The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-06-07
GREEK SUPERSTITION.
SURVIVAL OF OLD MYTHS. RITES
AND CUSTOMS.
DFyads, NymDhs and Fauns-IguO-
rance of the Priests-The Death
AngeI-FuneraI Customs.


apply very literally to-day, not only 10
Athens. but 10 all Greece. The whole
life or the country people IS controlled
BY superstitiOus observanccs. The evil
eye possesses peculiar power, and ii is
believed that children are especially sub
Ject to its influence. Tor this reason,
charms ere often hung around their necks,
and nurses are warned not TO allow a
child's beauty 70 be praised. Mothers Of
ten carry a Glove OF bit Of garlic. TO
ward or the pern5ciOus influence which
may be cast by design or by accident.
Even young animals have amulets hung
round their necks; blue glass and coral
are the common safeguards. Priests are
especially apt 10 possess this fascinating
eye, and 10 meet one just after leaving
the house BODIES some i'll.
All peasants have an uncanny feeling
about offending nature. No wOOdman viii
denie MS AK by cutting into the lex
tree, from whose wood, il is supposed,
the cross was made. No one 81 Juld use
prOfane language while he had bread in
his hand. Al who are familiar with Ath-
ems Will remember the tall pillar just
above the old theater. Here comes pa
tents, theat they may Bet rid of dis
eases. Each person ties 10 the shaft a
s-len thread, and the disease is supposed
TO enter the column. Each aiiment de-
mauds a thread Of some particular color.
The tradition has been traced in kampO-
raglous History OF Athens" in which
eases to this column, saying: when any
one is Ill, let him come here, and ty-
lng three knots Of a silken thread, say,
Dear 81. John, / bind my sickness 10
TINS column, and do by thy grace loose
me from IL"
But the supernatural has e far wider
influence than is indicated in these be-
Hets- In the country places IL is strong
est Inc popular mind still fosters Fhe
legends Of dryads, nymphs, and faUns
NOT Is THIS remdrka0le in regions where
educatlon has not penetrated, and where
the powers OF nature MI the hehOIderS
with sensations of awe The peasants
believe that the Nereids are especially
ldfmIul at noon. There is one spot on
mount Hymettus which all shepherds
avoid al this hour. When caught ia a
whirlWind, the peasant whispers, Milk
ana money be in thy path" The shep-
nerds on Mount Parnassus tell of a
strange monster who is more terrible
than Pan ana Vulcan combined The
Woodman, with fear and trembling, cuts
down a great tree, and while the SCARED
trunk is falling lies fiat on the ground
that the strOicheiOn, or guadridn spirit
which emanat ties from the tree. may pass
over his head These are some of the
traditions current among the country peO-
pie who have not as yet been brought
into contact with modern truths
The Orthodox Greek church is the es-
tablished religion, yet the whole fabric
Of ritual and beliefs is intricately tan
gled with the pagan mythology of old
Greece, though the Greek Of to-day would
no doubt be grossly insulted II it We're
but suggested to him that among his re-
Hglous beliefs are many relics of bar
Darism. No doubt much is due to the
ignorance of the priests many of whom
can neither read or write. and who in
consequence preserve every superstition
often unconsciousiy weaving the material
Of the myths into the lives Of their saints
1t seems TO me that there is q decided
tendency towards the old anthropomor-
pnic views or their ancestors. The idea
Of Zeus still survives, and finds express
sion In the words God rains" On Mount
Ida this petition IS still in use, "Zeus. hear
<
provOker of earthquakes is stil evident
az such times, by the. saying that God
Fates (MOraD is universal They deter
mine the future of every child. They are
pictured N me minds OF the peasants as
three wrinkled old women who 1--we IN
mountain caves. They always enter a
house containing a very young baby.
When they are expected all furniture Is
set aside that they may not trip a ban
quet Of honey-cakes, bread and wine is
spread and gold is often displayed, show
affected by money. Wealth, piety and
all this worlds goods are at the disposal
Of the Moral One may not speak of a
childs beauty lest ne mar it. Marks on
the skin are considered to be the DEGREES
of the Fates. Sometimes these Moral are
sought by girls who wish to hasten their
wedding day. In the early part of the
century their supposed caves We're found
about Athens itself. II is told that bod
well, the traveller, allowed his patient
donkey TO consume the honey-cake offer
ings which were lying in the cave known
as the prison OF Socrates
All Greeks believe in the presence of a
personal angel, who receives the soul as
il comes from the mouth and, after forty
days, conducts it to God The charac-
teristics OF this personal death-angel are
strtkingly like those of Hermes, who con-
Quoted souls to the other world. In the
minds Of most Of the, peasnts, the here
after is merely the old sunless Hades, an
unutterably cherries abode, which has no
communication with the gay, sunny world
above No marvel is II that the dying
Il -0Igyi 10 " ora
see the light of day, will no more hear
the sweet sounds of the dripping fOun-
tain commands ms son 10 make little
window In his grave, that he may hear
the song of the nightingale when the
spring returns. Another strange cOncep-
ton Is the common belief in a death
angel who reminds one of Charon, the
ferryman of Styx. Indeed, the modern
name Is almost Identical; for this death
messenger is known a S Charos. He is rep
resented as a pale, sad old man, who
rides a black horse. All his clothes are
black, and even the flowers which grow
in his pathway are of this sombre hue.
The traditions surrounding him are un-
canny. The young he drives before him,
the old he dragS behind, and little chill
dren are slung in his saddle" Sometimes
he is skeleton with scythe. Occa-
sionally he appears in the old character
of ferryman. In many parts of the coun-
try they stu place a coin in the mouth
of the dead-tO pay the fare TO CharOs.
The leaders of the church in Northern
Greece tried to dissuade the peasants by
letters from the Koran was unfit to be
carried before the God of the Christians.
1t is quite common belief that in lie
under world souls stand about waiting 10
catch news from the latest arrivals. This
accounts for the practice of whispering
messages into the ears of the dead A
Greek funeral is a strange sight, and one
not easily forgotten. Looking from my
window one morning in Athens, l saw
a long line Of soldiers, priests, and boys
on their way to the cemetery. The coffin
lid was deCked with flowers and carried
a short distance ahead of the coffin, which
was open so that any Dasser-by could look
upon the corpse. In some parts of the
country a feast is held at the grave In
the Peloponnesus, funeral cakes are bak-
ed and eaten by the relatives on the third
ninth and fortieth days after burial.
All over the land Christian churches are
erected on the sites of heather temples
There are several churches to a St Deme-
trius, who is the guardian of agriculture.
Another curious survival of an old god is
found in the tradition of one St Diony,
sus of NaXos, the patron of the vine The
story is recorded that when young 81
TNs tra1rr -