Introduction
The Greek word for superstition, 'δεσιδαιμονια' literally means 'fear of demons', and combined with the discovery of the Latin word 'superstitio', you can clearly see the relevance of superstitions in the ancient world. With such prominence of religion in the polytheistic society, it’s no wonder that superstitions involving positive and negative consequences developed.
Ancient Rome
Roman superstitions hold many origins of the beliefs that we carried through time ourselves, still to this day. The belief that the left side was evil stems from the Romans, calling the left hand 'sinistra' (with connotations of unfavourable omens). the first "footmen" were hired by Roman nobles to makes sure guests entered their houses right foot first which reveals the prominence this had in every aspect of society. Over time this superstition continued and even during the Victorian era, for example, Left-handers were not able to write as well with old-fashioned dip pens. In the Victorian classroom, they would have stuck out and faced large social pressures or even physical punishment. Even further than this, the common idiom of 'waking up on the wrong side of the bed' originates from the good nature of the right side, and the evil nature of the left. To further this, Andrew Handley explained that 'In ancient Rome left-handed people were considered unlucky and untrustworthy. The word sinister actually comes from the original Latin meaning for left, and over time the negativity associated with left-handed people pushed the meaning more towards evil. Interestingly enough, left-handed gladiators were treated like special bonuses—left-handed people used different fighting styles, so it made the combat more interesting and varied.'
Another common belief of this time was the connection from the weather to the gods. Lightning, due to its association with Zeus was often seen as a sign for something to come in the near future, which could have been good or bad, depending on the day, person, and overall interpretation. The Romans feared the omens through elections, which can be seen through examples of Cicero and Mark Antony, when Antony confuses the powers of nuntiatio and spectatio in the upcoming days of the election. For this, the weather was often the reason behind the call 'alio die' (meaning on another day) which temporarily cancelled the election. In many cases, it was the flight path of the birds due to the winds and other forces of weather, or often it was due to thunder. Livy's account of an elections highlights the importance of these beliefs; Whilst he was assuming the duties of the consulship thunder was heard; the augurs were summoned and gave it as their opinion that there was some informality in his election. The patricians spread a report that as that was the first time that two plebeian consuls were elected together, the gods were showing their displeasure. Marcellus resigned his office and Q. Fabius Maximus was appointed in his place; this was his third consulship. This year the sea appeared to be on fire; at Sinuessa a cow brought forth a colt; the statues in the temple of Juno Sospita at Lanuvium sweated blood and a shower of stones fell round the temple.
Ancient Greece
Greek superstitions were grounded in the belief that people, both living and dead had the capacity to send bad luck to other people. We can see this reflected in the modern day as many of our superstitions (such as saying 'Bless you' when someone sneezes, stems from the idea that somebody is gossiping behind your back, thus sending you bad luck. The most well-known superstition in Ancient Greece was the 'evil eye', a curse of legend believed to be cast by a malevolent glare given to a person when they are unaware. Belief in the evil eye dates back to Greek Classical antiquity. It is referenced by Hesiod, Callimachus, Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Theocritus, Plutarch, Heliodorus, Pliny the Elder, and Aulus Gellius. The evil eye theory was even believed to have been supported by ancient science, explained by the essayist Plutarch who states that the eyes are the chief, if not sole, source of the deadly rays that were supposed to spring up like poisoned darts from the inner recesses of a person possessing the evil eye. Plutarch treated the phenomenon of the evil eye as something seemingly inexplicable that is a source of wonder and cause of incredulity, and that those best at delivering the curse were blue-eyed (this is likely due to the fact that this is a genetic rarity in the Mediterranean area). The concept is well captured by Heliodorus of Emesa in the ancient Greek romance Aethiopica, in which he writes, “When any one looks at what is excellent with an envious eye he fills the surrounding atmosphere with a pernicious quality, and transmits his own envenomed exhalations into whatever is nearest to him.” You are said to be “matiasmenos” (hexed with the evil eye) if you are dizzy or if you have a headache and yawn a lot.With such an ardent and widespread belief that a stare held the power to inflict catastrophic misfortune, it’s no surprise that the people of these ancient civilizations sought out a means to repel it, which led to the earliest iterations of the nazar amulet that we know today. Dr Nese Yildiran, an art history professor at Istanbul’s Bahçeşehir University, claims that “The earliest version of eye amulets goes back to 3,300 BC,” and that when they had been excavated in Tell Brak, one of the oldest cities of Mesopotamia “They were in the form of some abstract alabaster idols made with incised eyes.” As for the structure, the blue colour of the pendant "definitely first comes from Egyptian glazed mud, which contains a high percentage of oxides; the copper and cobalt give the blue colour when baked.”(Yildiran) The evil eye is still a popular belief today, and you can purchase amulets which are supposed to ward off this curse. Surprisingly, the belief has also remained pretty much the same and the pendants are still blue, reflecting the universal fear of this curse.
Despite this more serious, and seemingly logical superstition, there are also others which seem a bit more ridiculous to us in the modern day. Soranus, an Ancient Greek physician actually believed that women sneezing would act as a form of contraception, thus preventing pregnancy. After making love, he instructed women to squat, sneeze, and rinse. If the sneezing method didn’t do the trick, Soranus advised women to try “plan B” the next time around: rubbing cedar resin or honey over their genitals. Another belief was the power of the magical swear of ancient Greek athletes: Ancient Greeks admired their athletes and so, after
the athletes had all performed naked and rubbed with olive oil, the sweat which the expelled during competitions was scraped off their skin by slaves. This sweat/oil mixture was called ‘gloios’. The gloios was in turn bottled and sold as an all-healing ointment for aches and pains. Lastly, a widespread practice was spitting as a form of healing. Spitting had a medical and superstitious place in ancient society, as ancient Greeks believed that problems with one’s eyesight could be cured by rubbing the eyes with the spit of someone who had been fasting. In a modern society, Greeks still practice the ancient belief that spitting on someone is a way of diminishing any form of evil energy or presence, however, the ritual has morphed into an imitation of the expulsion of saliva, not actual spitting. Greeks apply the spitting superstition at weddings as well. If someone compliments the bride’s dress they must spit out “ftoo” three times to ward off any negative forces that might be at work.
Conclusion
Even the idea of superstitions is very prominent in our society, and our shared beliefs show the overlap in culture between our societies. Some of the beliefs have not even changed at all like the evil eye in Greece, or varied a little like the evil left side in Rome, which is unusual for such a scientifically orientated society, especially with the diminishing faith in religion and god. This serves to prove our susceptibility to higher powers and the idea of a constant in a multi-faith society, like today.
Until next time,
Viola and Zoe.