In reference to John Wylie's message: the ultimate example of this in
Western mythology has to be the Garden of Eden which is a paradise but yet
also contains the potential for corruption in the form of the apple (and of
course the serpent).
The Garden of Eden is not a 'garden' in the sense of being a human creation
however- it represents nature (in this case created by Jehovah). Thus, it
could be argued that this reflects mixed feeelings about the transisition
from hunter-gatherer to agricultural society, which is ironic considering
that many greens now see our human gardens as some idealised original pure
space free from modern eveils like the market and industrialism.
Of course there are many other ironies within this too - some of which, the
commercialisation of gardening for example were touched on earlier.
David.
David Wood
PhD Student ('The Rural Peace Dividend')
Department of Agricultural Economics and Food Marketing
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Tel: 0191 222 6615
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