by greenmountaineer
still interesting. Satan being given an apple from a woman is a marriage proposal in the western tradition. The eden myth is that of the east, and therefore the apple is a symbol out of place in the eden story. The fig is the apple's equivalent in meaning in the orient and that's why it's not just a silly little aside, as I mentioned to someone else. Fine, the woman's given herself to Satan, but the apple isn't the proper semiotic vessel. Poetry is symbol and imagery, so analysis of symbol is obviously important.