All 2 entries tagged Fig Tree

Fig tree

fig-trees (2.XXII.iii).

Fig trees occur in classical mythology, e.g. Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers who traditionally founded the city of Rome, were suckled by a wolf under a fig tree (Bib:11). A fig-tree sacred to Romulus grew near the Forum in classical Rome (Bib:12) and fig trees occur at various points in classical epic, e.g. the fig tree past which Achilleus chases Hector (Iliad 22:145-6), and the enormous fig tree which is home to Charybdis (Odyssey 12:101-4). In Paradise Lost, following Genesis (3.7), Adam and Eve select leaves from the fig tree to cover their postlapsarian nakedness (9:1099-1115), and because of this the fig is thought by some Jewish authorities to have been the forbidden fruit itself (Bib:13). In the East and West Indies, the term fig is popularly used to denote the banana and cochineal cactus (Bib:OED).

Amanda Hopkins : 23 Jun 2007 12:16 |  Tags: Bible Epic Tradition Fig Tree Iliad Mythology Odyssey Paradise Lost Plants Religion |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

banyan

Name given by Europeans to the East Indian fig tree, whose branches drop shoots to the ground which take root and support the parent branches, thus covering a large area (Bib:OED).

Amanda Hopkins : 23 May 2007 13:21 |  Tags: Banyan Context Fig Tree Glossary Plants |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem