their insides are fairly complicated, their likes and dislikes are MUCH easier to understand. Unlike many of their family members, pomegranates prefer dry, arid climates, and can withstand temps as low as 10 f. They can tolerate a wide range of soils, but tend to prefer well draining solids with plenty of nutrients. While they are fairly drought tolerant, they do need a decent drink fairly regularly if you’re wanting to get fruit out of them!
Before we can dig in to why they are such a beloved fruit, let’s take a closer look at a few of their origin stories and folktales about them- starting where you probably guessed- ancient Greece!
Pomegranates are actually rumored to have originated from the blood of adonis, which honestly sounds like an AMAZING band name if you ask me…I would for SURE go to that show, and not just because it’s a botanical deep cut…but that is part of it.
Anyway- back to pomegranates being made of blood- to understand how this happened, we are going to have to do a quick deep dive into who adonis was, just so we can understand how deeply complex and also pretty messed up this whole situation was…buckle up, because this is about to be a VERY twisty tale.
According to legend, Adonis was the son of myrrah and cyprus, who was her DAD. Basically, when she was young Myrrah decided she didn’t want to worship aphrodite after being told she was more beautiful than her….and not being one to take rejection well, aphrodite decided the only justifiable punishment was to make myrrah have a literal obsession with her dad? To a point where she lusted after this man and told her nurse that if she couldnt have his child, she would rather die…i know- it’s not great.
Anyway, not wanting to watch Myrrah die, her nurse agrees to a fucked up scheme, that involves her tricking myrrah’s father into sleeping with her by lying to him about who she is and arranging their meetings in complete darkness..however her dad, being curious, brought a lamp to one of these “meetings” and was understandably outraged and disgusted to realize it was his child… so, he sent her away. But it was too late- myrrah was pregnant. Before she gave birth though, she was forced to wander aimlessly, with no one being willing to help her, she eventually asked the gods to take pity on her and turn her into a tree- the myrh tree to be exact, and her son, adonis, was eventually extracted from her trunk.
This is where the story splits in two- according to some versions, aphrodite found adonis to be so adorable that she essentially kidnapped him and raised him in a trunk, sending him to live with persephone in the underworld for a few months a year when she needed to do her job…and the two eventually both fall in love with him, but he chooses aphrodite to be his main lover in the end
In another version of the story, Adonis just eventually becomes a very attractive man, and Aphrodite is accidentally struck by cupid’s bow, causing her to fall deeply in love with him.
No matter which version you like better, one thing is always true- adonis and aphrodite do go on to be a power couple, and a complicated one at that.
Since Adonis is mortal, he is always running around, doing risky things that Aphrodite doesn’t approve of, as she knows that she will not be able to save him or intervene should he find himself in harm's way. This all comes to a head when one day, Adonis decided he wanted to hunt a wild boar with nothing but a blade… knowing the danger, aphrodite asks him not to, but he doesn't heed her warning, and ends up being slashed by the boars tusk- eventually bleeding out and leaving aphrodite to mourn his death. Devastated by the loss, Aphrodite joins her tears with his blood, creating the deep red fruits of the pomegranate.
Now, if you subscribe to version 1 of the story, this is where things get REALLY wild, and much like a modern-day marvel movie, you are going to have to buckle up, suspend your disbelief and timeline confusion, and embrace the multiverse, because greek mythology is a tangled web of fucked up shit that takes NO PRISONERS.
Okay- now to the story that sparked my interest in the entanglement of people and plants- Persephone and the underworld.
In this particular tale hades, god of the underworld, decides he is tired of being alone. He sees all of the other immortals happily pairing off, and wonders why he should have to be alone in hell with no one to share his world with. Frustrated, he turns to his brother Zeus, a known ladies man, to help him find a bride. However, zeus isnt exactly fond of his brother, nor helpful in the situation. As he is sending Hades on his way- persephone- the daughter of Demeter (the goddess of the harvest) and Zeus, catches Hades’ eye.
Not especially keen on a creepy uncle peeping on her daughter, Demeter decides that she is going to keep persephone earthside for a while, where they enjoy endless spring, green, warmth, and sweetness. Not too bad a life, if you ask me.
But of course- all good things must come to an end. Not one to not get his way, Hades decided he would simply wait for persephone to wander off, then take her into hell as his bride.
His moment came when she, when out flower picking with her mother, got distracted by a particularly stunning daffodil, and strayed from her mother’s watchful gaze.
As she was reaching down to pluck the flower, Hades scooped her up, and quickly rushed her down into the depths of the underworld.
Depressed and increasingly anxious about her daughter as the hours turned to days and the days to weeks- Demeter vowed she wouldn’t let a single thing grow until her daughter was safely returned to her. After quite a bit of this, Demeter turned to helios- god of the sun, who saw pretty much everything. He offered her a poppy to help soothe her nerves, then told her about hades, and suggested they go to Zeus.
Now, you would think since Zeus was Persephone's father, he would also have a vested interest in returning her home safely….however, as we have established on this podcast, Zeus was a self absorbed asshat. He really only cared that Demeter would stop letting things grow, which would really fuck up the harvests, and then the humans would starve, the natural order would be disturbed, etc. etc.
Not wanting to watch the world burn, Zeus Agreed to take Demeter to the underworld to retrieve Persephone.
Now while all of this is happening, persephone is in hell- literally, figuratively- really just in every way imaginable. She misses her mom, she hates the underworld, and she is really not a fan of her broody uncle who insists she HAS to be his wife… and like- can we blame her? It’s cold, there are no plants, she has to be married to her uncle who keeps calling her “his queen”...and she can’t eat the snacks??? Thats right, friends, she cannot eat ANYTHING.
Before she was taken, her mom had a sneaking suspicion something like this could happen, so she was sure to tell persephone about a very important rule- when in the underworld, or any other realm, it’s vitally important that you not eat or drink ANYTHING- no matter how tasty it looks, or else you would be forced to stay there forever.
Now, Persephone was a smart girl- she knew she needed to obey Hades enough to keep him satisfied, but that she couldn’t do EVERYTHING he said, as he would do whatever it took to keep her there. So, she endured a lot of his bullshit, but never ate the food- not at banquets, not at the feasts in her honor- not even when Hades SWORE it would be fine.
After three LONG months, our girl was tired, but she was also starting to kinda like hell… people were nice to her, she got literally whatever she wanted, and aside from really missing her mom…it really wasn’t all that bad.
But that didn't change how absolutely thrilled she was to see her mother bursting through the gates of hell with an entourage to free her. After what seemed like hours of negotiating and arguing, it was decided that persephone would go back to earth with her mother, provided she hadn’t eaten anything while in hell…but here’s the kicker- before this agreement, Hades had offered Persephone a pomegranate, and while it was made abundantly clear that she was NOT to eat anything in hell, this particular pomegranate was one of the most beautiful she had ever seen- it was a deep, crimson red, with the sweetest, juiciest looking seeds she had ever seen..and while it wasn't the nectar and ambrosia the gods would normally eat, she decided to try it- eating 6 of it’s honey sweet seeds before realizing her mistake.
So, when it came time to decide her fate, imagine Demeter’s shock and horror to hear her daughter had willingly ate something, but also her relief to hear Helios argue that because she didn’t eat the full pomegranate, she couldn’t truly be expected to stay in hell forever. Instead, Demeter and Hades were forced to reach an agreement- Persephone would be allowed to spend ⅔ of the year with her mother on earth or in olympus, but would have to return to the underworld to live with Hades for the remaining ⅓ of the year.
Demeter was thrilled to have her daughter back, but each year slips into a deep depression when her daughter goes to stay with hades, bringing us fall and winter, and is so overjoyed when she returns in spring, that every wildflower is said to be a celebration of her return!
But it’s not just adonis and persephone who are associated with Pomegranate- Hera- the wife of Zeus, is also associated with Pomegranates, as she is the goddess of childbirth, and pomegranates are regarded in many cultures as a symbol of fertility.
At first, I assumed this was just because of the way that pomegranates contain so many endless seeds, and each tree can produce so many pomegranates, so they are extremely abundant- especially in winter, a season where most other food is extremely scarce. But, in my research I was delighted to find that’s not the only reason!
In some ancient cultures, pomegranates were used both to encourage fertility, and as a contraceptive, with folks rubbing that inner mesocarp onto their bits to ideally discourage pregnancy.
On the other end of things, eating a pomegranate was thought to help get things going in the bedroom, as it was widely regarded as an aphrodisiac.
But it wasn’t just used to heat things up- in a pinch, there are some records of ladies turning to the pericarp- the bright red, stain-y outside bits when things had maybe gotten a little *too spicy* previously, and they would use a powder from the outer husk to essentially trick people into thinking that “marital bliss” was truly their first time, and that their hymen was in tact before, by essentially creating a little diy stain stick- leading to just the right amount of crimson on those sheets.
And while we all know the myth of the hymen is complete and utter bullshit today, it’s nice to know that even back then ladies were finding creative ways to get around some of the insane rules and standards they were held to!
While we have talked a TON about the ancient Greeks, they certainly weren’t the only ones who LOVED this stuff. Pomegranates have lore and ties to most organized religion, popping up in the christian creation story as the forbidden fruit for some, being widely believed to have 613 seeds on average- the same number of commandments in the Torah, etc etc.
In Egypt, we know pomegranates were regarded as valuable both because of the written record we have in cuneiforms, and because they were found buried with Djehuty, a high ranking egyptian official who served under queen Hatshepsut in the 3rd millennium bc.
Before that, we actually found carbonized remains of a pomegranate in the city of jericho circa 2,000 bc, and have reason to believe that they were actually the first fruit tree to be domesticated and cultivated in early mesopotamia! Pretty fun stuff for all you fellow fruit and ancient agriculture fans out there!
From an export standpoint- pomegranates seemed to be a very valuable and highly tradable item, which comes as no surprise as they keep well, tend to be in season when other fruits are LONG gone, are fairly tasty, and can be used in several types of medicine and dyes! In fact, we KNOW pomegranates were a highly sought after export, in part thanks to their inclusion in the cargo of the Uluburun shipwreck- a bronze age ship that crashed off the coast of persia on it’s way from cypress. The ship was carrying pretty wild and expensive stuff. Of course, they had the basics- gold, silver, weights that looked like animals, scared carvings, precious metals, etc- but they also had - and this is all directly from the five los from the 1980’s when they were excavating the ship- “at least 12 hippopotamus teeth, the upper shell of a tortoise, predatory snail shells, ostrich eggs, croze and copper cups shaped like rams heads or ladies heads, two duck shaped cosmetic boxes, and of course- pomegranates- which were extremely waterlogged and mushy be the time researchers found them! .
After making their way across land and sea to eventually get wrapped up in so many cultures, it should really come as no surprise that people couldn't get enough of the stuff, and today we still can’t to be honest!
In medicine, it was widely believed to be a bit of a cure- all, with folks all over the world using them to treat tummy aches, dental issues, prevent pregnancy, fight illness, and even reverse of prevent aging..and while not all of these are backed up by today’s research, a lot of them are! Most notably are the periodontal disease treatment, wound healing, and the quote unquote anti-aging claims, though they aren't nearly as miraculous as some companies may want you to believe.
Now on periodontal disease- as you might imagine, it took us a REALLY long time to figure out dental hygiene and germs, so for a really long time we were just blaming pissed off gods and demons for most of our woes. Now, I have already shared with you the cursed wonders of demonic tooth worms in the garlic episode, so I’ll spare you the reprise, but just know- cavities were a long and painful struggle for a lot of people. Now, back in the day people were able to kind of get away with just eating more food that could help clean their teeth, and were maybe chewing on a neem twig every once and a while, but when that didn’t work, your options were a tooth pull, or if you were lucky- a hot wax seal….both bad, however, people in the mediterranean did note that those who ate pomegranate seemed to have less pain and dental problems. This is likely because pomegranates contain hydrolysable tannins and polyphenols like punicalagin and gallic acid, which interact with the strains of bacteria that can cause gingivitis and plaque build up by reactivating with the enzymes, breaking down their cell walls, and ultimately preventing them from hanging out in your mouth.
The tannins responsible for Pomegrante’s tart flavor are also what makes it fairly effective for wound care, as tannins can help stop bleeding, and lend further antimicrobial properties!
When it comes to the anti-aging and anti- cancer claims I am sure anyone who lived through thePOM wonderful craze of the 2010’s remembers, there is some truth to these, but only in that pomegranates contain antioxidants, which help to fight the free radicals in your body that lead to cell death, and can cause all kinds of other wonky things in your body if left unchecked..that being said, free radicals do play an important role in balancing out systems, so all claims of fighting free radicals being super helpful and a sure-fire way to beat cancer, or “hack biology” should be taken with a grain of salt.
With all of these benefits, and an awfully tasty flavor profile, I guess we can kind of understand why persephone would be so tempted by them. And she wasn’t alone, plenty of cultures around the globe feature pomegranate as a celebrated staple in their cuisine!
Most of us are probably familiar with Grenadine, as syrupy sweet cocktail ingredient added to drinks like tequila sunrises, zombies, and shirley temples.
But aside from grenadine, pomegranate is also an incredibly popular wine, and it’s arils are used frequently to add a bit of tang and juiceness to lots of different mediterranean and middle eastern dishes.
Pomegranate seeds are also a popular seasoning in indian and pakistani food, used as a spice called Anar Dana, which lends a slight tartness and depth to a dish, while also potentially helping to stop other seeds from sticking in your teeth!
Clearly pomegranates have always played a huge part in our history- whether in our stories, snacks, gardens, or medicine. Next time you see the fruit- or a tree if you are lucky enough to live in a place they grow- I hope you’ll take a second to say hello, and consider if you would be willing to stay in hell just to taste one.
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4007340/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4007340/
https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/herb/pomegranate
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5730995/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate
https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169134/nutrients
https://daily.jstor.org/the-paradoxical-pomegranate/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1118911/
https://lithub.com/a-secret-symbolic-history-of-pomegranates/
