Why is the “forbidden fruit” generally shown as being an apple? Why not a banana? Anyone know how this came about?
The so-called apple of discord was partly responsible for starting the Trojan War. I’d not do it justice but Wikipedia seems to. I like " In ancient Greece, throwing an apple at a person’s bed was an invitation for sexual intercourse."
So the apple got its reputation long before Christians came around. I don’t suppose there were many banana trees in ancient greece but I could be wrong.
The tale of the garden of Eden was also around long before Christians. You know, it’s in Genesis.
The fruit in question used to be depicted all sorts of ways-- I’ve seen it looking like a pear or lime or orange or pomegranite. I think Europeans were familiar with apples so they used that conventionally although not exclusively (most wouldn’t have know what an orange, for example, looked like).
I have an account of a 15th-century pilgrim who describes visiting the monastery of st John on Rhodes and being shown rather matter of factly the fruit tree that was that very same kind as the tree of knowledge-- it was apparently a “ficus paradisicus” i.e. fig, according to him. Added bonus-- he says that if you cut the fruit in half the seedpod inside forms the shape of a cross.
Mark Twain said (paraphrased) : We know it wasn’t a watermelon Eve took, because she repented.
I’ve always wondered why the traditional story specified an apple, my translation of the Bible just says “fruit.”
One explanation I’ve seen is that, in Latin, the words for “apple” and “evil” are the same (malum).
That’s because the original Hebrew says, in fact, just “fruit”…
The “fig” reference is probably the result of the fact that after eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve cover themselves with Fig leaves
I don’t follow 
This is my understanding: Watermelons are so delicious the if Eve had taken one (as the fruit), there is no way she would have repented of the theft.
Watermelon taste so good she wouldn’t have repented.
That was the joke Twain was going for.
Jim
Not quite, as one of them has a macron (long mark) over the “a” (though I can never remember which). But they’re certainly very similar, and when reciting prayers in Latin class, we all got a kick out of saying “…And deliver us from an apple”.
At a guess, though, I think that the primary reason it’s usually depicted as an apple is probably just that the apple is the tree-fruit most familiar to Europeans. Remember, most of the other tree-fruits we’re familiar with come from tropical or semitropical climates. As recently as a century ago, bananas were considered every bit as exotic as mangoes or papayas, and most Europeans would never have encountered one.
For what it’s worth, I’ve also heard the explanation that it was a pine tree, and it’s because of that little incident in the Garden that pines no longer have fruit. Take that for whatever it’s worth.