Greek mythology created the metaphor of the Garden of the Hesperides. The Hesperides were the goddesses of the evening and the golden light of sunset. They were entrusted with the care of the tree of the golden fruit, oftentimes called apples but thought to be citrus, which was first presented to the goddess Hera by Gaia (the earth goddess) on her wedding day. Herakles was sent to fetch the apples as one of his twelve labours, and upon slaying the serpent, stole the precious fruit. However, Athena later returned them to the Hesperides. The fruits preciousness id also emphasised by it being The Apple of Discord in the story of Paris, Helen and the downfall of Troy.
After the conquests of Alexander the Great citrus trees and fruits were increasingly grown around the Mediterranean as Greek colonists introduced them to new areas. The earliest evidence of citrus has been found in excavations in Mesopotamia dating from 4000BC. Mesopotamia lay between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and encompassed parts of modern Syria and Iraq. It was conquered by Alexander about 332BC.
On the Iberian Peninsula the citrus fruits arrived with the Roman legions and their cultivation was furthered by the subsequent Arab, or Moorish, rule. The Moorish rule lasted for several centuries and had a huge civilising influence with the transmission of literature, science and maths. Their territory was know as al-Andalus, which though heavily fortified against the Christians in the north, engaged in commerce and cultural exchange with its neighbours. Amongst the Moors were the Berbers from North Africa who bought their irrigation techniques, still in use, and their crops: citrus, olives, grape vines and wheat. Later the Spanish took the citron to the Americas where later large, commercial citrus orchards were cultivated in California from the mid, to late, nineteenth century.
Over time citrus developed religious significance for Jews and Christians because its abundance in Winter signified survival and God's abundance at the Festival of the Tabernacles and Christmas respectively. Religion, however, was not the only force in cultural history, the other was economics because the citrus fruits were coveted delicacies; they feature in cookbooks from the Middle Ages onwards, but they were also coveted for their fragrance.The bergamot orange provides a good example of the trade in citrus fragrances. It is a bitter orange whose aromatic peel is used for both cologne and Earl Grey tea.
