Pomegranate: The hidden meaning in Greek Myth

Pomegranate as photographed by Augustus Binu

Pomegranate as photographed by Augustus Binu


In case you need an 8th grade world studies refresher:







Statue of Woman with a Pomegranate 575 b.c.e.

Statue of Woman with a Pomegranate 575 b.c.e.

This connection between myth and reality translated to the medical authority of the times:

Hippocrates, Soranus, Dioscorides, and Aetius are among the ancient Greek and Roman medical writers who prescribed pomegranate seeds and rind to prevent contraception (Riddle 1997).

The prescription generally called for the pomegranate seeds or rind (depending on the medical authority) to be administered as a pessary (essentially placed inside the vagina) and would act as contraception and/or an abortifacient (Riddle 1997). And pomegranate isn’t just a woman’s remedy: Aetius of Amida advised men to rub astringents on their penises such as alum or pomegranate before coitus to prevent fertilization (Riddle 1992).

Pomegranate was also employed outside the western world as a symbol of fertility (or human control over it). The goddess Inanna of the temple Eanna in Uruk is shown on alabaster vases decorated with pomegranates in the 4th millenium (Riddle 1997). The attendants of her temple practiced “Sacred Prostitution” specifically engaging in sexual acts for pleasure only because:

“temple/sacred prostitution” does not at all refer to or have as its objective fertility (Silver 2006).

These temple prostitutes would have been utilizing a form of birth control if they had access to it, as fecundity would have resulted in lowered wages for non-working (pregnant) women. The placement of the pomegranate on Inanna’s art seems to me that these temple attendants understood the sexual importance of the seeds.

 Modern science has shown that these ancient people were truly taking control of their reproductive abilities. In 1933 Adolf Butenandt and H. Jacobi showed that both the date palm and pomegranate produced an oestrone identical to the female sex hormone within the seeds (Harborne 1993). Rudolf Weiss claims that to date:

Punica seeds are the best source of plant oestrone (Weiss 2001)

Further research confirmed this to be true. In animal experiments conducted in the 1970s and 80s female rats were fed pomegranate seeds and paired with males who did not consume the fruit. After mating, there was a 72% reduction in fertility. When the same study was completed with guinea pigs there was a 100% reduction of fertility (Bullough 2001). Interestingly, when the animals were weened from the pomegranate feeding their fertility was restored to normal levels in 40 days (Riddle 1997).

Pomegranate seeds were basically the pill to the women of antiquity. It was a hormonal contraceptive that, if taken regularly, prohibited pregnancy until the stop of the treatment.

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