Do Pomegranates Grow in Mythical Underworlds? Exploring Symbols, Structures, and Realities

1. Introduction: Exploring the Realm of Mythical Underworlds and Their Flora

Mythical underworlds have fascinated cultures across time, serving as realms of the dead, spiritual transformation, or shadowy spaces where life’s mysteries unfold beyond the physical world. These realms, whether depicted as Greek Hades, Egyptian Duat, or Norse Hel, are rich with symbolism and often intertwined with flora that represents life, death, and rebirth.

In many mythologies, plants serve as powerful symbols—signifying fertility, transition, or protection. For instance, the Egyptian lotus symbolizes rebirth, while the Greek oleander often appears in stories of mortality. This raises an intriguing question: do pomegranates, a fruit deeply embedded in myth and symbolism, grow in these mythical underworlds?

2. The Symbolism of Pomegranates in Ancient Mythologies

The pomegranate has long captured human imagination as a potent symbol across diverse cultures. Its vibrant red seeds evoke fertility, abundance, and the cycle of life and death. In Greek mythology, the pomegranate is most famously linked to Persephone, whose consumption of its seeds results in her descent into the underworld, symbolizing the fleeting nature of life and the seasonal cycle of growth and dormancy.

In the myth of Persephone, the fruit embodies more than just death; it signifies rebirth and the hope of renewal. The seasonal myth reflects how the pomegranate serves as a bridge between worlds—above and below—highlighting its deep symbolic connection to transformation and eternal cycles.

Beyond Greek culture, the pomegranate appears in Persian, Indian, and Mediterranean traditions, often associated with fertility, protection, and the afterlife. Its persistent symbolism underscores its importance not only as a botanical marvel but also as a vessel of cultural memory and spiritual meaning.

3. Mythical Underworlds: Structures, Symbols, and Flora

a. Common Features of Underworlds Across Cultures

While each culture envisions its underworld differently, certain features recur broadly. Greek Hades is depicted as a shadowy realm beneath the earth, with fields of mourning and rivers like Styx. The Egyptian Duat is an intricate afterlife landscape filled with lakes, caverns, and divine symbolism. Norse Hel is a realm of cold, darkness, and decay, often associated with the dead who do not ascend to Valhalla.

b. The Role of Flora in Underworld Stories

Plants in underworld narratives are often symbolic rather than literal. They may represent life persisting amidst death or serve as markers of transition. For example, the Egyptian ‘Isle of the Dead’ is surrounded by water lilies, symbolizing rebirth. However, actual botanical growth within these realms is rarely described; instead, flora functions as metaphor or adornment in mythic art.

c. The Symbolic Function of Skulls and Ruins

Skulls and ruins are common motifs that evoke mortality and the passage of time. In Greek and Roman funerary art, skulls symbolize the transient nature of life. In underworld depictions, crumbling temples or broken columns underscore the idea of decay and the boundary between worlds.

4. Do Pomegranates Truly Grow in Mythical Underworlds?

a. Literary and Mythological Evidence

The primary mythological source—Homer’s Odyssey and Hesiod’s Theogony—does not explicitly depict pomegranates growing in the underworld. Greek texts focus more on Persephone’s consumption of pomegranate seeds as a symbol of her bond to the realm of the dead, rather than on the plant’s presence within it.

b. Symbolic Interpretations versus Physical Botanical Presence

Most scholars agree that the pomegranate’s role is primarily symbolic—representing fertility, death, and rebirth—rather than a literal crop of the underworld. Its presence in myths functions as a metaphor for the cycle of life and the inescapability of mortality.

c. Comparing Mythic Descriptions with Botanical Realities

Botanically, pomegranates (Punica granatum) thrive in Mediterranean climates with hot, dry summers and mild winters. These conditions are incompatible with the icy or shadowy environments often depicted in mythic underworlds, suggesting that any growth of pomegranates in such realms is allegorical rather than literal.

5. The Modern Reflection: «Rise of Orpheus» as a Cultural and Artistic Illustration

Contemporary art and literature often revisit ancient myths to explore human longing, mortality, and transformation. FYI the story of Orpheus, for example, symbolizes the desire to reconnect with the underworld and reclaim lost love or knowledge.

In modern interpretations, underworld flora—including pomegranates—is depicted to emphasize themes of fertility, renewal, and the thin boundary between life and death. Artists and writers use these symbols to evoke emotional resonance, illustrating how ancient mythic motifs continue to inspire contemporary culture.

6. Beyond Myth: The Botanical Reality of Pomegranates and Underworld Imagery

a. Geographic and Climatic Conditions for Growth

Pomegranates require a Mediterranean climate—hot, dry summers and mild winters. These conditions are geographically far from the cold, shadowy environments depicted in mythic underworlds, reinforcing that any association is symbolic rather than botanical.

b. Cultural Symbolism and Later Traditions

In later traditions, pomegranates became emblematic of fertility and eternal life, as seen in Christian art (e.g., the fruit in depictions of the Virgin Mary) and Middle Eastern symbolism. Their connection to death and renewal persists, making them a universal symbol bridging myth and culture.

c. The Metaphorical Bridge Between Worlds

While pomegranates do not grow in underworld environments literally, they serve as a metaphorical bridge—representing the transition between mortality and immortality, ignorance and knowledge, darkness and light. This duality underscores their enduring symbolic power across civilizations.

7. Non-Obvious Perspectives: The Hidden Layers of Myth, Art, and Nature

a. Psychological and Archetypal Meanings

Plants in underworld myths often symbolize inner psychological states. The pomegranate’s seeds, with their abundance, can represent the subconscious, fertility of the mind, or hidden knowledge waiting to be uncovered—paralleling Jungian archetypes of transformation and integration.

b. Ruins, Skull Symbols, and Mortality

Ancient ruins and skull motifs deepen our understanding of mortality’s role in myth. These symbols serve as reminders of life’s impermanence but also as gateways to understanding the cycle of death and rebirth—concepts embodied symbolically by the pomegranate.

c. Myth and Environmental Symbolism in Modern Arts

Contemporary storytelling often employs environmental symbolism to explore themes of ecological balance and human mortality. The enduring image of the pomegranate continues to serve as a powerful motif, linking mythic pasts with present concerns about sustainability, decay, and renewal.

8. Conclusion: Reassessing the Existence of Pomegranates in Mythical Underworlds

Summarizing the insights from mythological, symbolic, and botanical perspectives, it becomes clear that pomegranates do not literally grow in mythic underworlds. Instead, their significance lies in their role as potent symbols—embodying fertility, death, rebirth, and the cyclical nature of existence.

“Mythic plants like the pomegranate serve as bridges between worlds—both literal in their symbolism and metaphorical in their cultural resonance.”

In contemporary culture, these symbols continue to inspire art, literature, and spiritual reflection, exemplified by works such as Rise of Orpheus. The enduring power of mythic flora reminds us that symbols often hold deeper truths than literal representations, guiding humanity’s understanding of life, death, and renewal across ages.